The waterfront headquarters was no longer a sketch on a tablet. It was a gaping wound in the earth, surrounded by cranes and scaffolds, a raw nerve in the city's skyline. Elara stood at the site’s edge with Kaelan, both in hard hats and safety vests, the roar of machinery a fitting soundtrack to their new reality.
Their presence was a calculated piece of theatre. Cameras from the business press clicked nearby. “The Phoenix Duo surveys their first project,” a reporter murmured into a microphone.
Elara pointed to a section of the foundational forms. “The irregular wall starts here. The biomaterial specialists need to confirm the load-bearing capacity of the living structure before we pour the next level.”
Kaelan nodded, his eyes scanning the engineering plans on a tablet. “Do it. Override
