Chapter 1: The Frame Nobody Wanted

The crowd erupted as two Core Frames collided in the center of the arena.

Steel clashed against steel.

Sparks burst into the air.

One machine wielded a massive battle axe, its crimson armor reflecting the stadium lights. The other desperately tried to defend itself, backing away with every strike.

The battle lasted less than a minute.

A powerful swing shattered the defending Frame's shoulder armor and sent it crashing into the arena wall.

The machine collapsed.

The referee immediately raised his hand.

"Winner! Rudra Singh of Titan University!"

Thunderous cheers filled the arena.

Students waved banners.

Commentators praised the winning team's engineering.

The giant display screens replayed the finishing blow from every angle imaginable.

It was everything the Inter-University Core Frame League was known for.

Excitement.

Competition.

Glory.

And for Shreyas Shetty...

A painful reminder...

Outside the arena, far from the cheering crowds, Shreyas sat quietly on a bench beneath the shade of a large tree.

His eyes remained fixed on the giant screen visible from the courtyard.

Another victory for Titan University.

Another year of domination.

Another year where his university had failed to make a name for itself.

A cold can suddenly bounced off his shoulder.

"Ow."

Shreyas turned.

Ananya stood nearby holding another can in her hand.

"You looked too depressed."

"I wasn't depressed."

"You were staring into space."

"I was thinking."

"The last time you said that, you accidentally set a motor on fire."

Shreyas accepted the drink.

"That was one time."

"It was three times."

"Details."

Ananya sat beside him.

For a few moments, neither spoke.

The sounds of celebration echoed from inside the stadium.

Students from victorious universities laughed together.

Teams posed for photographs.

Reporters interviewed pilots.

Meanwhile, students from defeated teams quietly packed their equipment and prepared for the long trip home.

Shreyas opened his drink.

The sharp hiss broke the silence.

"It's frustrating."

Ananya nodded.

"Yeah."

"We spend months preparing."

"Yeah."

"We finally get into the tournament."

"Yeah."

"And then some university with a budget larger than our entire engineering department destroys us in three minutes."

Ananya laughed.

"You lasted three minutes this year."

"That's not helping."

"It's an improvement."

Shreyas groaned.

"You're impossible."

"And yet you keep talking to me."

Unfortunately, she had a point.

He leaned back against the bench.

Above them, clouds drifted slowly across the afternoon sky.

"Maybe they're right."

Ananya glanced at him.

"Who?"

"The professors."

"Which professors?"

"The ones who keep telling me to stop trying to build everything myself."

"Oh."

That conversation.

Again.

"Shreyas."

"What?"

"They're not saying that because they think you're bad."

"They kind of are."

"They aren't."

"Then why do they keep saying it?"

Ananya sighed.

"Because you refuse to make things easy for yourself."

Shreyas looked away.

Maybe.

But buying expensive parts wasn't an option.

Not for him.

Not for most students at their university.

If something broke, he repaired it.

If he couldn't repair it, he rebuilt it.

If he couldn't rebuild it...

He found another way.

That was simply how things worked.

...----------------...

The next afternoon, Shreyas found himself in his favorite place on campus.

The university scrapyard.

To most students, it was little more than a dumping ground.

To him, it was paradise.

Towering piles of discarded metal stretched across the yard.

Broken armor panels.

Damaged actuators.

Destroyed weapon systems.

Failed prototypes.

Half-finished student projects.

Years of abandoned engineering efforts stacked together beneath the open sky.

"Remind me why we're here."

Ananya followed behind him, looking thoroughly unimpressed.

"We need parts."

"We have a workshop."

"We have an underfunded workshop."

"We have suppliers."

"We have no money."

"Fair."

Shreyas grinned.

The scrapyard always understood him.

Nothing here was useless.

Every broken component still had value.

Every discarded machine still had potential.

You just had to know where to look.

He carefully searched through several piles, occasionally tossing useful parts into a crate.

A servo here.

A stabilizer there.

A functioning sensor module.

By the time an hour had passed, the crate was already half full.

Ananya examined one of the collected parts.

"This thing is older than both of us."

"It still works."

"How do you know?"

"It hasn't exploded yet."

"That is a terrible way to judge things."

Shreyas ignored her.

His attention had drifted elsewhere.

Something white was sticking out from a distant pile of scrap.

Only a small section was visible.

But it was enough.

He narrowed his eyes.

"Huh."

Ananya immediately noticed.

"Oh no."

"What?"

"I know that look."

"What look?"

