This is the story of a boy, my story, of how I achieved my dream and how I had to pay the price that came with it, my own life…
Zeroth Haven, my home, I was born here and raised here until I was 16.
Raised by my older sister, life was never easy, especially in that environment we had lived in. You see, Zeroth Haven is like the last place a person wants to go; it is dirty, the crime rate is high, and you can’t trust anybody here.
Zeroth Haven is basically a high-tech garbage dump, but it comes with its advantages. See, I am something people would call a garbage hunter, a job common in Zeroth Haven.
People search for good loot in the area where people dump their garbage, and if you are lucky, you find something like a GX-140 core like I just did, but what is a GX-140 core?
History lesson: Before the whole world turned into a gigantic dumpster, there was a war between robots and espers. Originally, those robots were made by a company that tried to rule over the world, but who would have guessed that the highly advanced AI would turn against its makers, leading to an all-out war that lasted 25 years?
We espers lost the battle by basically letting the high-advance AI shoot out every atomic bomb in its arsenal after we fought through its main army, ready to shut it down.
The bombs basically turned earth into a wasteland but destroyed the AI, kind of setting us back in time.
I wasn’t alive that time since the war had ended 200 years ago.
Lucky us humans, we had some of us experiment on our DNA, making some humans into espers; humans with a genetic boost, giving us powers.
Some are cool, and some are basically useless.
So, you are probably still asking, “What is a GX-140 core?” It is the core from those scary robots the AI used to hunt us down.
This isn’t the only question that you got right now; you are still wondering who I am and why I am dead. I'm Axiel, but my sister calls me Ax or Axel, and why am I dead? That is a long story, but I guess we have time for that.
…
Axiel: “A GX-140 core; if I sell this, my sister and I will for sure have enough money to pay the rent for the next months.”
I said in a very happy tone. Finding a GX-140 core is a rarity since the GX-140 core is one of the oldest models under the GX cores, making it a dream for every collector to at least have one in their repertoire.
I jumped up and down, happy with my find. It is not easy to find anything useful in those gigantic piles of junk that are surrounding Zeroth Haven.
I quickly looked around, checking if no one saw me putting the core inside my dirty old bag. I then slid down the hill made out of stacked junk before walking along the dirt way, passing the gigantic sign that welcomes me to Zeroth Haven.
Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
What I basically do is try to not make eye contact with anyone here, not even the nice elders that sit on the street, those that stink of booze.
Axiel: “Easy, just like every day.”
I said to myself, trying to come down, but my heart did not stop pounding; having something as valuable as a GX-140 core just automatically makes my heart race.
My face automatically starts grinning. “Sister will be crying in joy when I show her the money I made by selling it,” I said to myself.
“Selling what?
A voice said behind me, I thought I said it in my head, but I guess sometimes you accidentally speak things out loud.
I, an average, skinny boy with black and short hair, turn around, seeing a guy, even skinnier than I am but way taller than me, with blond, spiky hair and a bright, horrific smile, standing before me, repeating his question again.
???: “What is it that you will sell and make money with?”
He said with a smile, getting louder and intentionally letting others know of what I accidentally said out loud.
These others quickly swarmed around us like bees, whispering and asking each other what is happening here.
Something like this is surprisingly common; here in Zeroth Haven, something like a justice system doesn’t exist since originally it just was a gigantic junkyard used by other cities to throw their useless junk away, but with it, their junk in human form was also thrown in here, making Zeroth Haven one of the most populated cities but also probably the most dangerous one.
The guy puts his hand on his still-sheathed machete, still repeating his question on and on,
???: “Come on, show me the thing that will bring you in the money.”
I got scared; I always get scared in situations like these, so I do the thing that I am best at: I grab my right arm with my left hand, and I stretch my right arm onto the ground so that I can send myself away flying by using my useless esper ability.
The people that surrounded me were watching me shocked while I basically flew over them, hitting the ground and quickly running away from the scene.
“GET HIM!!” The guy that approached me in the first place shouted out, starting a manhunt with me being the victim, but what they didn’t know is that running is the best I can do.
I quickly get to an alley with a fence blocking the way, but luckily, I am still able to use my ability to catapult myself over the fence and quickly hide behind a big pile of junk, letting everyone that is looking for me pass the alley.
Axel: “Breathe…breathe.”
I said to myself, trying to calm myself down while I was completely out of breath,
???: “Now it's just the two of us.”
A voice said from behind the junk, leaning over it and staring at me with a disgusting grimace.
It’s the guy from before. I was ready to catapult myself away again, but I was too slow; he grabbed me and slammed me against the wall, holding me up while another guy quickly arrived by climbing up the fence.
???: “Here, take his bag.”
The original guy said, taking away my bag and throwing it towards the other guy,
Other guy: “Oh man, look at this.”
He said, throwing out everything I had inside the bag before revealing the GX-140 core I had found,
???: “Look at this, a GX-140 core; I surely will get some money out of this one.”
He said to me, still holding me against the wall and smiling at me with a grimace.
???: “I hope you have no problem if we just take it from you.”
Axel: “Let me go. Why don’t you go get your own shit?”
They both look at each other, slowly smiling again before bursting out into laughter.
This was the first time in my life where I felt this kind of despair; seeing those two guys laughing about me while holding my GX-140 core in their hands made me feel like shit, but I guess that is how life is. I could have guessed that since of all places I could have been born, I was born here in Zeroth Haven.
I just closed my eyes, simply bearing the humiliation while also wishing that they leave me life after this, but it was also that time where I made an encounter that changed my life forever…