Mike
The air of Klein 4 was acrid as usual.
Metallic and bitter, it wasn't an exaggeration to say that breathing it in wasn't good for one's health, and it was generally advised to go out with an oxygen mask to reduce the risk of damaging one's respiratory system. A warning that most people happily complied with as breathing in such air wasn't pleasant.
Mike wasn't most people, though.
"Hah! Now would I have found something like this if I hadn't gone out this far?" A short, grime-covered boy let out a toothy grin as he strained a bit to pick up a slightly rusted cylindrical device the size of his arm from a pile of metal scraps that looked like a small hill.
"A ship piston this size can fetch me a hundred credits at least. It's also still in such good condition," He mumbled as he placed it inside what looked like a makeshift cart.
After that, he wiped his brow and looked at his haul. The cart was filled with all sorts of scraps. Pieces from destroyed vehicles and ships which were in somewhat salvageable condition filled the cart, and it looked like a lot for someone so small to pull themselves, but Mike had been through worse.
"Guess my luck has been pretty good recently. With all this, I might be able to afford salt in the coming days." He almost drooled, but as soon as he had the thought, he slapped his cheeks lightly.
'Wait until you sell everything first.' He thought before moving in front of his cart. He grabbed the handles at the front, and with a bit of a grunt, he started pulling, the aged wheels creaking with each revolution.
As he pulled, Mike looked up and saw the settlement in the distance.
A massive dome covered it, acting both as a barrier as well as a filter, allowing cleaner air to enter. Buildings and skyscrapers were visible through this dome, with lights flashing here and there.
The interior was a stark contrast from the dead ground and toxic air of the outside, a lot cleaner too.
Well, that's what Mike would know. He'd never been inside the main settlement. He was an outskirts boy after all.
After about 20 minutes, Mike reached the edge of the settlement, and here, a significantly less prosperous area could be seen. Decrepit and badly maintained buildings could be seen scattered about, with rough paths being carved between them due to people treading through them continuously.
People with haggard appearances walked these paths, many looked hungry and wore worn-out and dirty clothes with grim countenances.
It was rare to find a smile in a place like this, the southern outskirts, a place where meals were hard to come by and waking up the next day was never a certainty.
Yet, Mike still smiled.
It seemed out of place, the small, first covered boy practically beamed as he dragged his haul through the unkempt streets.
After a while, he ended up in front of a large shop.
Joe's Workshop
Without hesitation, he walked through the entrance and into an open space that was filled with all sorts of things in different states of disrepair. Radios, gadgets, appliances, etc.
"Big Joe! I've gotten more stuff for you." Mike called out.
There was the sound of things shifting and falling, and a moment later, a big man came from the back.
He had greasy hair and a shirt covered in oil stains with visible eye bags.
When he laid eyes on Mike, he raised a brow.
"Quite the haul you have there. Did no one try to rob you?" The man asked in a gruff voice and Mike shook his head.
"Nope, everyone minded their business," Mike answered curtly, and Big Joe raised a brow, but he didn't seem particularly surprised, as though it wasn't a rare occurrence.
"Well, whatever. Let's see what you got this time."
The next half an hour was then spent with Mike and Big Joe offloading the contents of the cart and Big Joe ascertaining the price for everything.
"That will be 2,500 credits. A bit more than your usual haul eh?" The man finished and Mike beamed.
"Just my luck! Thanks, Big Joe." The man huffed and just turned his wrist which held a small watch towards Mike. Mike also held up his wrist which held a similar watch. The two of them touched, and a familiar buzz let the boy know that the transaction went through.
"See you next time," Mike said and started to pull his cart again.
"Hey kid, hold on." Big Joe suddenly said, and Mike paused as he faced the man curiously.
Big Joe seemed to hesitate before saying.
"It's a bit of a rumor I heard a while back, but I remember some people talking about a previously unearthed scrap site a couple of miles farther away from your usual range of movement. Heard that it might potentially hold some more rare stuff." Mike paused and stared at the man with unmasked shock.
"That's... some hefty information. Why are you telling me this?" He asked after a while. For all his optimism, he wasn't naive. He knew that information like that didn't come cheap or easy, and some would even kill for something like that.
Big Joe sighed.
"My scrapper days are long behind me, and I have no one I can send to help gather the stuff for me. Besides, you're an earnest kid. You work hard. It's about time you had a lucky break," He lingered, then he added. "Also, if possible, I'd like you to get enough credits to buy a ticket off this moon." Mike blinked at the second part.
"Why?" He asked, confused.
"You've heard of the rumors, haven't you?" Big Joe asked and Mike paused before he understood.
Lizardmen.
Humanity was stuck in a several-century-long war against the enigmatic reptilian race that had come knocking on their doors one day.
Half a millennium ago, a phenomenon that was dubbed the Bestowal occurred.
Humanity managed to become a Type 1 civilization, a distinction granted to a civilization that managed to achieve complete unity.