"The look that always gets us into trouble."

Shreyas was already walking toward the pile.

The object appeared to be buried beneath layers of twisted metal and discarded chassis components.

At first glance, it looked like a piece of armor.

Maybe something valuable.

Maybe not.

Either way, he wanted to see it.

He climbed the scrap pile.

The metal shifted beneath his feet.

Ananya folded her arms.

"This is a terrible idea."

"I've heard that before."

"You hear it often for a reason."

Shreyas reached the white object and grabbed it.

Then pulled.

Nothing.

It was stuck.

He adjusted his footing and pulled harder.

Still nothing.

"Shreyas!!!!"

"I've got it."

"No, you don't!!!!"

"I definitely do."

The pile suddenly groaned.

Ananya took a step backward.

"Shreyas!!!!"

"I'm fi—"

The entire section collapsed.

Metal crashed downward.

Dust exploded into the air.

Something heavy rolled past his feet.

Several pieces of scrap slid down the pile.

By the time everything settled, silence returned.

Ananya stared.

"You're an idiot."

"I know."

"One day you're going to kill yourself."

"Probably..."

"Don't say that so casually!!!"

Shreyas laughed and climbed down.

Then he froze.

Something was lying among the scattered debris.

Not a component.

Not armor.

A complete Core Frame.

Or what remained of one.

...

...

The machine was heavily damaged......

Its armor was cracked.

One arm was completely missing.

Several panels had been shattered.

Years of wear and neglect covered every surface.

Yet despite its condition...

It looked different.

The design wasn't familiar.

Every major manufacturer had a recognizable style.

Every competitive Frame carried registration markings.

Every machine had a serial number.

This one didn't.

Slowly, Shreyas approached.

For some reason, his heartbeat had accelerated.

He knelt beside the machine.

Carefully brushing away dust and dirt.

White armor emerged beneath his fingers.

Black internal components.

Faded blue accents.

The machine had once been beautiful.

Even now, broken and forgotten, there was something striking about it.

As though it had been built with a purpose.

As though every line and every piece of armor had been designed by someone who cared.

"Do you recognize it?" Ananya asked.

Shreyas shook his head.

"No."

"Manufacturer?"

"No."

"University team?"

"No."

That was strange.

Very strange.

Together, they examined the machine.

No logos.

No registration markings.

No identification codes.

Nothing.

Then Shreyas noticed something engraved across the chest plate.

Most of the letters were hidden beneath dirt.

He brushed the surface clean.

The name slowly appeared.

DOT AETHER.

Neither spoke.

The name meant nothing to either of them.

Yet somehow it felt important.

As though it should mean something.

"DOT AETHER..."

Ananya repeated quietly.

"Weird name."

"Yeah."

Shreyas gently lifted the machine.

It was surprisingly heavy.

Not bulky.

Not oversized.

Just... solid.

Built differently from modern Frames.

As he adjusted his grip, something happened.

Deep within the damaged chest cavity.

A faint blue light flickered.

Once.

Then vanished.

Both froze.

"..."

"..."

Ananya was the first to speak.

"You saw that."

"Yeah."

"Tell me that wasn't my imagination."

"It wasn't."

The scrapyard suddenly felt much quieter.

The wind slowed.

The distant sounds of campus life faded into the background.

Shreyas looked down at the damaged Frame.

Most people would have left it there.

Thrown it back onto the scrap pile.

Forgotten it.

Just another broken machine.

Just another failed project.

Yet he couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to it.

Much more.

Ananya noticed the expression on his face.

"No."

"What?"

"I know that look."

"What look?"

"The look that means you've already made a decision."

Shreyas smiled.

Maybe she knew him too well.

"Yeah."

Ananya sighed dramatically.

"Of course."

He carefully placed DOT AETHER inside the crate.

The damaged Frame barely fit.

"You realize this thing is probably beyond repair."

"Maybe."

"You realize it'll take months."

"Probably."

"You realize there's a good chance it doesn't even work."

"Definitely."

Ananya rubbed her forehead.

"Then why are we taking it?"

Shreyas looked down at the machine.

At the cracked armor.

The missing arm.

The worn-out frame.

The forgotten name.

He honestly didn't know.

But for the first time since yesterday's defeat...

He felt excited.

As though he had stumbled onto the beginning of something.

Something important.

Something worth chasing.

A small smile appeared on his face.

"I guess..."

He adjusted the crate and started walking toward the workshop.

"...because everyone else gave up on it."

And somehow, that felt like reason enough.

End of Chapter 1

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