The warehouse echoed with Raen's footsteps as he walked in, the weight of silence broken only by the dull hum of the city outside.
He stepped over a cable, crossed the concrete floor, and set his old rig down with a soft, almost reverent motion.
The scratched case. The cracked side panel. The dusty, burnt-out fan that wheezed every time he pushed it too far.This machine had been with him through everything.
It had crashed during projects. Lagged during jobs. Shocked him into unlocking a skill system that changed his life.
Now it would rest.
Raen cleared a corner of the warehouse. He set up a plain wooden table, laid a dark cloth across it, and began constructing a frame from scrap metal and acrylic sheets he'd bought on the way.
He worked slowly, deliberately.
Added lighting under the frame.Etched a small brass plate by hand.
Project Zero – The Machine That Carried a Thousand Failures
He stepped back and exhaled.
It wasn't beautiful.But it was real. His past in a glass case — a memory made permanent.
Raen stood quietly, staring at the monument. His fingers twitched slightly, the skills still pulsing through him.
"I used to dream of building a shrine for my first PC. Guess I finally got the space for it..."
He turned away.
This lab wasn't much yet — dust, old power sockets, an empty bench, and one good lightbulb.But now, it had its first relic. And soon… it would have its first creation.
Raen walked over to his notepad again, eyes sharper now.
No more hesitation. No more temporary hacks. He was going to build his own system — a real, breathing lab network powered by everything he'd learned.
"Let's start with control."
He flipped to a blank page.
At the top, he wrote:
🔧 PROJECT: VOXFRAME
Core Control System for Raen's LabStatus: Initial Design
This would be the beginning.
The lab would breathe through this.Security. Access. Communication. Vision.
"Time to build something no one else has…"
Outside, the city moved on — unaware that a broken-down warehouse was about to become a machine of its own.