In Merit's tale, she wasn't a hero with a sword neither was she a powerful mage with spells that can save her from any trouble, the truth was that Merit was a helpless young girl only driven by her childish curiosity. If Merit were to be harmed or killed, the world wouldn't blink. No matter how much she heard the important people utter the words "Everyone is equal!" she knew that her life is equal to nothing and the lies she always heard were only to satisfy the deluded class. A strange world opened its gates to her, kicking her inside against her will, but Merit's resilience was honorable, and whatever was after her, she believed she could handle it.

//Mechi.

So tiny and so talkative. Mechi was entertaining and mesmerizing to Merit who hid behind a tree and kept investigating it with her eyes wide opened. "H-how do you speak?" Merit wondered, holding the silver creature wrapped in a scarf. "I was programmed to do so." Mechi replied as Merit brought it closer to her ear, listening carefully to its synthesized vocals that strangely carried a trace of soul in it.

"Bullshit." Merit laughed, "You can speak just like us! No code can do this!" Merit protested. "Your knowledge about my creation is limited, then." It replied, and Merit frowned. Merit put it away for a second, forging a specific evil plan in her mind to provoke the tiny robot and test its abilities. She held him closer again and smirked like an evil villain, "You're acting like a bitch." She cursed it, awaiting its reply, but there was nothing.

"Huh?" Merit squeezed her eyes in confusion, "So you're just going to let me belittle you?" Merit asked. "Merit, you are only thirteen years old. I am restricted from uttering any curse words." Mechi explained and Merit rolled her eyes in disappointment, "I thought this would be fun!" She sighed. "Having a curse battle isn't fun." Mechi replied, twitching its head right and left. "I also should warn you that your ticket is for a train that departs at two, you will be late." Mechi warned Merit who quickly became stressed.

"I am not so sure.." Merit spoke in a sorrowful tone, "Don't you need the battery?" Mechi inquired, "Yes, of course I do! But, that station is just awful. I don't wanna go there anymore." Merit said, "So you would better stay here and waste the day than go because you're scared? Strange plan, it won't work." Mechi protested, "It's not like that, you wouldn't understand." Merit sighed. "While its true I don't know how being scared feels like, but I definitely do know that the only direction we have is forward." Mechi explained and Merit's attention drifted away from her fear and focused on the tiny philosopher.

"Yes, yes, I get it! Don't be a coward and all, but, there was a man that wanted to kill me on that train." Merit explained, "But he didn't." Mechi replied, and Merit frowned. "So I should put my life in danger and go?" Merit grew irritated, "No, Merit. If he didn't kill you then he won't kill you now, at least not on board a train." Mechi explained its idea which made Merit even more irritated. "Oh, I get it. You mean he would have killed me anyway because I can't fight back." Merit muttered. "Yes." Mechi replied, "All the evidence surrounding me suggests you're skilled thief, but one particular trait in you suggests you're a cowardly one. Am I correct?" Mechi said.

Merit was furious, she stuffed Mechi back into her bag without replying. She felt she was being challenged by both Ross and his tiny robot. Ross doesn't believe her story and Mechi thinks she's a cowardly thief, and it hurt her pride.

Merit looked all around her carefully. She was afraid that the pursuer would have gotten back, which Ross had said, he was trying to retrieve the camera that she stole from him. Although Merit's thoughts about this situation were very different, but she knew Ross' explanation made sense. However, Merit wasn't planning to let go of her treasure.

"Take a deep breath." Merit sighed, comforting herself. "Don't look underneath you." She continued as she crossed the street and reached the gate of the station. Once she stepped foot inside, her heart begun to race, her vision became blurry and the sound of the arrival of the train made her bones go weak. "Just run." Merit talked to herself as she ran across the crowd carelessly, holding her bag tightly without looking underneath her. As Mechi said, the only way was forward, and there's no way she was going to miss that train.

//Steamhall.

Under the concrete sky and in the warmth of the steam the young girl walked in the underground city while hugging her treasure chest in fear of getting robbed. It was true that this master thief wouldn't survive a day in Steamhall's war of thieves. People would rob you of your clothes in a minute. The mechanical horses walked between the people forcing them to be crammed to the sidewalk. They were huge and the loud thud of their steps were terrifying to those new to Steamhall. Their neighing was weak, and their backs were rusty, yet their violence was fatal and one blow from their legs could break a man's bones.

The buildings weren't lower than two stories, they were in no way revolutionary or pleasing to look at, they were ugly and hellish to those who lived in them. High, in the concrete ceiling, there was a huge light source resembling the sun. It would go dim at night and strong in the morning, hurting those who would be stupid enough to look at it. There were bridges and robes connecting the buildings' top together to facilitate the movement of machinery and people.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

The city's children were horribly malnourished and badly beaten. Drug use was widespread, and dealers sold it in the light as if they were selling candy. A mother would drag four children behind and only one would look like her. A father would force his children into heavy machinery work in their youth, making children as young as Merit walking around the city crippled and missing their limps.