As soon as it happened, everyone watched with incredulity as orbs began to descend from the sky.
It was unexplained, and even now, no one truly understands why. But the running theory was that humanity had crossed some sort of threshold when they became a Type 1 civilization, triggering this event.
As for what the orbs did? Well, they were widely called Ability Orbs, and they did as their name implied. Anyone who absorbed one of these orbs would be granted strange yet miraculous abilities.
Due to this, the world order quickly changed. Powerful families began emerging as a result of people gaining ability orbs, and the foundations of the civilization were shifted to make way for the powerful ones.
Not everyone got an Ability Orb, hence, those without them tended to be treated worse off compared to those who did.
There were other ways to gain an ability, but those were expensive and reserved for those individuals with lots of influence.
Moving on, humanity had entered a stage of rapid growth, but also peril.
Humans weren't the only ones that had gotten abilities, as animals in the wild also began mutating and started to possess strange abilities that made them far more threatening to a degree where conventional weaponry wasn't very effective against them.
Rare natural treasures also started to pop up around the planet, with minerals with miraculous properties emerging as well, causing modern science to enter a stage of growth never seen before.
This led to a 50-year war against animals which humanity managed to come out on top.
Then came the interstellar era.
Humanity thrived so much that their dreams of reaching the stars no longer became a dream. With the new resources available to them, powerful spacecraft capable of interstellar travel as well as machines that allowed for terraforming were created, allowing for settlements and civilizations to appear on other planets.
In a hundred years, humanity had expanded to gain control over several star systems. Discovering more and more rare resources and constantly advancing.
It truly seemed like a golden age, until the Lizardmen attacked.
Humans have always wondered if they were alone in the universe. If there truly was no other intelligent life besides them. So when the Lizardmen had arrived, they were ecstatic and prepared a warm welcome for the aliens. But instead of diplomacy, they were met with hostility.
The Lizardmen didn't approach with any intentions of peace. Something that was made clear when they used their orbital bombardment on several human-controlled worlds. This came with a chilling message.
Unconditional surrender or extinction.
Not the nicest first contact.
Naturally, humanity had no intention of obeying.
Hence, the beginning of a several-century-long war began, with neither of the two sides truly letting up at any point as they battled constantly.
Mike happened to be born on a Moon which, as aforementioned, is called Klein 4. One of 6 moons circling a mining planet that was quite close to one of the interstellar battlefields between Humans and Lizardmen.
There was always a threat of the Lizardmen breaking through the lines and coming to this place. But recently, more and more rumors have been surfacing of Lizardmen ships getting closer.
Mike had no way of getting off this moon as, quite frankly, he had no money, and affording a ticket heading off the planet was way beyond his ability.
But if he took Big Joe's advice and got to where these high-quality materials were before selling them. He might be able to make enough...
"Thanks, Big Joe, I'll think about it," Mike said with a nod of genuine thanks.
He grabbed his cart and went off, and Big Joe sighed as he watched him go.
'Poor kid. He's almost seventeen, but he looks like a 12-year-old due to his stunted growth.' He shook his head.
'Do quick and leave this awful place. You've been through enough.'
___
'Leaving Klein 4, huh?' Mike thought as he walked with his cart.
He'd never even entered the main settlement, talk less of leaving the moon. The idea seemed outlandish, but he understood that Big Joe was speaking from a place of care. Also, it just made sense.
People speculated that the Lizardmen would arrive in this place in a few years, so leaving the moon was just the smart decision.
'How scary.' He mused as he made his way to a dark corner of the outskirts.
Soon enough, he ended up in a partly collapsed building that was obviously abandoned with virtually no other traces of human activity.
Except Mike of course.
He hummed a tune to himself as he deftly navigated through collapsed walls and entrances until he found himself in a small opening.
It wasn't much. There was a small electric cooker by the side that was solar powered, a makeshift kitchen that kicked far too many appliances, a cot, and some clothes tucked away under a low-hanging piece of concrete.
The boy hummed to himself as he opened a box in his 'kitchen' and took out a sachet of water, downing its contents in one go as he let out a satisfied sigh at the end.
He sat on his cot and stared up for a while.
'Also, if possible, I'd like you to get enough credits to buy a ticket off this moon.' He replayed the words of Big Joe in his mind as he truly considered the information.
He didn't know a lot. He'd spent his entire life in this place, after all. So it was natural that his knowledge of the world was severely limited.
That said, he didn't want to die.
For all his optimism, he was still a human, and the fear of death was one of the most latent fears that, forget humans, even most living beings possessed.
'But say I leave. What then? What can I do? I don't have an ability, nor do I have any skills that would land me a decent level of work, and I can't count on finding someone nice to give me something to do either. I'd be wandering.' He sighed and laid down. The cot wasn't comfortable, but he had long become accustomed to how it felt.
'But, don't wanna be here when everything goes bad...' He closed his eyes and went quite for a while. Then he sighed and made a decision.