The Blackscrap Market didn't officially exist.
Which was impressive, given it smelled like engine grease, gunpowder, and hot regret.
Kael adjusted the hood of his dusty cloak and tried to ignore the fact that half the people here looked like they could kill him with a sneeze. Nyra walked ahead with practiced ease, weaving through stalls packed with relic parts, stolen drones, mutated meat on sticks, and weapons shaped like nightmares.
BITS hovered inside Kael's cloak, whispering just above a mumble.
> "This place scores a ten out of ten on my 'absolutely going to explode' danger scale. Also: that guy over there is selling reprogrammed deathbots for five chips."
Kael muttered back, "Good thing we're broke."
Nyra glanced over her shoulder. "Stick close. If someone asks, you're my cousin from the Rustbelt and you're mute."
Kael raised a brow. "Mute?"
"Less chance of you saying something stupid."
Kael sighed. "You're really great for my confidence."
BITS chimed, "She's not wrong, statistically."
They passed a metal stall with glass tanks filled with squirming purple things that blinked. A vendor with metal fingers waved and said, "Need a stomach parasite? Guaranteed immunity boost!"
Kael shook his head. "Hard pass."
"Suit yourself. You'll regret having a pure gut in this economy."
---
Nyra led them down a tighter alley lit by flickering neon. She stopped outside a curtain of wires and tapped a rhythm on a cracked keypad. The door buzzed.
A woman opened it—tall, wiry, with green-tinted goggles and a smirk that said she'd seen too much.
"Nyra," she said. "Didn't think I'd see you again without a bounty on your head."
Nyra shrugged. "Still working on it."
"This your new partner?"
Kael tried to smile. "I'm her cousin. From the Rustbelt. Can't talk."
The woman squinted. "You look like a walking malfunction."
BITS whispered, "Rude."
Nyra stepped in. "We're here for relic info. You still tracking Solara frequencies?"
The woman—Tessa—led them through rows of stacked tech. Old-world screens blinked with ancient code. At the center of it all: a table glowing with faint blue light.
Tessa tapped it.
A map formed, showing fractured zones and pulsing relic points.
"This one lit up two nights ago," she said. "Out in the Woundlands. Same signature as the fall of Solara."
Kael leaned closer. "That's where I was."
Tessa's brow rose. "Then you just became a myth."
Nyra pointed to another pulse. "And this?"
Tessa frowned. "That's new. A second light… barely stable. Could be another relic activation. Or a trap."
Nyra nodded. "We'll go check it."
Kael blinked. "We will?"
Nyra looked at him. "You wanted answers. That signal might lead us to the second key."
Tessa gave them a warning glare. "If you're stirring the ashes of Solara, be ready to burn. Malrix's hounds have been sniffing around. They don't ask questions."
BITS muttered, "So nice. So welcoming."
---
Outside the market, Kael finally asked, "What's the second key?"
Nyra adjusted her dagger strap. "Solara sealed itself using two 'Conduits.' You just activated one. If we find the other, maybe we can access the vaults beneath the city."
Kael frowned. "And you want to open them?"
"I want to know what's inside."
BITS added, "I want to not die, but hey, let's break open ancient alien bunkers. What could go wrong?"
---
They camped that night near a fossilized tree, eating protein bars that tasted like sadness.
Kael stared at the stars. "You think Malrix is really watching?"
Nyra lay nearby, arms behind her head. "Always."
Kael rolled onto his side. "What happens if we find the second Conduit?"
Nyra didn't answer right away. Then she said, "Then we find the truth. About what ended the world. About why people like you were meant to bring back the Light."
Kael exhaled. "No pressure."
BITS beeped quietly, "I vote we all grow wings and flee the planet."
---
In the distance, a figure stood atop a ruined tower, cloak flapping in the wind. A pale lens glinted where their eye should be.
They watched the firelight from Kael and Nyra's camp.
And they smiled.