May 7th, 2024 — 7:45 AMAurora Central Hub — Site Engineer Briefing Room
The diagnostic room still smelled faintly of machine oil and the telltale heat of overworked processors. But the screen no longer blinked red. TBM Aurora was green across the board—telemetry stabilized, command latency normal, and uplink timing back to microsecond accuracy.
Angel stood near the window, arms folded, watching as the first shift team assembled in their crisp vests and lanyards. She hadn't said much this morning—not because something was wrong, but because something had shifted.
There was clarity now. Not just in the system—but in her.
Matthew arrived a few minutes later, coffee in one hand, rolled site schematics in the other. He nodded at her quietly before turning to the team.
"We're go for reactivation," he announced. "Aurora resumes tunneling operations at 0930 sharp. This isn't just a greenlight—it's a vote of confidence. You all earned it."
