Kaius stood frozen, his heart pounding as he stared at the girl lying helpless on the ground. Her once-beautiful face was bruised, her body a broken shell—one leg missing, the other mangled. Her cybernetic arm had been torn off, leaving a jagged stump where an enhancement should have been.
"Why is she here? What happened to her?"
His mind raced with questions, but he found no answers. His good heart pushed him toward helping, but the sight of her condition filled him with fear. He wasn't equipped to deal with this. I'm not strong enough, he thought. I barely have two upgrades—one to access the net and… the other? What even is it? His father had told him once, vaguely, that there was something more—a secret implant that wouldn't activate until he was older, but that was still years away.
In this moment, that knowledge was useless. If the drifters decided to come for him, he was powerless.
Kaius's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of movement behind him. In the distance, he saw a group of drifters—dirty, ragged figures stumbling along the road, smashing containers and creating chaos wherever they went. His body tensed up.
"I should help her… I have to. But what if they come for us?"
His mind was a whirlwind of conflicting emotions. He hated these addicts, hated what they had become, but he was powerless against them. If they decided to beat him up, there was no way he could fight back. His only upgrades were the ones in his head—his neural interface, which allowed him to browse the net mentally, and that mysterious implant he had no control over.
"What can I even do?" He looked back down at the girl, her eyes half-open, filled with pain.
"I should help her," he whispered to himself, knowing deep down that he couldn't leave her there, no matter the risk. He knelt beside her and gently shook her shoulder. "Hey… can you hear me?"
Her cracked lips moved weakly, barely audible. "Help… me…" she whispered, her voice trailing off before she blacked out.
Panic surged through Kaius. Is she dead? He checked for a pulse, feeling the faint beat of her heart. Relief washed over him, but his hands shook with fear. What was he supposed to do?
Suddenly, the drifters grew louder, their voices wild as they smashed their way closer. His chest tightened. They were coming, and fast. His mind raced, desperate for a solution.
"What should I do? How can I avoid a fight? What about her?"The girl was completely vulnerable, and leaving her behind felt like a betrayal of his own conscience.
An idea hit him—risky, but his only shot. He looked around and found a pile of garbage, old tarps and broken crates. Hide her. It was his only option. He gently pulled her under the garbage, covering her with debris, hoping it would be enough to keep her hidden.
"I'll come back," he whispered, standing up and taking a deep breath. He turned and faced the direction of the drifters. Fear gnawed at him, but he forced himself to act. He had to lure them away—away from her.
Kaius stepped into the open alleyway and shouted,
"Punkheads! Come get me, you dumb addict fuckers!"
The drifters stopped in their tracks, turning their heads toward him with bloodshot eyes. For a second, there was silence. Then the chaos erupted. They let out guttural roars and started running toward him, their movements erratic but unnervingly fast.
"Just like I planned," Kaius thought, though fear prickled through his skin. He turned and bolted down the street, heart pounding in his chest. The plan was simple—lure them away from the girl, then escape. But as he glanced over his shoulder, his heart dropped.
These weren't normal drifters.
They had illegal upgrades—powerful ones. Kaius could see the glint of enhanced muscles in their legs, the unnatural speed in their movements. They were catching up, fast.
"Is this all you've got?" Kaius shouted behind him, trying to sound brave. But the reality hit him like a punch to the gut. One of the drifters moved so fast it was like a blink, suddenly closing the gap between them.
Kaius's mind went blank. He froze, his body refusing to move as the drifter loomed over him, his death flashing before his eyes.
"This is it. This is how I die."
But something in his mind sparked—a survival instinct he didn't know he had. His eyes darted to the side, catching sight of a sandbag on the ground nearby. Without thinking, he lunged for it. It weighed 25 kilograms, far heavier than anything he could normally lift, but in his panic, he grabbed it.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
His heart pounded in his chest, but something else surged inside him. His muscles tightened, his eyes flashed a strange purple hue, and in one fluid motion, he hurled the sandbag at the drifter with incredible force. The bag hit the drifter square in the face, sending him stumbling back.
Kaius didn't hesitate. He ran, faster than he thought possible. His mind raced as his legs carried him, his breath ragged, but something inside him felt… different. His body was reacting in ways he didn't understand.
He expected the drifters to chase him, to hear their footsteps behind him—but they didn't follow. When he dared to glance back, they had stopped. They turned around and disappeared into the darkness.
"Why did they stop?" he thought, still running, trying to piece it together.
Then he looked down. His feet had crossed a line in the street. A restricted area. He was standing at the border between the slums and the Sky District—the territory of the rich and privileged.
Kaius stared in awe at the towering structures beyond the border, glittering in the light. He had only been here three times in his life, all on school trips, but he had never crossed into this place on his own. He wasn't supposed to be here.
ALERT. Illegal trespassing. ALERT. Illegal trespassing.
Kaius snapped back to reality. The automated warning blared through the speakers overhead. His heart raced. He had to get out of here.
"How did I run so fast?" he thought, confusion settling in as he turned back. He had covered in minutes what should have taken him two hours. He didn't have time to question it. He had to run—again.
His body was exhausted, his muscles burning from overuse, but he pushed through the pain, his legs barely able to carry him. For nearly two hours, he walked back to where the girl had been. When he arrived, the spot where he had left her was empty.
"No… not yet. Please." He panicked, searching the area, his body trembling with exhaustion.
Finally, he found her. She had crawled into a nearby alley, her body slumped against the wall.
"Here you are," he whispered, relieved.
"Please, come with me. Can you stand up?"
The girl's eyes fluttered open, her voice barely a whisper. "Please… help me…"
Kaius's body screamed in protest, his arms numb, his legs barely holding him up.
But he ignored the pain. He helped her to her feet, supporting her weight as they slowly made their way back home. Twenty minutes later, they arrived.
Kaius knocked on the door, too weak to do much else. His father opened it, and for a moment, he just stood there, staring in disbelief.
Kaius was a mess. His clothes were covered in mud, his hands red and swollen, his body trembling from exhaustion. His left eye was bloodshot, his lips cracked and bruised, as if he'd been through a war. And beside him, a young girl he had saved—barely conscious, leaning on him for support.
"Dad… ple—" Kaius collapsed, his body finally giving out as he fell to the floor. His father caught the girl just in time, his eyes was filled with shock.