They tell you in school everyone in life has an equal playing field. You can be anything you want if you put your mind to it. You can be an Astronaut, a Pilot, Doctor, anything you put your mind to. They drill these ideas in your undeveloped mind with the hopes of creating contributing members of society. Even in this dystopia of Sex, Rape, and Destruction, the truth is none of us at this school want to be any of those things. The truth is we want to be everything the opposite.

Welcome to Starline Academy Class 4-A. Where the most reckless, ruthless, psychotic kids are sent within Starline city. A city where police fear the darkness within. A city where power is based on how crazy and brutal you are. Just to survive is a game you can lose any day. A game that doesn’t discriminate on gender, race, ethnicity, and the way that it can come to a end is up to you. There is no hope in this city of ours. But all we can do is live to see another day.

My name is Crecent, but they call me glitch for short. The reason for my nick name is because everyone in this society within the walls was born with a special ability. My special ability Is what others called “Glitch like”. My ability has gotten me in quite some trouble growing up, landing me in Class 4-A. In this city there are ranks and hierarchy. You have the peasants which were the people I grew up around aka “Noons”. The “Ostrins” who live above us on the surface. They have more rights than us and think very lowly of us Noons. Then you have the military. They are more of a bunch of gangs than a military in all honesty. They fight amongst themselves every day creating a constant warzone on the below surface and surface level. Drugs are funneled constantly to the lower level because of supply and demand. Despair and suffering are too much for most people here. Drugs are a way to escape life’s daily struggles. The military most brutal of slayings, executions, and Torture are performed underground as these people are deemed as worthless as a fly being swatted. Above the military you have Royalty. These royals are as stuck up as you could imagine, like the royalty you would see from a book or film. They hide in their cozy fortresses above with all the meat, water, and resources imaginable. Some say they even put cameras within the city to laugh at our suffering. If seen the younger royalty seem to ride in their cyber cars but the older royals use the traditional horse to ride around the city. The power of Royals supersedes any normal citizen from within the walls. Finally, you have the Ravens. The ravens are the highest of the high and they are above royalty. Little is known about them. They are rarely seen and hold absolute power over Skyline city. Some say they know what lies beyond the walls. Some say they may not even be human but even Ai robots. Either way….it doesn’t affect me. So even if he was some magical flying robot people who cares…

Growing up in the underground wasn’t the best life per say. My father was a mystery til this day I haven’t found him yet. My mother was murdered by a radical military faction. My mother was a good woman. She tried her best for what she had in this lawless world down here. She worked as a surface farmer and was only allowed special access because of her beauty. Her beauty was said to even supersede those of royalty. Her smile was as bright as the sun spilling into the sewer cracks at high noon. The speculation around her murder is still unknown. Some say she was a whore who was having sex with multiple gangs within the military police. Some say jealousy from other women, led to her getting stabbed to death. But all those theories in my opinion can’t be true…

We lived in a small cloth hut held up by 4 cut metal scrap metal rods, put into the ground. In the center of Skylines, underground city was an area called the Pig. This area got its name from the wild pigs everyone was seen with which people used for meat and milk. The tent community within the center of the Pig was the area where me and my mother lived. The smell was unbearable sometimes. The human feces, rotting human corpses, the livestock, created a nauseas smell that caused disease and sickness. My mom would wrap her shirts around my face and tie it so we could get a tolerable good night’s rest. At night sometimes she would shiver uncontrollably, but every time I would turn to her and ask does she need her shirt back, she would smile and say…

it’s okay.

Every time I was worried about her

it’s okay.

Every She would home from the unbearing labor the Ostrins would put on her, on the surface farm. Her hands would be full of blisters and blood. Her back was scarred with marks as if it came from some sort of lashing. Her legs, covered in dirt from top to bottom. One thing that I can say I always found odd was her face. Her face would remain unmarked, and her eyes would appear to have a infinite gaze. A gaze that would illuminate the darkness of any soul. As we laid at night sometimes she would roll over and tell me stuff, while she thought I was sleep…..

