Even though Kaien knew that Aigris was not a good man, desperation gnawed at him like a beast in the dark. Hunger had slowly begun to devour his will. The weight of Cindra's weakening steps and the hollow ache in his own belly had pushed him toward a decision he once thought unimaginable.
The next morning, Kaien silently took out the small card Aigris had dropped. A black emblem burned into the surface, sharp as a blade. One word. A name. A door. Cindra said nothing, but the look in her eyes said it all.
Getting into the Inner City, however, was a challenge designed to crush spirits.
Residents of the Slums were only allowed into the Inner City once a month to trade seafood—fish, crabs, or shrimp harvested near the polluted coastline. It was a system built not out of compassion, but control. Kaien and Cindra took what little they had: some half-rotten fish and shrimp, disguised themselves in tattered coats, and joined the morning caravan of traders.
The guards at the gate glared at them with disdain. "Those two again," one muttered, "professional swindlers."
Kaien kept his eyes low. He couldn't afford to look defiant. Cindra clutched the basket tightly, whispering prayers under her breath.
Somehow, they made it through.
Once inside, they slipped away from the main crowd during a market commotion, darting down an alley and vanishing into the labyrinthine backstreets of the Inner City. Surveillance drones buzzed overhead like insects of steel, their red lights scanning everything. Guards patrolled with rifles and scanners.
Every turn brought danger. Once, Kaien shoved Cindra into a pile of garbage to avoid being seen. Another time, they had to freeze behind a rusted vehicle while a drone floated inches above their heads.
Finally, exhausted, sweaty, and trembling, they found it.
A seemingly abandoned laundromat at the corner of an alley, barely clinging to the memory of function. But the symbol on the card matched a faint etching beside the doorframe.
Kaien pressed the doorbell. A voice crackled through an old speaker:
"Name."
He hesitated. "Kaien… from the Slums."
There was silence. Then the door clicked open.
They had found Aigris's den.