Three months after the signing, the Sentinel BioTech team touched down at NAIA International Airport.
It was a quiet arrival. No dia. No fanfare. Just a chartered flight, a convoy of waiting SUVs, and a handful of military escorts cleared in advance by both the U.S. and Philippine governnts.
Inside one of the lead vehicles, Matthew Borja stared out the window as the city passed by. The sa streets. The sa air. But everything felt different now.
He had just closed the biggest defense contract in modern history.
Angel sat beside him, typing out a list of follow-ups on her tablet. She didn't look up when she spoke. "We've got a security briefing with the DND tomorrow. They want to discuss supply chain visibility and local integration."
Matthew nodded. "Any pushback?"
"Not yet," she replied. "But there will be. The mont this goes public, people are going to ask why the Philippines is the base of operations for a tech this powerful."
Matthew smirked. "Let them ask. We have the answers."
Behind them, the rest of the core team—Dr. Vasquez, Dr. Watanabe, Daniel Cho—were already going over their reentry protocols and first-phase rollout in Manila. They weren't celebrating anymore. They were switching gears. Fast.
—
Back at their newly upgraded facility in tro Manila, the gates opened for the first ti since their return. Renovations had been ongoing for months, but with U.S. funding now secured, construction had accelerated across every wing of the campus.
Back at their newly upgraded facility in tro Manila, the gates opened for the first ti since their return. Renovations had been ongoing for months, but with U.S. funding now secured, construction had accelerated across every wing of the campus.
There were new buildings being erected along the outer periter. Entire warehouses cleared for automated assembly lines. Even their central command hub had been refitted with encrypted satellite links and a secure conference room for incoming calls from Washington.
Matthew walked through the main hangar, eyeing the spaces designated for the first dostic Titan Mk-I assembly line. The scaffolding was already up. Crates of imported machinery sat under tarps. Workers were welding fra rails for what would eventually beco the staging area for full-body sync calibration.
Angel joined him on the catwalk. "We've got six weeks until the U.S. expects the first ten units. Think we're still on track?"
"We have no choice," Matthew said. "We make it work."
She handed him a printout. "These are the candidates shortlisted for senior manufacturing roles. We've already done background checks. Mostly engineers and project leads from top-tier firms."
Matthew gave it a glance. "Approve them. Set up interviews this week."
Down below, Dr. Vasquez was already in her elent, coordinating with logistics to get the first components unloaded. She waved up at them and shouted, "The titanium composites are behind schedule! I'm following up with the Batangas port!"
Angel sighed. "Supply chain's going to be a nightmare."
"It always is," Matthew replied.
Later that day, they gathered in the main conference room.
This wasn't a celebration. This was business.
Matthew stood at the front with a whiteboard behind him, covered in phase markers: Production. Calibration. Deploynt. Maintenance. Iteration.
"Alright," he began, "the demonstration is over. We're done proving ourselves. Now it's about execution."
He pointed at the list.
"Phase one: Ten units delivered to Fort Hanley. Four for Tier 1 special forces. Six for R&D and evaluation. Tiline: Six weeks."
Dr. Watanabe nodded. "We'll need to run neural sync compatibility tests with the U.S. operators before shipnt. Every soldier's neural response pattern is different."
"Do it," Matthew said. "Angel, loop in the embassy. I want those tests scheduled within the next two weeks."
"Already on it," she replied.
Matthew turned to Daniel. "Status of the AI firmware?"
"We're ready," Daniel said. "All ten units will ship with Version 1.0 of the Titan OS. Core features are stable—predictive sync, ergency override, movent learning. No bugs reported on our last round of testing."
"Good. What about training modules?"
"Almost done," Daniel added. "We're building a lightweight VR suite for operator familiarization. It won't replace field ti, but it's enough to bring them up to speed before they suit up."
Matthew nodded. "Push it to production by next week."
—
That evening, Matthew walked through the command hub alone.
The monitors were live with feeds—inventory movent, supplier updates, U.S. military correspondence. It felt like a control tower for a battlefield that hadn't started yet.
He stopped in front of one monitor. A real-ti 3D model of Titan Mk-I rotated slowly on screen, with overlays for its components.
Even now, it didn't feel real.
He reached for a nearby terminal and logged in.
New Project Entry: TITAN Mk-II
Objective: Lighter. Faster. Smarter.
He didn't type anything else.
Not yet.
Just opened the page.
Angel's voice broke the silence from behind him. "You're not even done with the first rollout."
Matthew looked over his shoulder. "You know . I like to stay ahead."
She raised an eyebrow. "You sure this is how you want to live? Next version. Next build. Next pressure."
"It's not about want," he said. "It's about staying in control."
Angel walked in, glancing at the Mk-II file. "You really think we'll need a second version that fast?"
Matthew's tone was low. "Eventually, soone will try to copy us. We need to be ready before that happens."
She didn't argue.
She knew he was right.
—
Back at his office, Matthew sat in silence for a long ti.
A blank notepad sat on his desk. No diagrams. No notes. Just a single sentence at the top of the page.
NEXT OBJECTIVE: GLOBAL LEADERSHIP IN EXOSUIT INTEGRATION.
The project had when he was scrolling through the series of technologies from the USB, sparking his interest as he had already seen what suits can do in the event of war in the futuristic tiline.
Now it was military doctrine.
And soon?
It would be the new standard.
He closed the notepad.
Then stood up.
Tomorrow, they build.
He turned off the lights, leaving the room in silence except for the soft hum of the servers behind the wall. As he stepped into the hallway, Angel was already waiting outside, tablet in hand.
"You ready?" she asked.
Matthew nodded. "Always."
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