Rain

  I open my eyes and instantly feel the salt water burning my eyes and the acrid taste of it on my tongue. The st thing I remember is the ocean pulling me under, dragging me into its depths. Now, I’m sprawled across something wooden, my legs dangling over the edge, seawater licking at my feet.

  A rooftop. What’s left of one, at least.

  The world around me is drowned, buildings reduced to skeletons poking out from the flood. Tree branches twist from the water like the fingers of the dead. There is not a soul in sight.

  What happened?

  No. How am I alive?

  That wave should've ended me. But…

  “Stop whining.” Illume jitters in, “Just handle it yourself like a man.”

  Handle it like a man. Shut up. I am not going to take that from someone who tried to suffocate a nine year old.

  My view stutters as always, showing an update progress.

  It's connected to the world server.

  Finally, one sliver of hope: I can make some sense of this mess.

  But first—I need to move.

  My boat y shattered nearby, but it'll do. I drag it closer and break off a smaller piece to use as a paddle. The water is deceptively calm as I push off, the boat skimming across the surface. In the distance, a rger building promises shelter.

  "You’ve always been resourceful," Illume’s voice slithers through my mind. "What a shame it’s never enough."

  I clench my teeth and shove the voice aside.

  As I crawl into the dark room, the View overys fragmented news onto my vision.

  A nuclear detonation at the poles caused the floods. Global instability. The world crumbling. And then—Mecanet.

  I sit behind a pilr. Mecanet, the name alone is a beacon. The gaxy of stability—where chaos is controlled, where dreams come true. This pnet just got a new world mayor from there, he announced the MECAT, a test for those who are worthy of education where he learnt. The first trial will be held in eighteen months. If I pass—

  No.

  I have to pass.

  "Always running," Illume taunts. "Tell me, Rain—do you think leaving will make you anything more than what you already are?"

  I grind my teeth, but a sound pulls me from my thoughts. Footsteps.

  I freeze, pressing myself against the pilr. Peering out, I see him—tall, silver-haired, his soaked clothes still bearing the faint mark of wealth. He moves with an air of entitlement, as if even this drowned world belongs to him.

  My hand creeps into my pocket, grasping my knife. In the cold wastends, my only enemies were the elements and my own thoughts. But here? Everyone is a threat. Every survivor is desperate.

  And so am I.

  The boy stops abruptly, his gaze snapping toward my hiding pce. “You can come out,” he says eloquently. “I know you’re there.”

  Warnings fsh in my View, but I ignore them, stepping into the open. I keep my knife close.

  He flicks a strand of his hair arrogantly. “Well, honest. Didn’t think rats could swim.”

  He strolls toward me, inspecting me like I’m less—less than him, less than human.

  He clicks his tongue. “You look like a stray. You do know what happens to strays, right?” He jabs his boot on my leg. I stagger back. “They get put down.”

  I don’t flinch, but my grip on the knife tightens. What's he? A theatrical?

  His eyes flick to the weapon, then back to my face. “Oh? Gonna use that? Please. You wouldn’t st a second against someone like me.”

  He’s toying with me. I don't know what that means.

  “Come on,” he drawls, poking my shoulder now, harder. “Say something. Or are you just that pathetic?”

  "So," Illume whispers. "What’s your pn, Rain? Beg your way out?"

  No. I’m not here to beg. I’m here to survive.

  He leans in, his breath hot against my face. “You’re breathing borrowed air. Do you even know the name Garnot—”

  I move.

  It’s not impulse. It’s instinct.

  The knife slices down. Fast. Precise.

  His smirk shatters into a scream. Blood arcs through the air as his wrist splits open, his hand dangling by a thread of skin. He stumbles back, eyes wide.

  Just another obstacle.

  And I cut through it.

  "Good," Illume murmurs, his voice a dark caress. "You’re learning."

  I am not learning, this is just who I am, Illume.

  I turn and run.

  Behind me, Garnot’s voice is raw with pain, twisted with rage. “Come back! I’ll find you! You’re dead, do you hear me? Dead!”

  His threats fade into the mist as I leap from the window and paddle into the flood.

  “This is just who you are?” Illume ughs, “Am I supposed to be scared?”

  No.

  But in eighteen months, I'll get out of this pnet.

  And then.

  I will find you.

  "Well then," he rumbles, "I can’t wait.”