This world never obeyed the law. It was poisonous to those brutes. Morals were sold with a few coins and never taught. Schools were hidden underneath spider webs. It was a foolish belief that humans were born good, that their morals bloom inside them once they grow, the reality was that children would kill for a coin, and they would obey the law only to keep their heads on their shoulders.

A world with corrupted adults would only give birth to parasitic children.

Merit's youth was blurry in her head. She could remember few names and addresses. She remembered the face of the man that picked her from the streets, Forger, a man in his late thirties or early forties, claimed to be the son of an illegal immigrant from 'The land of the blue'. He was an intelligent mechanic whose work was very artistic and revolutionary. Forger took Merit and gave her a shelter, treating her like a daughter until she turned ten and he vanished into thin air after his plot to overthrow the government unfolded.

Forger's friend, Rossland, was a fellow bright man with a huge workshop were Merit mostly spent her time. Ross would occasionally help Merit by giving her money and food but for the two years she spent in Ilusia, she would run away after stealing some of his pieces and selling them in the upper ground. Ross had his way with machines. He would even speak to them like his family, and so, Merit trusted him to help her with the mystery hiding in her camera.

Merit waddled like an exhausted penguin, following trails from her memory where she remembered the workshop's address. Her memory was strong. She arrived in a dark, empty, and dangerous street where the squeaking of the rats could be heard from the sidewalk and the domestic feuds would echo in the main street.

As the young one moved on her tiptoes to avoid getting robbed, she looked at each building, inspecting them carefully to find his workshop sign but it was to no avail.

"Oh, no...Last time I came here was a year ago..." Merit sighed in frustration as she arrived on the doorstep and what seemed to be an abandoned workshop with a broken rusty sign that said, "Iron fist wonders."

She walked towards the door hopelessly only to find it firmly closed. She wiped the dirty windows and peeked inside the dark place. There were no signs of life inside that workshop. She could see the spider webs on the windows and the broken machinery piled up in the corner.

"Hmmm, maybe I can sell this junk..?" Merit smirked as she struggled to open the window which miraculously opened. She jumped squeezed her small body through the window and jumped inside cautiously, looking around her and making sure there was no other being in that place even if a fly.

"This is a bad idea." Mechi spoke through the tiny opening Merit kept for him in the bag. "I am not going back empty handed." Merit replied, she was determined.

Merit coughed violently as she was met by a wave of dust indicating that this workshop has been abandoned for long enough. Her face turned red as she tried to suppress her coughing, but a sudden sound echoed in the empty room that made her heart jump out of her chest. Quickly, she ran and hid herself behind the pile of junk in the corner as she struggled to stay silent.

"I am sensing something, bad, very bad." Mechi warned Merit as it sunk into her bag, hiding itself while Merit choked on dust.

"Intruder." The alarm went off and a peeping sound resounded. There was a red light going on and off in the ceiling and having realized that there were heavy footsteps approaching her, she understood the trouble she was in.

"Hell no." She muttered as she sunk into the ground while the footsteps became closer and closer. She couldn't peek but she could tell that these weren't human footsteps. The "Intruder" Message was no longer repeated as she found a red dot on her chest. The guard found her.

Merit looked at the exit carefully while the guard took the junk off her. There was no plan B once she got inside that place and negotiating with a security robot was not an option as she was trespassing. "Stand still, Merit, I'll hack him! Just give me time." Mechi spoke, and Merit froze.

"Get out." It said. "Do not move." It continued with its stern static-dipped voice. Merit got up and moved out, obeying the orders she was given.

In the dusty room and underneath the red light. Several faces stuck themselves into the windows, watching the thief with their blank faces as if it was a theater play. The empty street wasn't empty after all, it was sheltering the nosy powerless children and beggars in its darkness.

Merit faced the rusty robot who was not taller than 160 centimeters. The robot pointed its gun to Merit's chest as it couldn't identify its face in the dark. If Merit were to utter a single world, that gun would be fired in a second.

They faced each other's for minutes. "Its dumber than me." Merit spoke to herself, awaiting Mechi who was doing its wonder in the bag. That robot was too stupid to act on its own and its indication system was very weak, yet, it still had a gun. Merit moved backwards until her back faced the table behind her. The robot didn't flinch.

Merit sensed the contents of the table behind her, looking for a weapon but her hand only met a paper which she hastily took. The confrontation lasted for too long and the crowds became bored. The faces melted and the glimmering eyes took its light away and left. As Merit begun to lose hope, the creaking of the main door was audible in the room. In seconds, some kicked the door and ran away making the robot's system stutter and in confusion, it started moving in its place erratically, Merit took it as a sign to run out of the main door.

"Thank you!" Merit cried as she ran outside but there were no one to be thanked. The young girl raised an eyebrow, yet she didn't think much of it. Her train of thought was interrupted once a sharp sensation hit her left arm followed by a loud peal at the doorstep of the workshop.

Merit didn't stop running.