Humanity’s fall didn’t begin with fire or war. It began with a promise. One forged in the year 2102, when the Vonites, a psionic alien species with looks similar to humans, descended from the skies.They came seeking an alliance with Earth and offered various advanced technology and weaponry, including the Awakening Pill… a revolutionary substance capable of making humans stronger, faster, and formidable.The government accepted this alliance without hesitation… which led to the beginning of the end for humanity. The early trials of the awakening pills were disasters, with thousands of volunteers convulsing and dying.The Vonites later revealed that the pill worked best on biologically stressed bodies… with disease. The government, desperate at the time, began infecting test subjects, turning to society’s outcasts: criminals, the homeless, the disabled, experimenting harshly on them.Countless people died in the hopes of perfecting the pill, and only a fraction survived… but those who

Liam jolted upright with a gasp, eyes bulging open. His hand instinctively flew to the side of his gut, but it was smooth. No blood, no stab wound. Just bare skin.He sat there for a moment, scanning the dimly lit walls of his bedroom. He looked down… his clothes were clean, a fresh shirt clinging to his skin.Liam blinked. “What the hell…” his voice rasped in the silence.His mind scrambled back to the images of the night… the thugs, the girl’s desperate eyes, the knife, the strange blue light in his chest before darkness swallowed him. He remembered it all too vividly. But it didn’t make any sense. He was in his room. Alive. Without a sign of alleyway violence.Then it dawned to him.“Oh! It was just a dream,” he muttered to himself, exhaling slowly, a wave of relief washing over him. Dragging himself to his feet, he walked toward the bathroom, staring at his reflection in the mirror. His face looked pale, but whole. No cut. No blood. Just exhaustion.“…God, what a nightmare,” he

The neighborhood stretched before them; cracked concretes, rusted pipes, buildings leaning against each other like drunkards.Their block still had running water and flickering power, which was a rare luxuries here. Its walls were bare, but it stood upright. Others had caved balconies, roofs patched with tin, and doors chained with rope.This was the city’s slum… a rough, breathing ghetto of survival.Clovis city was a Tier Three city, which meant it lacked a lot of nice living conditions. But it was still a lot better than the wasteland of Tier Four cities, where Rita’s mother still lived. Those were lands of chaos: lawless streets, no utilities… just gangs for government.In comparison, Clovis was paradise, with a semblance of order and normalcy still existing.Tier Two cities on the other hand, were worlds apart… basically half-utopias still haunted by crime, but extremely better than tier three cities.But Tier One cities? Those were heavens. The homes of the Awakened and elite h

As Liam and Ben pulled into the dining room, they were greeted with a chaotic scene.Four men were trashing the place, flipping tables and knocking trays to the floor. Customers had already fled, the few who remained were pressed against the walls in fear. The men all wore green headbands, fingerless gloves, and their exposed arms were covered in tattoos. And on their headbands, stitched in dark ink, was the sigil of a coiled serpent. Liam’s frown deepened. He could feel a hot surge of anger building. But Ben, instead of shouting or lunging forward, let out a weary sigh. He walked calmly towards the destructive intruders, his hands held up in a placating gesture. "Gentlemen, gentlemen," he began, his voice remarkably even. "What seems to be the trouble?"The leader, a hulking man with a shaved head and a cruel smirk, turned his gaze on Ben. "The trouble, old man," he sneered, "is that your weekly tribute to the Green Serpent gang is due. And we haven't received it."Ben exhaled slo

The silence in the small room stretched like a blade. Liam’s breath still came ragged, his chest rising and falling as if he’d sprinted a marathon. The weight of her last words sat on him like an anchor dragging him to the bottom of an ocean.The girl sighed. Her eyes flickered with something softer, something almost human. She looked down for a moment, then back up at him.“Look,” she said quietly. “I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to put your life in danger.”Liam froze. He wasn’t expecting remorse from her.. not after everything.She continued, her tone steady but edged with genuine regret. “It wasn’t my intention to force the system on you. Things… weren’t supposed to happen like this.”Liam swallowed hard, steadying himself. The storm inside him hadn’t settled, but her words gave him something to cling to. His brows furrowed, suspicion mixing with curiosity. “What are you talking about?”The girl took a slow breath, as though steadying herself for a confession. “I should probably