The Burning Workshop

The landscape stretched out in jagged chaos, its broken terrain illuminated by the dying light of dusk. Scars of past battles between humans and the Synex marred the earth, a grim testimony to the relentless struggle. Craters pocked the ground, each a silent reminder of the catastrophic clashes that had shaped this war-torn expanse. The air carried an electric hum, a faint yet persistent resonance of energies unleashed and unresolved.

At the heart of this desolation stood Harlen’s camp, a ragged collection of shattered tents and broken machinery, its disarray mirroring the collapse of Harlen’s once-grand ambitions. The remnants of his plans lay strewn across the ground, tangled with ash and dirt, like artifacts of a dream gone awry. 

Harlen crested the hill, his pace quickening as smoke curled against the darkening sky. His workshop—his sanctuary—was aflame.

“Damn it!” he spat, sprinting down toward the smoldering structure.

The fire had gutted half the building. Twisted beams jutted out from the wreckage like broken bones, and the acrid scent of scorched metal and fuel filled the air. One of the engines he’d been tinkering with had exploded, sending fragments of his work scattering across the camp.

Harlen stopped at the edge of the wreckage, his hands clenching into fists. For a moment, his eyes scanned the destruction, flickering with fury and then resignation. He stepped over the debris, kicking aside a blackened panel.

“It’s fine,” he muttered to himself. “Just a setback. Nothing I can’t fix.”

He made his way deeper into the wreckage, ignoring the crackling embers around him. The broken orb in his pocket thrummed faintly, but Harlen paid it no mind.

The glow of Roam caught his eye through the haze of smoke. The construct stood untouched by the chaos, a steady presence amid the ruins. Its faint hum filled the space, rising above the hiss of dying flames.

Harlen let out a low growl and turned away. “No time for this,” he muttered, brushing soot off his hands as he stormed toward the jagged expanse beyond his camp.