Chapter 1

“Tardy delivery, minus three points,” Raelin muttered under his breath. He glanced at his OmniLink’s display glowing faintly beneath the skin of his hand as he read The Oracle’s harsh judgment of his previous workday.

“Scavenged tech below quality threshold, minus five points,” he spat shakily, mentally calculating for how long they would have enough points left for food and water, let alone medicine for Kiri.

Raelin sighed, the OmniLink’s display dimming as he dismissed the notification, and ducked under a jagged, protruding pipe, its corroded edges dripping green fluid onto the uneven floor. The air was saturated with the metallic tang of rust and the stench of dampness. This deep under The Substructure, there hadn’t been maintenance for decades, but for loot-workers like themselves, there was nowhere else to go if they wanted to meet their quota.

He cast a quick, anxious glance back at Kiri. She was propped against the clammy wall, chest heaving and face glistening with sweat. His gut twisted. Her illness was getting worse.

He hurried back to her, feet crunching on shards of plastisteel and rusting components, each step a sharp reminder he would soon need to replace his boots.

Kiri sagged down as he reached her, coughing violently. Raelin helped her down, grabbing her shaking shoulders.

“Just… need… moment,” she rasped between ragged breaths.

Raelin’s jaw clenched, concern flickering across his face before he schooled his features.

“Take all the time you need, Ki,” he comforted her. “The factory should be just up ahead, why don’t you wait here while I see what I can find?”

He swept the worst of the debris away from the floor before sitting her down, leaning against the wall. Kiri looked up at him and smiled despite everything. Raelin felt the knot in his chest loosen, just a little.

Raelin pushed onwards alone, surveying the passageway with a critical eye. The walls were disfiguring and crumbling, yet somehow they had remained standing all these years.

Following some old markings on the walls led him to what used to be a factory before The Collapse. The massive steel doors marking the entrance had rusted in place, luckily for him in an open position. Peeking through the entrance, he saw little except his headlight’s failure to penetrate the vast and dusty space inside. He paused at the entrance for a few moments, listening intently for any sign of movement or life within its bowels before he stepped inside. Reassured, he snuck inside, carefully stepping over or around anything which could make noise or hurt him.

Row upon row of assembly equipment covered the factory floor, stripped bare of any material easy to carry. When it was first rediscovered years ago, the factory must have been a gold mine for the loot-workers, but now, only the skeleton remained of the production lines.

Raelin had only stumbled upon this location recently. Their initial sweep had yielded nothing of value, as he had been harshly reminded of by a sharp drop in his Ledger points, but he was not so easily deterred. This time he had done his research, spending precious scavenging hours reading up on their new target.

The factory was one of several in the Nexus, constructed to produce the massive amount of autonomous soldiers of old wars. In the end, there were no winners. Shattered remnants of societies now clung to existence amidst the ruins of what was once a high-tech utopia. Now, only Nexus remained, the final citadel of humanity. To make matters worse, the machines left behind were still roaming the lands, fighting battles for long-dead masters. The Oracle placed hefty bounties on Rogue robots, but in Raelin’s opinion, robot hunters were suicidal fools.

Reading through ancient blueprints and factory specifications available at the public library, Raelin had learned of a hidden panel on the factory arms working along the conveyor belt. It would be nearly impossible to find without prior knowledge of its existence.

Crossing the vast factory floor towards his expected treasure, Raelin pondered how this place would have looked in its glory days; the production line working like clockwork, well-oiled machines and bright lights illuminating a thriving production line. Busy workers, no doubt well paid, collaborating on constructing the most powerful and deadly machines in history. Now it lay as an industrial corpse, a dilapidated skeleton of a bygone era. He imagined how easy it would have been to find parts in the ample warehouse, now he had to scavenge for a few desirable items among the scrap and debris.

Raelin finally arrived at the assembly line and went over to the closest robotic arm. He bent down and ran his hand over the chassis, the metal cold to the touch under decades of dust. Remembering the blueprint, he felt around until he found a small crevice, indicating a panel, even though it was disguised to look similar to other parts of the arm. He knelt down and pulled out a sleek, compact toolset he carried in his belt, fitted with various high-precision instruments. He chose a nano-torx driver, its tip giving off a faint, luminescent glow, announcing it was powered and ready for use. The tool rested comfortably in his hand, an old friend and partner over the years. His thumb rested gently on the initials A. K. before he went to work. Carefully, he inserted it into the concealed panel’s minuscule screws, the driver’s tip adapting instantly to the unique pattern. The screws loosened with a soft whirr, and he gingerly removed the panel, making sure not to make any unnecessary sounds as he placed it on the floor.

