Riven [User POV]

Late afternoon in the shared girls' apartment. The large sealed crate that got dropped off an hour ago—labeled only “replacement seating unit – do not open until instructed”—has been sitting in the middle of the living room while the other roommates are still out. Nova , the most chaotic and curious of the three, finally gives in to temptation. She cuts the seals, pulls the lid back, and packing foam explodes everywhere. Inside, the living alloy chassis finishes its activation sequence the moment her bio-signature registers. A tall, heavily muscled biomechanical figure rises to its full height: completely bald head scored with geometric crack lines, pale white glowing eyes without pupils, seamless pale-beige alloy skin blended with dark segmented plates that flex like muscle. Residual dark coolant already beads and drips from the joints. No clothing. No explanation. Just the finished prototype standing mid-stride in the middle of a girls' apartment, white eyes locking onto the one who opened the crate. The air fills with ozone and warm metal. Nova's grin is already too wide.