The host awakens after absorbing a crystal and meets the Guardian Matrix and its assistant Coco. The Matrix issues a mission: gain the chief's trust in 12 hours for 5,000 guardian points; failure will revert time to the apocalypse and wipe out humanity. The host claims the 'Fortress Blueprint,' a 30,000-mile coastal fortress to save Taelsky, but Prof. Quinn, who can authorize it, is busy on the Ether System. The host decides to submit future-tech blueprints (nanochip, Unit-0 mecha, energy conversion) to the research center as proof. With the clock ticking, it's unclear if the center will accept them.