Rain hammered his back like gravel poured from the heavens, the storm still roaring as if intent on burying him where he lay. Pain throbbed through his skull in slow surges. Vision fluttered between blind dark and brief after-images. Somewhere beyond reach, the downpour muffled the city, making every echo sound as though the streets were sunk beneath black water. The water itself felt glacial, seeping through cloth and skin until it kissed the bone, each drop a needle of winter piercing his nerves. Mud sucked at his coat when he tried to breathe, its chill reminding him that a moment ago he had stopped caring whether he ever moved again.
A needle of sound split the ringing in his ears:
SYSTEM BOOT COMPLETECOLONIAL FOUNDATION PROTOCOL PRIME DIRECTIVE: PRESERVATION THROUGH RECONSTRUCTIONUSER: LIN KAI DETECTEDMENTAL LINK ESTABLISHEDWELCOME, ADMINISTRATOR
His eyelids snapped open. Rainwater coursed along his lashes in icy rivulets; he raised a shaking left hand, using it as a flimsy visor, and the cold stabbed across his knuckles like crushed glass. He blinked, and the water stung the cut on his brow so sharply that tears merged with the rain, salt lost inside iron-tasting drops.
The sky above remained slate-grey, but a second layer shimmered over it, faint geometric grids and data sigils translating themselves even as he blinked.
SYSTEM FUNCTIONALITY: TECHNICAL MODULE ONLINETHIS PLATFORM PRODUCES NO MATTER. IT SUPPLIES DESIGN, LOGIC AND KNOWLEDGE. YOU BUILD. YOU LEAD. YOU DECIDE.
"What is this?" he rasped. He tried to push up. Cold mud clung to his right sleeve, the fabric already heavy with water, and a blaze of pain burst through his shoulder. It was the fiery ache of bruised muscle grinding against bone, amplified by frigid wet that made every fibre seize. Blood mingled with mud beneath his fingertips.
ORIGIN CLASSIFICATION: EXTRASOLAR INTELLIGENCEPURPOSE: STABILISATION OF PLANETARY CIVILISATIONSTAGE ONE UNLOCKED FOUNDATION BLUEPRINT DEPARTMENT OF URBAN STABILISATION
Schematics flooded his thoughts: modular housing that folded like paper, closed-loop waste circuits, hydrological baffles, predictive maintenance lattices. Each concept settled as though he had studied it for years. The torrent of knowledge clashed with the throbbing in his skull, a duel of brightness and agony that made colour burst behind his eyes. A shiver rippled through him, and the wound above his temple answered with a hot pulse that felt out of place in the numbing cold.
His pulse quickened.
"Why me?"
ADMINISTRATOR PROFILECIVIC RESILIENCE: NINE POINT EIGHT OF TENEMPATHY LOAD: HIGHSTRATEGIC VOLITION: ADAPTIVEOTHER CANDIDATES: NONE VIABLEYOU ARE THE LAST KEY
Thunder rippled overhead. Gasping, he planted both knees, their joints already stiff from the chill that soaked through the thin lining of his trousers. He shifted his weight to the left and fought for balance. His boots skidded, slick soles scraping over gravel, and icy water rushed inside to hug his toes in a numbing vice. A hiss escaped his teeth as he forced himself upright, shoulders trembling from equal parts fatigue and cold. Rain poured off his suit, turning it into a sodden weight that dragged on every seam.
A new menu hovered before him, elegant and spare.
DEPARTMENTS AVAILABLE STAGE ONEDEPARTMENT OF URBAN STABILISATIONDEPARTMENT OF CIVIC NETWORK RECONSTRUCTION (PENDING)DEPARTMENT OF ADVANCED LEARNING (LOCKED)
This was not a weapon, nor a throne. It was knowledge placed in unwilling yet necessary hands.
An icon pulsed, awaiting his answer.
INITIALISE DEPARTMENT OF URBAN STABILISATION? Y OR N
Rain slackened, yet icy beads still dripped from his fringe into his eyes. Wind stilled, leaving only the hiss of runoff racing along broken gutters. He tasted blood where his teeth had cut his lip, copper sharp against the rain's mineral tang. The prompt hovered, patient and bright. His gaze flicked from its glow to the bruised skyline, then down to the mud streaking his palms. A tremor rolled through him, equal parts chill and dread, and for a long moment he stood motionless, the choice cold in his throat.
A breath rattled out of his lungs, white and steaming in the night air. At last, he drew another, slow and ragged, and forced the word through numb lips.
"y-y-yes."