(12 Hours Ago)
The streets of Arachis City buzzed with chaotic energy. Food vendors shouted over each other as they sold greasy meat skewers under flickering neon lights. Workers strained under heavy crates while rich kids in silk jackets pushed through the crowds. The air stank of sweat, oil, and something sweetly rotten. Maya hated every second of it.
She pulled her ragged black hood lower, her fingers tightening around her satchel strap. Just get to the academy. Don't stop. Don't look at anyone. But the city had other plans.
"Watch where you're going, trash!"
A massive fist shoved her backward. Glass shattered at her feet—an expensive soda bottle now spilling its contents across the dirty street. Maya's stomach clenched. Not now. Not this.
"I'll pay for it," she said quickly, already reaching for her purse.
The man—some dockworker thug by the look of him—laughed in her face. His breath reeked of alcohol and rotten teeth. Behind him, his friends moved to block her escape. One cracked his knuckles. Another rested a hand on his shock-rod.
"Pay?" The leader sneered. "With what? You look like you can't even afford rat meat." His filthy fingers grabbed her chin. "But maybe we can work something out..."
Maya's blood turned to ice. Then to fire.
"Name your price," she spat.
The man's grin widened. "One gold credit."
Her heart stopped. One gold credit? That was more than most people made in a year! The broken bottle at her feet was maybe worth five bronze credits—a day's wages, not a fortune.
The currency system was simple but brutal:
1000 copper = 1 bronze (a loaf of bread)
1000 bronze = 1 silver (a decent weapon)
1000 silver = 1 gold (a medium-sized house)
1000 gold = 1 platinum (a noble's pocket money)
1000 platinum = 1 black credit (more than she'd ever see)
"You're out of your mind," Maya growled. "That's five bronze at most."
The thug grabbed her arm, his grip like iron. "Then come with us, sweetheart. We'll... negotiate."
Maya's vision went red. She could feel their eyes crawling over her body, could almost smell their disgusting excitement. Her hands shook—not from fear, but from the effort of not killing them right there in the street.
Walk away. Just walk away.
Then his friend grabbed her ass.
—Three Minutes Later—
The alley smelled like blood now.
Six men whimpered on the ground. The leader wasn't grinning anymore—not with his jaw hanging sideways and three teeth missing. Maya stood over him, her knuckles split and bleeding.
"Should've taken the money," she whispered, her voice shaking with rage.
Sirens wailed in the distance. Maya wiped her bloody hands on the thug's stolen jacket and ran. The academy seal in her satchel burned against her hip like a brand.
Arachis Academy waited.
And this time, she wouldn't be stopped.