The night air in the Rust was thick, smelling of sulfur and wet iron. Bima stepped over a pile of sodden rags, his heart hammering against his ribs like a trapped bird. The holographic display hovered in his peripheral vision, casting a faint, ghostly blue light over his knuckles.[PROXIMITY WARNING: 20 METERS]“Twenty meters,” Bima muttered, his voice barely a tremor in the darkness. “Okay. Okay, Bima. Just stay calm. Don’t be an idiot.”He crept behind the skeletal remains of a transit shuttle. The chittering sound grew louder, a frantic, wet scraping of claws against rusted metal. He peered around the edge of the chassis, his eyes struggling to adjust to the gloom.A shadow detached itself from the wall of the incinerator. It was a Feral Rat, bloated and distorted by the toxic runoff of the city. Its fur was patchy, slick with grime, and its eyes glowed with a predatory, sickly yellow hunger. It was easily the size of a grown man, its limbs elongated and twitching.“That’s not a ra

The mist in the alley didn’t just hang; it clung, heavy with the metallic tang of industrial waste and the lingering scent of ozone. Bima watched Valentina’s back as she walked, her stride rhythmic and calculated. Every movement she made was an insult to the chaotic, messy life of the Rust. She was too clean, too sharp, and far too dangerous to be standing in a place like this.Bima didn’t follow immediately. He stood rooted, his pulse thrumming against his wrist where the violet mark still glowed with a faint, phantom heat."Are you coming, or do you plan on waiting for the next patrol to find you?" Valentina didn't turn around, her voice cutting through the damp air like a blade.Bima exhaled, his lungs feeling tight. He stepped forward, his boots crunching over debris. "You didn't answer my question. Why me? There are thousands of kids in this city with cores that actually work. Most of them have more credits than I do."Valentina stopped near a rusted drainage pipe and turned. The

The air in the arena tasted like scorched ozone. The white-hot sphere of energy in Kael’s palm crackled, the sound akin to a hive of angry hornets. Bima’s vision was flooded with glowing red vectors—the system’s desperate, high-frequency warnings screaming for him to move, to roll, to pray."You're done, trash!" Kael screamed, his face twisted into a mask of pure, unadulterated arrogance."You're overextending, Kael!" Bima shouted back, his voice surprisingly steady despite the violent thrumming in his chest. "That move is going to burn you out before you even touch me!""Shut up!"Kael didn't wait. He thrust his hand forward, releasing the concentrated blast. It wasn't a precision strike; it was a chaotic wave of raw kinetic force, intended to level the section of the arena Bima occupied.Bima didn't scramble backward. He leaned into the encroaching heat, his feet shifting on the rubberized mat as if he were catching a heavy weight. His wrist—that dark, shifting geometric ink—pulsed

The elevator descended with a rhythmic, bone-jarring screech, the metal cage swaying dangerously against the slick walls of the shaft. Bima clung to the rusted handrail, his knuckles white, watching the digital floor indicator tick downward into the negatives."Going down into the belly of the beast, huh?"Bima jumped, spinning around to find the Scout leaning against the far wall of the elevator. He hadn't seen the man enter, but there he was, idly checking the charge on his kinetic rifle."How did you get in here?" Bima asked, his voice tight."I told you, I handle the logistics," the Scout said, not looking up. "You’re heading into a pressurized dead zone. You don't think they’d send a green recruit in alone for a high-value core retrieval, do you? I’m the chaperone. Try not to embarrass yourself."Bima grit his teeth. "You didn't mention a partner.""Plans change. Usually when the variables are as volatile as you," the Scout replied, finally locking eyes with him through those tin