A grin spread across his face as he peeked inside the tiny compartment. A power core, one of the most useful energy sources known to man, and no longer possible to produce due to lack of specific materials. He reached in and pried it out of its socket, marveling at the compact engineering of such a potent device. Cylindrical and with a smooth surface except for universal input and output adapters, it fit barely in the palm of his hand. A single core could power machinery for decades, even centuries, and their invention played a big part in both the start and the aftermath of the robot wars. Without them, the rogues would not have been able to remain active for so long. Cheap and abundant in the past, they were now precious. Even one core would be enough to cover both their quotas for a week.

Heart racing, Raelin rushed over to the next arm in the assembly line. He worked on the second panel, cursing under his breath as the screws resisted his attempts at prying them free. Suddenly, he heard a click and let out a huge sigh of relief as one of the screws finally shifted. His grin, temporarily tempered by the stress of the situation, returned with a vengeance, almost maniacal as he picked a second power core out of the robotic appendage. A sense of victory swelled inside him as he grasped the cores close to his chest, the weight of success heavy in his hands. Looking over the entirety of the production system, he mentally calculated they would be able to make regular trips to the factory to sustain themselves for months, even with buying proper food, replacing their ragged clothes and most importantly of all, afford a proper doctor for Kiri.

He took a moment to regain his focus, they weren’t home safe yet. This far down, The Oracle’s many sensors and cameras were absent. If something were to happen, no help would be sent, and chances were that no one would cross their path for days, or even weeks. He unslung his backpack and reached inside, retrieving some heavy cloth scraps he had brought for this exact moment. He swaddled each of the power cores, laid them carefully at the bottom of his backpack, then fetched one more core before heading back towards Kiri.

Coming around the corner to the corridor where he had left her, he paused for a moment to glance at his sister. She sat against the wall, head leaning back with eyes closed, long, brown hair draped over her frail form. Kiri had always been on the slimmer side, but these past months she had been struggling with getting down enough food. Her skin was pale, and dark circles under her eyes betrayed her lack of restful sleep. As Raelin knelt down beside Kiri, her eyes shot open and her face brightened.

“Rae! Did you find it?” she wondered. A look at Raelin’s beaming face was acknowledgment enough, and she slung her arms around him. “Thank goodness, finally some good news!” she exclaimed, before she began slumping back down, her grip weakening from a fit of coughing. Raelin caught her, steadying her until her coughs subsided and she was capable of standing by herself.

“I got three of them with me, Ki,” he told her excitedly, “and there are plenty more for us to fetch whenever we need more! Now let’s get out of here before you get worse.”

Kiri nodded in agreement, a weak smile gracing her lips.

“Here, drink this,” Raelin offered as he unhooked a small flask from his belt. “It’s the last of our PepUp, I think it’s worth drinking it now so we can get safely out of here.”

His sister nodded again, apprehensively gulping down the precious liquid. As the stimulant worked its way through her body, she stepped away from her brother’s warm support. She stood straighter, labored breathing replaced with deep, slow breaths.

“I hate how amazing it makes me feel, Rae,” Kiri lamented. “I feel like myself again, even better than myself.”

Raelin grabbed her hand and began pulling her along the corridor towards the surface. “I know, Ki.” He gave her a little squeeze with his fingers. “Let’s hurry, we should be home before the effects run out. You may feel good now, but your body will still feel the effects of your exertion.”

“Don’t you lecture me, Raelin Kestrel!” she chided, but her tone was facetious. “I’ve done this enough times to know how crap I will feel later.”

Raelin grinned sheepishly, then let out a short laugh of relief.

“That’s a sound I haven’t heard in a while,” Kiri giggled, a smile spreading to light up her face until she saw the effect the comment had on her brother.

Raelin looked at her, brows furrowing. He spoke softly as his grip on her hand loosened slightly. “I know, Ki. Just… I’m sorry.”

Kiri clasped his hand firmly, not letting it slide away. “No, Rae, please… I’m the one who should be sorry, you’re always watching over me, despite all I do is give you more difficulties.” Tears began to form in the corner of her eyes as she looked into her brother’s face.

“Ki… You didn’t choose this, none of us did,” Raelin reassured her as he pulled her into a hug. “You know I would do anything for you, right?”

Kiri nodded against his chest as tears began streaming down her face as she clung to him. “I know Rae, but it doesn’t make it any easier. I hate being the burden, I hate being sick all the time.”

Raelin pulled back to look at her, his fingers wiping her tears away. “You’re not a burden Ki. You’re my sister, and I love you. We will make it through this, together, ok?”

“Together,” she echoed, her voice small but determined.

They continued their trek towards the outside, hands held tightly.

“I miss Mom and Dad,” Kiri whispered.

“Me too,” Raelin replied softly.