Your gift is special, you’re so special

Your ability is… just like your fathers

Til this day I have no idea who my father is or was. When she would say that, mystery would always fill my brain especially when I was younger. Most kids I know didn’t have their fathers. Most men here are lawless hardened criminals who have no desire to raise a child. Many men even choose to join the military, even knowing they’ll be used as human crash dummies, for the Ostrins; during drug wars or conflicts. What also confused me was I always saw my mother alone. So who was this mystery man, she would dream and mutter to me at night….. who knows

Gibbous.. please stay with me

Gibbous please i..i cant live withou…

Whoever that guy was he must’ve been important to her... now that I look back

Time would go on. And As I got older my needs would increase. As a growing boy you need more food, clothes, shelter etc. My mom would work harder and harder, and the needs would increasingly not be met. This is when I had to do what most had to do to survive here. I didn’t choose this way of life, because of rebellion, to be cool, Greed. I Became who I am because In order to survive. My “glitch” ability allows me to briefly teleport within a few feet- yards before leaving off a glitch like appearance that leaves others disoriented. It came in handy for Stealing food like bread from bakers and Cloth and clothing from the clothing tents. This led to me getting in trouble, which led to me earning the “glitch” nick name by the locals. I was known as a petty thief who wasn’t to be trusted. A lot of kids my age was told not to trust me, and that resulted in me not having many friends. The loneliness and isolation turned me cold… Turned me into the things they assumed about me. Maybe they were right.

My crimes went from petty theft such as stealing chicken eggs and milk to injuring people who owed debts. In return I earned money. Not having friends most of my childhood made me soulless. I had no feelings nor cared about others. The harm I caused to others had no effect on me which made these types of jobs effortless. They paid way more than petty theft too. 30 isos were way more than the 3 isos I would make stealing people’s clothes and reselling them. With my mom being gone most of the time she wasn’t aware of what I was doing in the streets of PIG. She would hear things but never really payed them no mind. Eventually the 30 isos would turn into 100 then 300, then 500. As the level of my targets increased my pay increased. The more harm I would do the pay would increase also. At first I was known as a petty thief not to be trusted, Now I’m a feared kid you shouldn’t play around with. The disgust that once usually filled the presence of me started to turn into fear. That fear…. made me feel good. That feeling was something I never felt before. I never felt love from anyone other than my mother, but I felt fear from everyone. I wanted more of that feeling. This is when I wanted more money. More notoriety…I wanted to be infamous…

This is where my story begins.

I started accepting more contracts or commonly known here as death contracts. Here death contracts only lead you to one place and that’s an early grave. Most death contractors live at most 3 years and those are the good ones. Revenge and greed eventually ends up getting all death contractors killed. They usually pay upmost 200-10,000 isos per contract. The short time most death contractors are alive, they usually save enough money to live on the surface before dying by their ways of life. You can buy a surface card for 200,000 isos which is an amount most people won’t see a fraction of in their lifetime here. Death contractors are usually paid by military police generals or regular military personnel. They contract people to do killings usually within other factions of the Military or anywhere else. These hitmen are usually the best in the underground because only the people with the best track records get the best contracts. Failed attempts at these contracts usually end up with the taking of one’s life. These contracts are basically a double-ended sword. It’s a high chance of dying during the assassination attempt, and if failed you yourself will be killed usually by your your contractor. I knew what I signed up for and I was aware of the consequences. Out of my 24 assassination attempts all of them were completed successfully. I was one assassination away, from moving my mother and I out of the underground. Then the unthinkable happened

I flaunted no wealth around mother. She couldn’t know of my ways. Since most assassination attempts are discreet, even if completed successfully, if your identity was found out, you may put you and your family at risk. Many death contractors who identities were revealed, would be killed by victims’ families and friends. Even showing the slightest sudden increase of wealth could put you at risk. At this point I am out weeks at a time stalking prey and learning patterns. Watching my targets from afar and writing down patterns. Looking at the perfect time to strike and take them down. My mother would ask me where I would be weeks at a time, I would tell her I’m with a girl. She would always ask to meet this girl, but the reality was I never even talked to a girl before. Never held a girl hand, talked, or had sex. I was a complete Utter virgin. I Would make excuse after excuse and I’m sure at some point she knew I was lying. She was always able to read me like a book.

