Humanity's fall didn't begin with fire or war. It began with a promise. One forged in the year 2102, when the Vonites, a psionic alien species with looks similar to humans, descended from the skies.
They came seeking an alliance with Earth and offered various advanced technology and weaponry, including the Awakening Pill... a revolutionary substance capable of making humans stronger, faster, and formidable.
The government accepted this alliance without hesitation... which led to the beginning of the end for humanity. The early trials of the awakening pills were disasters, with thousands of volunteers convulsing and dying.
The Vonites later revealed that the pill worked best on biologically stressed bodies... with disease. The government, desperate at the time, began infecting test subjects, turning to society's outcasts: criminals, the homeless, the disabled, experimenting harshly on them.
Countless people died in the hopes of perfecting the pill, and only a fraction survived... but those who did awakened abilities that defied reason; bending elements, warping reality, moving faster than bullets.
The awakened were born.
The government intended to weaponise them for the Vonite war, per their alliance conditions. But the first generation of awakened were not so compliant. They rebelled.
They were hardened criminals and scarred experiment victims gifted with terrifying powers and nothing to lose. Of course, they would rebel. They slaughtered millions, seized nations, and took over the world in weeks. They literally became overlords.
And the world became their playground.
The criminal overlords cut ties with the Vonites and seized control of the Awakening Pill, distributing it only to their loyalists.
Civilisation rearranged around chaos: slavery, gangs, draconian law, and a tiered city system where the rich and powerful grew absolute while the majority of the human population starved.
Earth was transformed into a dystopian society ruled by criminal empires and cybernetic punks. The world was a nightmare.
And Liam Queen was a victim of it.
It had been ten years since the rebellion, and only two per cent of the human population were awakened. The rest were freaks with cybernetic body parts, and normal humans.
Liam belonged to the category of the latter. He was an orphan who survived in the cracks. His parents had been scientists on the Awakening pill project, and were executed and dumped in the streets during the rebellion.
Liam and his younger sister, Lila grew up in an orphanage, later scraping by in a cramped two-bedroom apartment in the slums of Clovis, a tier three city.
Now, at eighteen, Liam had to work multiple jobs to ensure the survival of himself and his sister. He had no friends. No allies, except for Lila. She was the only person in the world he cared about. She was all he had.
The streets of the city were a dangerous, unforgiving place, but Liam still pushed on, determined and willing to do whatever it takes to survive.
And tonight, his will to survive would be put to the test.
Clovis was drizzling with fog and rain as Liam was heading home. The streets smelled like rust and petrichor. He pulled his hood tighter as he threaded through the shadows, his boots splashing through puddles. Neon signs flickered above him, advertising bars, pawnshops, and brothels he had no money for.
The streets were quieter than usual tonight, which only made him more uneasy. Quiet streets in Clovis meant someone dangerous was nearby.
He carried a bag slung over his shoulder... one of his many jobs done for the night. He worked part-time at a mechanic's shop, cleaned dishes at a diner when he could, and on weekends hauled crates at the docks. None of it was enough to live fine, but it kept food on the table for him and Lila.
Liam despised this life. Not just the exhaustion, but the crawling helplessness of it all. He remembered when he was a boy, before the rebellion, when the world had rules. When it wasn't dictated by gangs and criminal factions.
He passed a gang patrol lounging in the shed of a corner store. Three men in leather jackets, smoking e-cigarettes. They laughed too loud, their eyes following him with that predator's gleam.
Liam kept his head down. He knew better than to meet their gaze. One of them whistled.
"Look at this rat," the man jeered. "Out late in the rain. You got a death wish, kid?"
Liam didn't answer. He gritted his teeth and kept walking. He was just a few blocks away from his apartment.
The men kept puffing their vapes. Their laughter followed him like a knife to the back.
Liam tightened his jaw as he walked away. He hated them. He hated them all. The gangs. The factions. The so-called rulers in their glass towers. Monsters wearing crowns.
He hated the system this world had become. Some nights, he'd lay awake and think about killing them all, tearing the whole thing down. But when morning came, he'd look at the mirror and realize it was a fool's dream. He was a nobody, he wasn't strong and he had no financial backing.
Going against the government would only get him crucified. He couldn't take that kind of risk. Not when he still had a sister depending on him.
All he could do was endure. Because he was weak. And the thought always tasted bitter on his tongue.
The rain fell harder, soaking through his thin jacket. Liam shoved his hands into his pockets and quickened his pace. He just wanted to get home, lock the door, and hear his sister's soft voice telling him about the book she'd been reading.
But fate didn't care what Liam wanted. It had other plans for him.
As Liam pulled into the half-lit mouth of an alley, he heard a sudden muffled cry. That of a female, followed by sound of men laughing wickedly.
Liam paused instantly. His pulse kicked into his throat. He should've kept walking. In Clovis, you survived by ignoring what you heard in alleys.
But his legs betrayed him, dragging him closer to the sound. His heart hammered with every step until he reached the corner and peeked around.
Liam's eyes widened as the scene unfolded... A girl that looked his age was cornered by three thugs. One held her wrists pinned against the wall. Another dangled a knife lazily, the edge glinting under the broken neon light. The third just watched, grinning, hunger painted across his scarred face.
The men were clearly members of one of the many gangs that plagued Clovis. Only people that belonged to gangs had the boldness and depravity of doing such a thing to an innocent girl.
Liam's eyes landed on the girl. She was terrified, her clothes torn, her body trembling. Her voice broke again, pleading as the thug's knife traced down her cheek.
Liam's hands clenched into fists. His body screamed at him to run, to stay out of it. But the girl's whimpers escalated into a choked sob, as tears streamed down her face.
She was afraid, just like his sister would be if this ever happened to her.
And in that moment, something in Liam snapped. He'd been powerless his whole life, but right now, watching that scene, he couldn't do nothing.
Not tonight.
"Hey!" he stepped forward, calling out to the men. "Let her go!"