Most Scavengers hunted for weapons schematics or power grid maps. Elara hunted for processes .

Elara cracked the glass and opened it.

Her boots crunched on shattered ceramic. Tanks lay on their sides like slain giants, their heating coils cold. Then she saw it—a steel door, sealed with a manual wheel, untouched by the blast that had ripped through the rest of the facility. The paint was blistered, but the metal underneath was… perfect. Untarnished. It gleamed with a soft, blue-white light.

Outside, the rain began to fall—a hissing, corrosive drizzle that ate through her umbrella’s coating in seconds. She ran, holding the satchel to her chest.