The day I accepted the contract to take me and my mother out of the underground is the day that seemed a little brighter. The dark muddy atmosphere, and the grimy green, slippery concrete under my feet seemed a little more tolerable. I walk to the district north of PIG called the red zone. This area is where crime from all levels interact with each other. No matter if your Royalty or the scum of scum this is the place to go to for getting things done. Entering the district, you can see people of all abilities. People levitating, Making fake coins from their hands, even people of different species. It’s known (usually rare) some people’s magic abilities can transform their appearance. For example, the guy who assigns my contracts has the appearance of a owl. He said he looked like a boy once upon a time until he started seeing feathers grow on his body. He used to be a military general and won many battles outside of the wall. The royal Fighting force also known as the RFF are the only people allowed outside of the walls at any given moment. His ability of flight and sight lead to many victories outside of the wall. Not much was said on why he was discharged but many say he left willingly and decided to live back in the hollows of the underground. Many call him crazy because of his decision, but for some odd reason he looks at peace. I see the rugged dirt covered building from the foggy distance. A concrete building with moss over it with a statue of a destroyed king in the front. I walk in and I see the Owl at the desk in the back. As I approach his desk, he’s looking the opposite direction and I accidently startle him. He turns his head to a 360-degree angle without moving his shoulders. He tilts his head and blinks twice with his giant orange eyes. His pupils dilate as he looks and observes me. The rest of his body turns with his chair, and he waits for me to speak.

Im ready to go to the surface with my mom, give me my final job

Gen Owl- ooooohk

Gen owl- Yoooooh live to taleee this tale your freedooohm is graaanted

I gooht a good one for yaah

He opened a book with faces assigned with the faces of target contracts. Many faces are crossed out. Mostly the contractors. He flips until he finds me a guy with a face with his own single page. His name is in big red letters, and he appears to have a hat on. Usually, people with those hats are royalty... But there’s no way I would be assigned to take down any royalty. I look at the number below and the iso amount looks huge. Its one thing to have enough to live on the surface but its another thing to have enough to maybe buy a house or even a decent car! Before he talks, I ask him how much does the number say

Gen owl – 100,000 isooohs, that’s a preety penny dontchaah think

*I fall in the dusty office chair behind me”

100,000 would change me and my mom’s life forever. That plus what I saved will have us living comfortably for a good amount of time. Even the typical Military faction personnel don’t have that much!

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With my flawless record General trusted me with this job. If I haven’t failed yet this is nothing. before I speak again Gen owl cuts me off… I’ve known him for a few years, but I never seen or heard this from him. his tone goes from his usual tone to a very serious daunting one.

Gen owl – Ive grown a liking to you glitch, your one of the most elite hitmen ive come across, reliable too. But realize glitch if you fail this assassination, it will cost you your life. My finest men will be tagging along keeping a eye on you

If you try to run, you will be cut down

If you try to tell the RFF, you will be cut down

If you fail your assigned task you will be cut down…, do I make myself clear?

*RFF? What is he talking about? *

“Why would I tell the RFF? Why even bring up the royal family. I’m not a narc” hahaha” what do I look like to you, c’mon you should know me by now”.

With a serious face he holds up the book and what I see would change my life forever. What I see is a low-ranking guard from the RFF family of knights. The knights are a faction of the RFF that are basically the grunts of fighting outside of the walls. We aren’t told what’s outside of the walls or what they fight, but based on books they are the brave soldiers that are on the front lines. Theres a short song my mom used to sing to me, read from a childrens book

The knights fight,

the knights protect.

