It was a rainy day at the capital. Flying cars and flashy androids traveled left and right, leaving dark smoke behind them, making the already dirty air of the city almost unbearable.
A man likely in his twenties was walking on the dirty concrete road. He had black hair and black eyes, and he was wearing an expensive-looking black-and-green hoodie and gray baggy pants that clashed with his poor-looking appearance and actions.
He had two grocery bags in his right hand and a phone-like device in his left. He was walking while looking at the device in his hand when suddenly his head started shaking.
"Wha… huh?"
He muttered to himself as he took a step backward. The large skyscrapers in front of him suddenly disappeared, and the sky grew brighter.
Now the young man was standing in the middle of a busy street filled with carts pulled by dragons and half-human, half-animal-looking creatures.
He looked around, confused, trying to understand what had just happened and where he was. But then he noticed how clear the air was and decided to take a long breath.
The name of this young man is Jack. He was born and lived his life on Planet Delta, the second mining colony of the Holy Human Empire. He was the child of a middle-class couple. Both of his parents were killed while being mugged when he was four, so he mostly lived with his grandpa, who died of cancer when Jack was seventeen, in the year 3046.
He spent most of his life trying to stay alive with the low amount of credits the government gave him.
He sometimes committed crimes—not something serious like murder—but he did some pickpocketing.
Now he was standing in a place far away from the home he knew, trying to make sense of the situation.
--JACK's POW--
The air is… good. Weirdly good. I can see the sun and the clouds clearly. The sky is blue. Not gray.
Where the hell am I?
The buildings here are so small. What are they made of—wood? Well, this isn't all bad. At least the place is colorful.
I looked at the writing on a tablet next to what seemed to be a shop. I couldn't read any of it.
Oh yeah. I have a language decrypter app on my phone.
I quickly pulled my phone from my pocket and opened the app.
"Scan and translate," I mumbled to myself as I pointed my phone at the strange writing on the tablet.
The app immediately started analyzing the text with a soft glow.
After just a few seconds, the app dinged to indicate completion.
"Translation complete. Would you like to upload the language to your neural interface?" the phone asked.
I hesitated for just a moment before tapping Yes.
A sharp pain stabbed through my temples as the information flooded my brain like molten metal being poured into my skull.
I stumbled forward, clutching my head as unfamiliar symbols rearranged themselves into meaning before my eyes. The cobblestones beneath my feet felt uneven, and the scent of roasted meat from a nearby stall made my stomach growl despite the nausea.
A woman in flowing indigo robes passed by—tall ears twitching beneath her wide-brimmed hat, carrying a staff that pulsed with faint amber light.
I didn't know what to think. An actual wizard.
Her golden eyes flicked to me, then narrowed when I kept staring. She quickened her pace, her cloak swishing as she ducked into an alleyway
A guy staring at you like that would creep me out too, I suppose.
I shrugged and kept walking without paying much attention to where I was going. My legs moved on their own as I tried to make sense of this place. I passed by stalls selling glowing fruits and what looked like dried lizard tails. The chatter around me slowly started making sense as my neural interface continued adapting.
Without realizing it, I turned into a narrow alleyway—dark enough that my eyes took a moment to adjust. The smell of damp stone and something sweet, almost like fermented honey, clung to the air.
Then three punks came up to me.
One looked like a mushroom—he was as small as a toddler. One was a big guy, and the last was a skinny kid with white hair and a collar.
They were normal humans, I suppose. The mushroom one might not be tough—I'm not sure.
"Well, well, what do we have here? Are you lost, kid? Because if not, why would you be in our alley?" the skinny one said.
"Let's do it this way. If you give us all your money, we might spare your life," the mushroom-looking one said.
They weren't experienced. I could tell that much. The skinny kid had two blades, and the mushroom one had a knife. I could tell just by looking at them with my non-organic eyes.
These medieval weapons probably couldn't harm my cybernetic skin, but I didn't plan on testing my luck. So I gave the big guy a good punch to the face, knocking him out.
My hands probably moved too fast for the other two as they tried to understand what had just happened.
I quickly kicked the small one like a ball and turned toward the skinny dude. He tried to draw his blades, but I knocked them out of his hands and started beating him up.
"Sorry, but I don't have a penny on me. But I think you guys have enough money to share with me, right?" I said as I pulled the skinny dude up by his collar.
Then, without warning, a small yellow-haired girl passed by and jumped onto a building. She was fast.
I think people here are naturally stronger, since somehow a little girl was able to jump a few meters high without any cybernetics.
Anyway, I turned back to the punk who was trying to mug me and then—
A flying piece of ice nearly hit me.
It was fast, but I was barely able to stop it with my hand. I turned toward the direction it came from.
There was a girl with sharp ears and white hair, looking at me with a serious expression.
She shouted at me:
"Stop there, thief!"