THE CULLING TRIAL

My lungs burn as I stumble through the Ironwyrm's twisted wreckage. Metal groans and sparks around me. Behind me, too close, that thing roars again, claws on glass against my skull.

"Move, move, move!" I gasp, vaulting over a jutting seat. 

The floor tilts. I taste copper, blood from biting my tongue during the crash.

The creature fills the doorway behind me, all shadow and teeth. Its amber eyes glow in the emergency lighting. I don't look back again.

My fingers find the emergency release. Nothing. I hit it again.

"Come on!"

The door hisses open as something wet splatters my neck. I dive through, rolling across the train floor as claws rake where my head was.

I was the only one who survived this attack, well, the only one that has held long enough. 

Who would have thought I'd be in this unfortunate turn of event twelve hours ago, trying so hard to survive what I see as impossible. 

My brain is playing tricks on me as I drift back to twelve hours ago when I was still safe in my cluster ark. 

I sat on a cold bench counting crumpled bills. Forty-seven credits, all I had after paying another chunk of my step-aunt Sera's gambling debts.

"You look like someone stole your last meal." Tobi dropped beside me, a lanky frame folding like a pocketknife. His gap-toothed smile showed.

My hair was ruffled with Mila appearing on my other side. Copper hair fell past her shoulders as she tucked a strand behind her ear.

"Bad day at the credit exchange?" she asked.

I let the bills flutter. "Sera's bookie came by. She owes three hundred from last week's sphere-ball matches."

Tobi whistled low. "She's getting worse."

"She's getting desperate," Mila corrected. "The marking ceremony ends in a few hours. She knows she's running out of time to—"

"Don't." I cut her off. "Just don't say it."

But we all knew. The marking is a period where families trade their children for supplies. The government called it ‘noble sacrifice’. Crowds cheered when selected teenagers walked that final path, disappearing forever.

"It won't happen," I said. "I'll turn eighteen in a few days. Then I can file complaints against Sera, get custody of Cent and Vivi—"

"Kae." Mila's hand found mine. "It won't be that simple."

"I know how to work the system. There's always a loophole if you know where to look."

Tobi exchanged glances with Mila. "What if there isn't this time?"

My stomach clenched. "There has to be."

"Unless she does the wicked thing before then," Mila finished.

The marking brought compensation like medicine, food rations, clean water. For desperate families, it seemed like salvation. Never mind that supplies dried up after a few weeks with guilt and regret of never seeing their children again.

"She wouldn't," I said, doubt creeping in. "She needs the twins' ration cards."

"Unless she thinks three months of double rations is worth years of regular ones," Tobi said grimly.

Above us, the massive glass dome stretched endlessly, showing a synthetic sky. The Sphere, humanity's final sanctuary from the apocalyptic war. As populations grew, we built five satellite Ark-regions connected by transport channels.

"I have to catch my shift," Tobi said, checking his wrist comm.

"And I've got that thing with my supervisor," Mila added.

I watched Tobi's hand find Mila's, fingers intertwining before they remembered I was there and pulled apart.

"See you tomorrow?" Mila asked, cheeks pink.

"Yeah. Tomorrow."

I watched them leave together, noting how they kept glancing at each other. Were they planning some future without me?

"Rough day?"

I spun to find a tall, pale man with gray hair and winter-ice eyes. Maybe thirty, but carried himself like he'd seen more years.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to startle you. Mind if I sit?" His clothes were nicer than our clusters, subtly expensive.

"Suit yourself."

He settled at the bench's far end. "I'm Pierce." He offered cigarettes.

"Don't smoke."

"What are you, underage?" His eyes scanned me head to toe.

I have dark hair that falls in thick, tousled waves and striking auburn eyes that shift to gray with golden flecks depending on the light and my mood. 

My athletic build features broad shoulders tapering to a lean waist, with capable hands earned through physical work. I wasn't huge but tall enough to count as that.

My face combines a strong jawline with high cheekbones and expressive dark brows, creating what people call handsome features which I doubt I am as stress has made me look I'm in my twenties. 

"You are seventeen? You look older. Taller than most grown men."

"I'll be eighteen in a few days." Like that's going to make things look better. 

He lit a cigarette. "Not surprised. You probably got that from Wudi."

My blood went cold. "You knew my father?"

Pierce's thin smile didn't reach his eyes. "Wudi was quite the sensation back in the day. Made quite an impression in the Sphere."

Something was off about this guy. Every instinct screamed warnings.

"You want to play a game?" Pierce asked suddenly.

"What?"

"A little wager. Nothing serious. We ask each other questions. Winner gets the loser to share something personal."

Every reasonable part told me to walk away. But something about how he'd mentioned my father...

"Fine. What kind of game?"

Pierce's smile widened, teeth looking too sharp. "Twenty questions. You think of something, I try to guess."

We played for an hour. I lost every single round. Like he could read my mind, pulling impossible answers from thin air.

"Enough," Pierce said, standing. "I think that's sufficient for now."

"Wait. What about your end of the wager?"

He paused. "We'll settle up later. I'll be in touch."

"But you didn't give me your contact—"

"Won't need to." Pierce's grin was definitely too wide now. "I know where to find you, Kae."

He disappeared, leaving me with icy dread growing in my stomach.

My mind was occupied with the thought of the weird stranger. How did he know so much about me and I knew so little about him, aside his name 

The stale cigarettes and cheap alcohol welcomed me when I got to my apartment and walked through the door.

"—told you to be back by six, and here it is past eight, do you think I'm running some kind of charity here?" Sera's voice hit me before I'd closed the door.

I scanned for Cent and Vivi. Their bedroom door was closed. Probably hiding.

"Are you even listening to me?" Sera snapped, stepping into my sight. Smaller than me, but she carried herself like she could knock me flat. Dyed blonde hair hung in greasy strings, makeup settled into lines like war paint.

"Where are the twins?"

"Don't you change the subject with me, boy."

I met her bloodshot gaze. "And I asked you one too."

Her hands clenched into fists. Then, slowly, she smiled.

"You want to know where your precious ones are?" She pulled out her tablet. "Maybe you should see this first."

The video made my blood turn to ice. It was me, clear as day, slipping bread under my jacket at Morrison's Market. The timestamp showed last Tuesday. Then came another and another.

"Funny thing about security cameras," Sera said sickeningly sweet. "They see everything."

My mouth went dry. "Those were day-old items. Stuff he throws away—"

"Theft is theft, sweet boy. And this..." She gestured at the screen showing every time I'd taken food over six months. "This is enough to get you sent to labor camps until you're thirty."

The room tilted. "What do you want?"

"You know what I want." A new document appeared with official letterhead. "All three of your names are in the marking registry. Tomorrow."

"No."

"Cent! Vivi!" Sera called. "Come say goodbye to your big brother!"

The twins emerged like ghosts. Cent's dark hair stuck up at odd angles, eyes red from crying. Vivi clung to his hand, face pale and streaked with tears.

"Please," Cent whispered, looking directly at me. "Please don't let her do this."

"I won't," I promised, with no idea how. "I'll figure something out—"

A knock at the door cut me off. Sera's smile widened as she moved toward it. "Right on time."

The world tilted when I saw who was standing at the entrance.

"Hello Kae." he grinned "We meet again."