They charge in first

So never fret.

With that song going through my head, I listen to General. The knights are most likely some of the highest protected people in this city. Just getting close to one of them would be a miracle. But killing one is basically a suicide mission. One thing about death contracts, are its not a situation where you sign your name on a contract and your good to go. Once you hear what the contract is you must do it. You can’t hear information such as an assassination of someone and just walk away. Just upon arrival if you don’t accept what’s thrown at you, you most likely will be killed on the spot. It’s basically the luck of the draw. My heart sunk to the bottom of my stomach. I basically knew my life was over. From the quarter of my eyes, I saw people in the corners of the room watching me. If I made a run for it, I would be cut down immediately. General looks at me and his huge orange eyes dilated inwards.

Gen owl - so is it a deal?

*The people start to inch closer and closer* YES, IT’S A DEAL! When do I start!

*Class bell rings*

Students welcome to Class 4a im your teacher professor shambly. Us gathered in this room are the worst youth in Starline city. If it wasn’t for your abilities most here would’ve been executed in city center by now. The monstrosity of the acts you all have committed, are deemed unforgivable by the royal family and council of Bruins….

As the professor speaks, I look around the class. I see people of all orgins throughout the city. Even some kids looked familiar, from seeing them around, while I was doing my dirt. The school was on the surface level but it was clear in a pretty rough area. Outside you could hear police sirens and see drug addicts walking around hopeless. Even if you escape the underground, the surface wasn’t all that great either. Crime, poverty, and war is provident here also. The classroom walls were made of rusty concrete and smelled of mildew. It somewhat resembles a prison now that im thinking about it.

PROF.SHAMBLY- Students check the lower corner of your eye area do you notice something shining? A glowing aura of blue illuminating your hand? If not, look at your neighbor sitting beside you, Do you see it now?

As we put our hands to our face a faint bluish illumination was observed. We all looked at each other in confusion. But when we looked at each other is when the chaos started. Everyone started screaming, and the powers of everyone’s abilities come out as natural reflexes. It seems a small, rapidly changing number was implanted in all our faces. I’ve never been the type to panic, but I’ve always liked to observe the situation and find a solution. If a person panics its most likely for a reason, and panicking never solves anything. Fire spits across the room from a guy with red hair, Intense purple flashes, illuminates a girl eyes, blinding the whole room over and over. One kid who appeared half robot with a dirty cowboy hat, hand turns into a gun but it seemed as the gun wasn’t working. As if something was hindering his ability. Water started filling the room at an alarming rate. A girl with light blue hair, in what appears as a swimming suit, was shooting water out her mouth. As the room filled with water the air started to get thinner, it was as if her water was pulling oxygen from the air. With all this stuff going on everything seemed to come to a stop. The flashing, water, heat from the fire was all gone. The professor who seemed to have a air pocket surrounding him the whole time continues talking as the water clears.

As you guys should know, you all are criminals and under the authority of the RFF. The numbers placed within your skulls are there to track your brain activity. We have sensors in these chips to cut off all unnecessary Sorcery, when needed. The attempt to remove the chips will be seen as an act of contempt, meaning the end of your life. These chips will explode from any manipulation of its original structure. Your brain activity is important; The higher the level of your brain activity, the stronger your sorcery.

