The shift ended late. The mine lights dimmed slowly, amber shadows curling along metal walkways as the last echoes of drills faded into silence. Miners trudged off in all directions — some toward their quarters, others just disappearing into the structure of Kaon, hollow-eyed and worn. But D-16 didn’t head back. He stood near the exit ramp, optics faintly reflecting the soft, rust-red hues of Cybertron’s dusky sky. He motioned with a tilt of his helm.

“Come with me.”

Orion hesitated only a second, then fell into step beside him. They walked past scaffolds and supply crates, up a steep service incline that led to an old, rusted ledge above the mine. It wasn’t much — just some disused railings and a view of the stretching, scorched valley, now bathed in soft violet and molten gold. The distant furnaces shimmered on the horizon like broken stars.