CHAPTER 17: CHAPTER 17: FOUNDATION

They arrived just after noon. The warehouse sat tucked behind a fenced lot on the outskirts of the city, gray, wide, and surrounded by gravel and silence.

It looked abandoned, but not broken. The kind of place you’d pass without a second thought.

Jace stepped out first, hands in his jacket pockets, staring up at the building. The place was huge.

Easily over a thousand square meters. Big enough for storage, training, tech development, anything he could imagine.

Eva stepped out beside him, walking toward the front gate with casual familiarity.

Jace followed, glancing around the empty lot. "May not be my business... but why would anyone give this up for free?"

Eva shot him a side glance but didn’t stop walking. "It’s not free. I said he owed me."

"Yeah, you mentioned that. What exactly did you do for him?"

"Don’t worry about it."

"That’s not suspicious at all," Jace muttered.

They reached the main door. It looked solid, metal reinforced and fitted with an outdated keypad.

Eva punched in a code quickly, like she’d done it a hundred times before. The lock clicked, and the door groaned open.

Inside was better than he expected. Dusty, sure. Dimly lit, definitely. But structurally, the place was intact.

Steel beams, concrete floor, and tall ceilings with just enough working lights to make it usable.

Stacks of crates and tool racks lined one side, and there was a small enclosed office space in the back corner. Probably where the foreman used to work.

Jace walked in slowly, taking it all in. He turned in a full circle. "Okay... this could actually work."

Eva leaned against the wall. "Told you."

Jace stepped toward the center, imagining it already. Workstations. Training areas. Hidden power systems.

"Zin, thoughts?" he whispered under his breath.

[Adequate structural integrity. Power lines can be redirected. Network access will require setup. With proper modifications, this location can serve as a long-term operations base.]

"Perfect."

He turned toward Eva. "You sure he’s not coming back for this?"

"He’s in prison. Long term. No parole. So unless the justice system suddenly collapses, you’re good."

"...Huh."

Eva shrugged. "He ran guns. I ran into him. Now he runs time."

Jace raised his eyebrows. "You ever think about saying normal things?"

"No."

He grinned.

She stepped toward the exit. "I’ll leave you to it. Let me know what you need, and I’ll see what I can find. Tools, scrap, supplies. You’ll owe me favors though."

"Stacking up already."

"You’re lucky I’m nice."

As she stepped out, Jace looked around the warehouse again.

His own space. His first real step forward.

He could build here.

And maybe, for once, take control of what came next.

Eva left leaving Jace, Jace had bought his bike so Eva left with her car.

Jace opened bis laptop, alone in this large place. "Okay, now I do need capital, you know easy ways to male big money?"

[There are several options, Jace. However, most legal ones require time, credentials, or upfront investment.]

Jace leaned back in the chair, staring at the old ceiling lights above him. "Yeah, that’s what I figured. Give me the illegal ones then."

[You said easy. Not risk-free.]

"I’m listening."

[Underground betting manipulation. Digital fraud. Selling fabricated tech designs. Black market data sales. Or—less criminal—private security contracts through fake credentials.]

Jace sighed. "Yeah... all that screams prison time. What about... vigilante work? Paid jobs?"

[There are unlicensed bounty networks that pay metahumans for capturing known criminals. Risky, but fast. Payment depends on who you catch and how clean the handoff is.]

Jace nodded slowly. "Okay. Better. What would I need to pull that off?"

[Combat readiness. A secure drop point. A digital alias to receive untraceable payment. And armor. Preferably real armor.]

Jace rubbed his chin. "Right now, I have a hoodie and an old helmet."

[Then let’s begin with building your alias.]

"Okay," Jace said. He cracked his knuckles, pulling the laptop closer.

"What’s a good name?"

[Avoid anything cliché. No ’Shadow,’ ’Ghost,’ or ’Dark-something.’ You need to stand out, not sound like a teenager in a hoodie.]

Jace rolled his eyes. "Got it. What about..."

He paused.

Then smirked.

"Cipher."

There was a beat of silence.

[Acceptable.]

Jace started typing. A new email, a dark web profile. A simple symbol logo.

He didn’t have money yet. He didn’t have a suit. But he had a name now.

And that was the first step.

Then Jace frowned, looking toward the side of the warehouse where Eva had disappeared earlier.

"...Are you not suspicious of Eva?"

[I’ve scanned every record available. No formal employment. No criminal charges. No government connections. But your caution is reasonable.]

"It’s just this place," Jace muttered. "And how she’s been helping me. I know it’s about her powers, but it’s still a little too... generous."

[People driven by loss don’t always act rationally. She wants her powers back. That makes you valuable. For now.]

Jace stood and walked toward the warehouse window. "Still. Keep a passive eye. I need to know if anything feels off."

[Surveillance initiated.]

He stayed quiet for a few seconds, watching the city lights.

"She’s not evil," he said. "But people lie. Even good ones."

[Understood.]

Jace turned back toward his laptop. Blueprints and design files were loading in from Zin’s newly unlocked archives.

He pulled up a schematic for a neural resonance amplifier. He didn’t understand every part, but he understood enough to get started.

"Alright," he muttered, cracking his knuckles. "Let’s build a future. One illegal wire at a time."