Kai kept walking, one foot in front of the other, not because he had a destination but because stopping meant the city would notice.
He thought about himself the way he sometimes did when the silence got too loud. Not as a person, but as a blank. After Serith—after his brother—he'd shoved all the noise down so deep there wasn't much left. No anger, no softness. Just a shell.
If he were a character in a book, he figured he'd be the one in the background. A silhouette in the corner, not worth remembering. And maybe that was right. Maybe he didn't deserve to be anything else.
His hand brushed the bone knife in his pocket, the only thing that proved he was still here.
That was when he saw him.
The broker. Again, one of them at least.
Kai was certain their were multiple power players in this city.
Carried in his sling of patched canvas by barefoot children, torso swaying with each step. No arms. No legs. Just eyes that caught Kai the second he looked up. Sharp, cutting, like a predator that didn't need claws anymore.
The broker smiled—if you could call it that.
Kai's throat went dry.
Maybe, just maybe, there was a way. Money. Survival. A crack in this rotting city he could slip through before it chewed him down to nothing.
Maybe even escape.
He followed.
-----
He heard them call him Aluth so
Kai reluctantly followed the Broker, their path cutting through a crooked alley draped with a heavy curtain.
People parted without a word. No jeers, no stares, no accidents. They just shifted aside, careful not to brush against the barefoot children hauling Aluth's ruined body. Respect or fear—Kai couldn't tell which.
Beyond the curtain was a chamber washed in smoke and lamplight. A throne of scavenged steel dominated the center. Around it, children waited like statues, knives on their hips, rifles taller than their frames propped against the wall. Soldiers, not kids.
Aluth was lowered into his seat, his head tilting as his eyes fixed on Kai.
"Ahhh. What brings you here?" His chuckle was a wet rattle. "Name's Aluth. What can I do for you?"
Kai shifted, fingers brushing the bone knife in his pocket. "I… I need a way back to Zone Alpha. Back home."
Aluth's laugh cracked through the air. "Home? You'd crawl back into the Concord's chains? Leave the free world just to be another numbered slave?" His eyes gleamed. "Interesting."
"I don't care what you call it. I just want out."
"Hah!" The Broker's shoulders shook. "I can't give you that. But the Legion of Death… oh, they've got rifts. Floor three-forty-nine. Passage from Australia all the way to America. Not common knowledge. Not safe, either. To use one, you'd need an LOD coin." His voice dropped lower. "And even I can't put that in your hand."
He paused, lips twisting. "But I can offer something else. A job. Three blood coins when it's done." He gestured toward the ring of waiting children. "And one of my soldiers, to make sure you don't die before the city's finished with you."
Kai frowned. "A soldier?"
Aluth's grin spread slow, jagged. He clicked his tongue. A boy stepped forward, no older than twelve, a blade strapped to his side. His hoodie was too big, his eyes far too calm.
Kai's stomach turned. "He's… a kid."
"Not a kid," Aluth rasped. "A soldier. The city doesn't care how tall you are—only how fast you kill." He leaned in, voice a hiss. "Fail me, and he'll learn to kill you instead."
The boy smiled faintly at that, like it was a promise.
Kai swallowed the bile in his throat. "What's the job?"
"A courier," Aluth said. "Carries a pouch tied with red thread. Bring it to me. Alive or dead, I don't care. Three coins when you return. The boy walks with you until then."
Kai's jaw clenched. He didn't trust the Broker. He didn't trust the boy. He didn't trust himself. But in this city, trust didn't matter. Survival did.
"…Fine," he muttered.
"Good," Aluth crooned, sinking back into his throne. "Then let's see if you're worth the city's teeth."