Date: December 11th, 12:00 AM, the Year 2050
Location: Fate City (Outer District), Saru's Corner
Code: D.F.
I observed Hedgehog illuminate the space—her joy effortless, unfiltered. A variable I had ceased to trust within my own parameters. She was talking and laughing with Saru, showing him all the pictures that she had taken, and I could see how much this place meant to her. Most of the images were of people living in the outer circle.
Here was a picture of a woman with a food cart. Her face, similar to Hedgehog's, showed that she truly enjoyed what she was doing. A tiny cart held bottles of synthetic fruit juice, packets of flavor powder, crushed ice, and small containers of mystery meat strips that she grilled on a portable burner.
"She sells a drink called Battery Acid. It's my favorite." Hedgehog's eyes lit up. "It's this bright green drink made from synthetic lime juice mixed with energy powder and some kind of fizzy stuff that makes your tongue tingle. Burns going down, but it keeps you awake for hours. Perfect for the factory workers."
She grinned. "I'm saving money so I can buy a camera at the dark market, and I will start making food and drink review videos." Hedgehog paused with excitement. "She already agreed to be my first client. I will make a video for her and distribute it to everyone on Outer Circle Net."
Saru was listening very intently, his old and weathered face showing signs of softness.
Hedgehog flicked the switch and I noted the Pikes—structures that were unique to the outer circle. These were tall and thin buildings with tiny apartment complexes stacked on top of each other. The number of floors could reach up to 100, and the higher you went, the smaller the rooms became.
There was only one elevator for the whole building, and they broke down all the time. There were also ladders that people could use to climb to their apartments. However, there were no safety cables, and sometimes people would just fall to their death. A vertical death trap—engineered necessity masquerading as shelter. It was not living. It was surviving with altitude.
They called the outer circles hell and the inner circles heaven.
But who gets to decide who goes to heaven and hell?
My philosophical musings were cut short when I noticed Saru's attention had shifted to me. The warmth in his weathered features vanished, replaced by something sharp and calculating. As his gaze locked onto mine, Hedgehog's finger paused on the camera's controls, freezing on a particular image.
"Who are you, young man?"
"He is my friend, Saru. He is a good guy," Hedgehog said quickly.
"Well, you sure smell of old blood for a good guy. You have a couple of seconds to tell me what your deal is."
Expected. The blood marked me as predator, not guest. His military instincts had catalogued the threat correctly. I had not accounted for the blood—still dried beneath my fingernails, embedded in the suit's fabric. The rain had provided the illusion of cleansing, but scent remained. A tactical oversight.
What should I do in this situation? I most definitely could not tell him the truth.
"THREAT DETECTED: Hostile intent."
"WARNING: Emotional attachments decrease combat efficacy."
"TARGET ANALYSIS:- Sarutobi Gem, age 67- Former Inner Circle chef (Two-star rating)- Military veteran: Second Continental War- Threat Level: HIGH- Possible Resistance connections
Kill them all—87%. Lie convincingly—73%. Run—94%.I chose a fourth option."
The information flooded my vision as the system analyzed him. Interesting. This weathered old man serving drinks to outcasts had once been an elite chef in the inner circles. Two culinary stars meant he had cooked for the wealthy and powerful. Yet here he was, in this forgotten corner of the outer circle, collecting strays like Hedgehog.
A man who had everything—prestige, wealth, access to the inner circles—and chose to abandon it all. The military background explained his composure, that calculated stillness. If the Resistance rumors were accurate, Saru was not just dangerous—he was strategic. A former chef would know how to blend among the elite, gain their trust. A war veteran would know how to eliminate them quietly.
Was this place more than a refuge? The way certain patrons lingered in shadowed corners, the subtle hand signals I had noticed, the fact that someone with Saru's credentials would choose this particular location in the outer circle—it all suggested something deeper. Information exchange, perhaps. Recruitment.
I glanced around the room again, noting details I had initially dismissed. A small symbol etched into the bar's surface—three interconnected circles. The same symbol I had glimpsed on graffiti throughout the outer districts.
I made my choice.
"Name is Darius. We all have our secrets, Sarutobi, much like you, I have my own. Much like you have been through war." I paused, meeting his steady gaze. "But the thing you should know is that I am not against you, neither am I on your side. I am not here to harm you either. I made a promise and I am keeping it. Simple as that."
Silence stretched between us, thick with unspoken understanding.
I placed my hand gently on Hedgehog's head. "She saved me. That much I owe her, at least."
Hedgehog seemed to shine even brighter after that remark. Saru's hostility had dimmed her light and injected fear, but now she was back to her old self—smiling and at ease.
The old man studied me for a long moment, his military instincts clearly still sharp. Finally, his shoulders relaxed slightly.
"I am not going to ask you how you got that information. However, I will ask you to go take a proper shower and change your clothes. I have a set of clothes in the back that may fit you. This is an order—otherwise I will kick you out, and only you understand what that means."
For a moment, nobody moved. Then Hedgehog started laughing uncontrollably.
"What are you laughing about, Hedg dear?" Saru asked, though I could observe the corner of his mouth twitching.
She was trying to push the words out, but she could not stop laughing. Her laughter, much like her smile, was a force of nature that consumed all of us. Within minutes we were all laughing along with her, even Saru himself.
I had not felt this at peace in a while, but I could not help being anxious. I knew that 'it' was there inside of me, lurking around the corner and ready to leap out of the shadows to break everything I had built. Just like it did back in Hope City.
My gaze drifted back to the photo display, where the image had remained frozen during our tense exchange with Saru. An all too familiar face stared back at me—a face I had not seen in years. The one I had missed with all my heart.
"Jack," I whispered.
My system stuttered. The chest constricted—a physiological malfunction triggered by visual confirmation: Jack. Alive. Present. Unaltered. The sensation registered as joy, though logic suggested it was relief misidentified. A glitch in the emotional relay.
But there was someone else in the picture. Another familiar figure—not the face, but the hands. I knew those hands. A man in a grey suit, standing tall with one hand in his pocket and the other placed on Jack's shoulder. A deep scar ran across the visible hand.
Grey. The architect of Hope City's destruction. The shadow behind every nightmare I had tried to forget. My body went rigid as memories I had buried deep began to surface—the screams, the smoke, the way Grey had smiled as everything burned.
He had Jack. Or Jack was with him. Either possibility sent a chill through my bones.
Time seemed suspended, my world narrowing to that single image on the screen. Minutes passed as I sat frozen, cycling through hope and horror, until finally—
"Darius, why are you crying?" Hedgehog's voice was soft, concerned.
I noted the moisture—warm, descending. Tears. The mechanism still functioned despite years of calculated suppression. A confirmation: the human subroutines remained intact. This should have been reassuring.
The room had fallen silent. The laughter had died away as both Hedgehog and Saru noticed the change in my demeanor. The air felt suddenly heavy, as if the warmth had been sucked from the room.
No... not Jack too. Not again. I cannot lose him the way I lost everyone else.