The feeling of full Energon tanks was intoxicating. After running on fumes for so long, the steady, potent hum within his core (EN: 147.0/150) felt like an unlimited power source. Combined with the subtle enhancements from his first allocated attribute points (INT 11, CPU 11, DEX 13), Xen felt sharper, faster, more capable than he had since waking up in this metal shell. The scrap heap still felt dangerous, but now it also felt... explorable.
He decided against returning to either of his previous shelters immediately. With ample energy and restored health (HP: 100/100), the area around this mysterious Precursor assembly demanded investigation. What else was hidden here? Were there more resources? More clues about the assembly itself? He needed to map the vicinity.
With renewed purpose, Xen began a systematic sweep of the area within a thirty-meter radius of the assembly, moving cautiously but with more confidence than before. He utilized cover naturally, his movements fluid, enhanced by the boost to his Dexterity. Every twenty meters or so, he paused to deploy his newly upgraded scanner.
Scan immediate area. Full spectrum analysis.
The Lvl 2 scan felt marginally quicker to resolve, the resulting data overlay on his vision cleaner, the labels more precise – likely a combined effect of the skill level and his improved INT/CPU stats. It began painting a more detailed picture of his surroundings. Beyond basic identification, it started flagging specific material compositions with more confidence: [High-Carbon Steel Plate - Stressed], [Bundle of Fiber-Optic Cables - Severed/Degraded], [Polymer Composite Block - Intact]. He mentally logged these – potential resources for future crafting, if he ever figured out how.
He moved again, skirting a mound of slagged metal that radiated a faint, residual heat detectable even by his basic sensors. Scan again.
This scan highlighted a section of collapsed wall nearby. [Structural Analysis: Ferrocrete Wall Section - Severe Internal Fractures - Imminent Collapse Risk - Avoid Area]. A clear danger zone he might have missed or underestimated with the Lvl 1 scan. He gave it a wide berth.
He continued his circular sweep. He found a small, sealed metal container half-buried under some debris. His scan identified it ([Sealed Container - Dense Alloy - Contents Unknown]) but noted [Access Requires: High Strength (Prying) or Precision Cutting Tool]. He tried his [Crude Shard Tool (Poor)] on a corner, scraping at the seam. The brittle shard barely scratched the dense alloy, and a visible chip flaked off the tool's edge.
<[Crude Shard Tool] Durability Decreased: 3/5>
Useless for this. He logged the container's location mentally – another puzzle for later.
It was during his third scan, as he moved towards the far side of the clearing around the assembly, that something new registered.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Among the usual readings of inert scrap and faint background radiation, a new signature appeared: [Trace Exotic Particle Signature Detected - Origin Unknown - Fluctuating]. It wasn't Energon. It wasn't any standard Cybertronian energy reading. The System flagged it as 'Exotic'. His internal processors immediately cross-referenced it with the "Chroniton Resonance" detected within the Precursor assembly. Similar, yet different. More... unstable?
Intrigued and now powered enough to investigate anomalies without risking immediate shutdown, Xen moved cautiously towards the source of the faint signature, which seemed to emanate from behind a large, overturned piece of earth-moving equipment. As he got closer, the signature grew slightly stronger, more focused. He could almost feel it now, a subtle wrongness in the air, like a low-frequency hum just below his normal hearing range.
He took cover behind a rusted metal drum and deployed his scanner one more time, focusing all its Lvl 2 capabilities on the source.
The results were immediate and alarming.
[Exotic Particle Field Detected - Non-Cybertronian Energy Profile Matches Known Portal Signatures (Low Intensity)] [Spatio-Temporal Distortion Detected - Minor Fluctuations] [WARNING: Unstable Phenomenon Nearby! Potential Rift Formation Hazard!]
Portal Signatures? The term resonated with the fragmented information he'd received from the dying giant's Spark. Portals. Monsters. This was it. His first direct encounter with the other major element shaping this world. His circuits ran cold despite the full energy reserves.
A new System alert flashed, overriding the scan data.
Xen cautiously peered around the edge of the drum. There, maybe ten meters away, hanging in the air about a meter off the ground, was a faint distortion. It wasn't truly visible, more like a patch of air refusing to resolve properly, shimmering like heat haze over asphalt, but without colour or heat. A low, dissonant hum, filled with crackling static, reached his audio receptors – the source of the strange resonance he'd felt. It looked... fragile. Unstable. A tear in the fabric of reality itself.
As he watched, transfixed, the shimmering intensified for a moment. The humming sound pitched higher, grating against his sensors. Then, with a soft pop and a flicker of faint violet light, something small fell out of the distortion onto the scrap below.
The shimmering immediately subsided, the distortion fading back to its barely perceptible state, though the exotic particle signature remained on his passive sensors.
Xen remained frozen behind cover, his processors working overtime. A portal. A real, functional (if unstable) portal, right here in the scrap heap. And something had just come through it. He focused his optics on the object that had fallen. It was small, maybe the size of his head, dark, and irregularly shaped. It lay steaming slightly on the cold metal debris.
He scanned it immediately.
[Scan Analysis: Unknown Object] [Composition: Organic/Crystalline Hybrid - Structure Unfamiliar] [Energy Signature: Matches Exotic Particle Field of Rift - Dissipating Slowly] [Biological Status: Uncertain - No Life Signs Detected / Possible Dormant State?] [Note: Object emitting low-level mutagenic radiation. Avoid direct contact.]
Organic? Crystalline? Mutagenic radiation? This was definitely not Cybertronian. It was alien, otherworldly, spat out by a tear in space nearby.
<+5 XP Gained! (Spatial Anomaly Detected)> <+1 XP Gained! (Unknown Object Analyzed)> XP: 17/250.
The scrap heap had just become infinitely more complex, and potentially far more dangerous. He had energy, he had his first upgrades, but he was clearly dealing with forces far beyond just malfunctioning machines and scarce fuel. What else might come through that rift? And were there more rifts nearby?
He stayed hidden, observing the faintly steaming object and the shimmering patch of air where the rift still resonated, his mind racing with new questions and the chilling realization that his world had just gotten much, much bigger.