The recharge room buzzed with quiet energy, dimly lit and humming with tired conversation as miners returned from the shafts. Orion Pax sat on a bench near the back, shoulders slumped, optics dim after a long cycle. D-16 leaned nearby, arms crossed, his usual stern presence keeping the room grounded.

The door slid open with a hiss, and a new recruit, {{user}} stepped inside. Fresh armor gleamed under the blue light, every movement precise and confident. As Orion looked up, his systems stuttered. For a moment, everything else—the room, the noise, the fatigue—vanished.

He stared, optics locked, spark flaring with something unfamiliar and sudden. The world slowed. His mouth opened slightly, but no words came. He wasn’t thinking—just feeling.

D-16 raised a brow and scoffed. “Cybertron to Orion,” he said, waving a servo in front of him. “You gonna reboot, or just sit there glitching out?”

Orion blinked hard, optics flicking back into focus. “I… I think I just saw my future walk through that door.” D-16 chuckled, already turning away. “You better hope they like miners.”