Chapter Text
Before beginning the story, you need to know ...
This story begins before the «Battle of Sandrock» mission, just before the «clear the air» main mission, and the first main quests about constructing the bridge and the tunnel to Portia ( «A bridge too far» and «This is not a drill »).
This version of the builder has never yet met Logan in person, nor talked to him. They just share "that look" at the explosion of the water tower (you know which look i'm talking about eh).
The kidnapping of Matilda happened, but the builder did not participate in her rescue. She does not hunt down Logan with Bronco the kid and the civil corps and do not find their hideout.
This is an alternative universe where Grace, Logan and Haru will not recruit the builder in their band to investigate on the water traffic in the «Buried Secrets» mission. You'll get to understand why.
Last thing, general distances, for additional realism, have been significantly increased to substantially lengthen travel times between points of interest. This allows for very long walks/gallops along the southern ravines of Sandrock without reaching the end in less than thirty seconds!
--- Prologue ---
The downside of wearing a protective suit was the inability to wipe away the dripping sweat from one's forehead. And she was sweating a lot . But she needed those aluminum scraps, so she did her best to endure the unbearable heat she was trapped in, in order to keep on salvaging the materials. The midday sun beat down hard on the Valley of Whispers.
Another major flaw of the suit was how it altered certain senses, notably hearing. Likely this was why she didn’t hear the pack of masked fiends behind her until it was too late. By the time she noticed them, they were already lighting a bomb to throw at her. But sparks— combined with toxic gas—was a terrible combination and definitely not the best thing to do. Before they could do anything more, a massive explosion erupted, throwing her violently backwards into darkness.
When she woke, at first she thought night had fallen, due to the blackness before her eyes. She groped for her weapon, but could not find it. Anxiety ran through her veins. How much time had passed while she was at the mercy of the nearby monsters? Her breathing was hard and harsh in her ears, and she realized with a start that her suit had lost its impermeability. She was breathing toxic gas.
Panic swiftly succeeded anxiety. She still saw nothing, but the acid was rapidly filling her lungs. She needed to move, and quickly. Her horse had certainly fled with the explosion, but she still whistled desperately. After what felt like an eternity, she heard the muffled sound of hooves on the sand.
“Dybet!” she whispered, relieved. The tip of her horse's nostrils gently touched the top of her suit. She rose to her feet slowly, steadying herself against her mount. It was a struggle to get into the saddle, but she succeeded thanks to the adrenaline that only a deep survival instinct could summon.
"Take me home," she implored her horse.
Regardless of if her mare understood her command, she still set off. Elise could only allow herself to be transported. At some point she fell unconscious again, but when she woke she was still in the saddle, weakly lying across Dybet's neck.
"Builder!"
She heard the cry but couldn't reply. Several hands lifted her from the saddle, and she felt her suit being removed. Panicked screams echoed in her ears.
"Go fetch Dr. Fang! NOW!"
She passed out.