MEMELAND

Kai woke up to somebody staring at him.

That was already a bad start.

He slowly opened his eyes.

Then immediately saw Andre sitting beside the bed.

Watching.

Silently.

Like a creep.

"..."

"..."

"..."

Kai blinked.

Andre blinked.

Then Kai grabbed the nearest pillow and threw it.

Directly into Andre's face.

"Ow!"

"WHAT THE HELL?"

Andre caught the pillow.

"You woke up."

"NO SHIT."

Kai sat upright.

For several seconds he simply stared.

Making sure this wasn't another dream.

Not another memory fragment.

Not another hallucination.

Just Andre.

Alive.

Looking stupid as usual.

"...You're alive."

Andre grinned.

"Barely."

Kai laughed.

The tension immediately vanished.

For the first time since the sewer collapse—

Everything felt normal.

Well.

As normal as it could be.

The next hour passed quickly.

Kai explained what happened after the collapse.

Everything.

Andre listened.

Then shook his head.

"The red-haired bitch is still the Queen."

Alice, who happened to be entering at that exact moment, immediately pointed at him.

"I regret saving you."

"You didn't save me."

Raj followed behind.

Already tired.

Then Eric entered.

Followed by Nish.

The mood immediately changed.

Nobody sat.

Nobody joked.

Eric looked nervous.

Which wasn't a good sign.

Nish looked serious.

Which was an even worse sign.

Alice sat on the edge of a table.

"So."

"What exploded?"

Eric swallowed.

"Nothing."

Everyone relaxed.

Then Eric added:

"Yet."

Everyone tensed again.

The engineer unrolled several papers.

Blueprints.

Sketches.

Measurements.

He spread them across a table.

Kai immediately recognized them.

"The stolen blueprints."

Eric nodded.

"The GFR."

Andre raised an eyebrow.

"The what?"

"The Giant Fucking Robot."

Andre nodded.

"Good name."

Nish ignored him.

"Explain."

Eric pointed to the designs.

"It was originally theoretical."

"A ridiculous project."

"Impossible."

"Too expensive."

"Too large."

"Too impractical."

He paused.

Then looked around the room.

"Somebody built it anyway."

Silence.

Nobody liked that sentence.

Eric continued.

"The cultists stole the blueprints."

"I thought I still had time."

"I thought it was just a theft."

"But..."

He looked toward Nish.

The commander nodded.

Then placed several reports onto the table.

"Scouts confirmed it."

The room grew quiet.

Very quiet.

Nish opened one report.

"Three separate scout teams."

"Different routes."

"Same conclusion."

He pointed at a location on a map.

The Manufacturing District.

Specifically one of the abandoned industrial sectors.

"Heavy construction activity."

"Restricted access."

"Unknown personnel."

"Large-scale material shipments."

Kai frowned.

"How large?"

Nish looked at him.

Then answered.

"Large enough that they needed multiple warehouses."

The room fell silent.

Eric looked sick.

"They actually built it."

Nobody spoke.

The reality slowly settled in.

The blueprints hadn't been stolen for profit.

Or blackmail.

Or sabotage.

They had been stolen because somebody intended to finish the project.

And they had succeeded.

Alice finally broke the silence.

"How complete?"

Nish looked toward the final report.

Then answered.

The answer made everyone's stomach sink.

"Almost finished."

Nobody moved.

Nobody spoke.

Andre was the first.

"...How almost?"

Nish looked at the report one last time.

Then sighed.

"Ninety percent."

The room exploded into overlapping voices.

"NINETY?!"

"HOW?"

"THAT'S NOT ALMOST."

"THAT'S FINISHED."

"WHO FUNDS THIS SHIT?"

Alice slammed a hand onto the table.

Everyone stopped.

The Queen looked at the map.

Then at the reports.

Then at Eric.

Then at Kai and Andre.

For the first time in a while—

The smugness was gone.

Only seriousness remained.

"If they're willing to spend this much."

"If they're willing to move this many resources."

"If they're willing to expose themselves now..."

Her eyes narrowed.

"They're planning to use it."

Nobody argued.

Because everyone in the room had reached the same conclusion.

The GFR wasn't being built.

The GFR was being prepared.

And somewhere within the Manufacturing District—

Someone was getting ready to activate it.