I keep observing the students and scanning the classroom. Oddly, I noticed some people didn’t display their abilities. In this society, no matter the level, displaying your abilities not related to your work is basically seen as drawing a gun in public. Some people abilities are sometime even unknown to others until death. Knowing everyone in this classroom is a criminal, I assume people knew it would be best to keep their ability hidden. And like me, those are the people to watch out for. As the professor talks, I turned to the back and see a guy with grey hair. His legs are kicked up on the chair in front of him. He seems rather wealthy based on the clothes he has on. As I look closer it seems he could even be of royalty level. A black suit with gold trimming, shoes of leather, and pants from fine cow skin. Ever since I was young, I could sense the level of power from others. This assisted me on the hits I’ve done in my career. Sensing the power of someone can help predict offensive moves, their intentions, and most especially the power of their ability. I’ve noticed most people’s numbers are still going haywire while his number isn’t even glowing, as if he isn’t worried. The longer I look at him his power seems to grow more and more. As I look at him, adrenaline fills my stomach, and the feeling of going down a steep hill grows and grows. Then the pouring of energy seemed to stop. For a split second it seems as time stopped also. He opens his eyes and slowly turns his head towards mine. As we make eye contact his number starts to glow. His face has a sinister look as if he was some form of demon in human skin. His number seems to keep rising no sign of stopping….then it reaches 100. Still looking towards me my stomach drops to my feet. I realize I may be looking into the eyes of a demon, or someone other worldly. Whoever that guy is he cant be a normal human. It seemed as space time paused for a brief moment. The director then interrupts my observations of my classmates

PROF.SHAMBLY - You see a girl who meets your eye? You are not here to eye girls! Stand up and state your name and how you got here !

*stands up*

Glitch – Sorry, uhhh my name is glitch, im 16 years old and im from the city PIG

PROF.SHAMBLY- Can you not comprehend? Give us your full situation NOON! What heinous crime did you commit!

2 weeks prior

I leave General owls office knowing of my task. I must eliminate a low-ranking RFF guard, basically a suicide mission. 2 men with owl masks in rusty bulky armor, escort me out of the underground, up to the surface to complete my tasks. To exit the underground, you must go through a checkpoint that’s at least 2 miles wide on top of a hill. There are 3 checkpoints to the surface, West, North, & east. The Ostrins who control the checkpoint are sometimes harsh and deny you for any reason, even if you have a good reason to leave. Since most drug & and illegal activity flow is from the west most criminals can bribe guards to exit without a legit surface card. We climb up of the rocky terrain to arrive at the western checkpoint and a huge concrete wall separates us from the surface. 4 guards with spears stand their ground as we approach the barrier. I Sense the power of the 4 guards and I could tell their abilities weren’t atzactly on the sorcery side, but more of the natural human side. They seem to be super strong.

GUARD 1 – HAULT! State your reason for Exit !

GUARD 2 - * Holds up wanted paper of all people of skyline and compares faces*

Im here on orders from general owl to complete a task, please allow access.

* Burst of laughter from all guards *

GUARD 1 – Glitch you know its not that easy, we’ve done this a million times. You can bring your scary pigeon people with you all you want, but you know only one thing is going to get you through here.

I pull out a sack of coins from my backpack. 10,000 isos worth of coins fill the bag to the top. I hand it to the third guard and he checks the bag.

GUARD 2 – Double it

What do you mean double it? You’ve never done this before, what’s the difference now.

GUARD 2 – We’ve heard about your little task; the whisperers told us. Apparently, you’re gonna be swimming in money soon, IF you live. So, things are different double it or go home.

In the blink of a eye one of the owl guards puts one of his sword shaped spears at the end of one of the guards’ throat. It happened so quickly I didn’t even see him make a initial movement. The owl briefly talks to the guard in a very low raspy voice.

“Yooouh let us paaahs, yooohve waaahsted enough time”

The guard laughs, and with a smirk on his face puts the bag of coins in his pocket. He bends down & looks at me and says one thing before opening the concrete barriers.

GUARD 2 – You’ve may been lucky all this time, but one can only survive on luck for so long. You’re not going to make it out alive this time. I’ll take this money as a departing gift. OPEN THE GATES!!

As the barrier opens light illuminates my eyes, the same way a flame attracts the moth. The light blinds me but every time that barrier opens, I can’t help but crack a smile. The first day stepping foot into the surface I was addicted to going back. I was so addicted I would kill just to be here. Before exiting, the 4th guard wraps a yellow and black satchel around your arm. This satchel is meant to make you distinguished compared to the rest of the people on the surface. Usually if any military faction finds someone from the underground on the surface, they punish them and send them back immediately, but crime is so abundant most military don’t care. The only way of being caught is if you do something so heinous and cruel, it catches their attention. We walk through the intense light; we’re now in the middle of the city, Starline central. Cyber cars zip by above, while traditional 4 wheeled vehicles drive on the ground. This city is a dystopia where science and traditional way of life intertwine. Many people of the Ostrin lower-class can’t afford cyber cars so the 4 wheeled vehicle is the most common transportation. One of the owl guard releases one of the chains connecting me to him and pushes me on the sidewalk. The 2 owl guards stand side by side and stare at me. I start walking down the sidewalk and they continue to stare without moving an inch. Their huge orange eyes widen, and their heads keep turning like the owls you would see in a morning cartoon. It was something about those 2 owls that always creeped me out, but they had their job for a reason. And I don’t want to find out the reason.

I try to tail down a taxi until a beat down 21st century crown Victoria pulls over. The year is 2600 so these cars are ancient compared to the new age Cybercars. To my surprise as I enter the taxi a beautiful young woman greets me.

Taxi girl - Hey welcome to city center, you must come from below huh!

Yeah, I’m coming from the underground I was sent to do the task.

Taxi girl - Wow, where ya headed! it must be important for you to be up here!

Usually if you’re a hitman the first rule is to not use your real voice. For the first time I’ve already messed up on an assignment. Her attractiveness caught me off guard, I couldn’t help it.

Taxi girl - Wow, really! That’s unusual, most people don’t have family on different levels. If it was anyone else ill be suspicious but you’re pretty cute!

* blushing *

Taxi girl - Word on the street, there’s an assassin right now trying to take out a royal guard, and everyone in town near the checkpoints are on guard for suspicious activity.

My heart sunk to the bottom of my feet. My hands become hot. A cold sweat starts running down my arms. How on earth did these rumors spread so quickly? Was it the guard at the checkpoint? The owls? No No No it couldn’t be, it could be only one person. And as in person I mean a race of people. The whisperers. The whisperers are a race of sorcerers who gradually turn into pixie like beings. Some say these whisperers are cursed; Once someone turns into one, they are banished by their families. They’re born as regular people, but sometime during their adolescence they start to shrink. A early sign, someone may turn into a pixie are wings and no sorcery ability. This group of people tend to make a living by secretly getting information and selling it. The military started using them to get the jump during gang conflicts at first, but now all kinds of people use them for snooping. They cause all types of rumors, but in this case they’re pretty accurate this time. If this rumor gets out beyond the checkpoint areas, this may be a bad look for my plans.

Hahaha yeah me taking out a guard? Yeah right, I’m just some kid from the underground what could I do. I’m just here to visit some family that’s all

Taxi girl - Gotcha where ya headed!

Take me to the end of zebra lane close to the northeastern walls.

Taxi girl - Roger that!

Zebra lane is a secret post used for the executions of high-ranking officials. Usually, this secret post is used as the stakeout spot for, the assassinations of, high-level gang bangers, and military, but its unheard of for RFF members. The post Is located below a library, and the only way to access it is through the back entrance. As the taxi drives through the city, I’m stuck admiring the aesthetic and scenery. The center of the city is a mountain and on that mountain is the land of the royal family. It stretches for many miles, and usually extends past the clouds. On a sunny day like this, you can see not just RFF territory but also the very top, The highest of the high. The ravens land. The black fortress shines as the sunlight bounces off its shiny, black, alien obsidian visual look. The cyber cars above litter the sky in all directions, sort of like the old 21st century show, futurama. As I look into the sky, I fall asleep

I open my eyes and I see her face in front of mines….very close

Wake up sleepy head, we’re here.