Torrential. The rains drown the city, drenched in neon under the faint pink glow of the angular moon, Aurrelius 6. Billboards peddling the new phase stack higher and higher, soon to eclipse the five other moons that encircle my city. Testra.

It is my city. For over 23 years. There’s no doubt about it. I, Selene Prowle, roam the nights. Scaling ever higher and taking ever more. They don’t need it. They live in a world far above us, in every form. Spire upon spire, they continue to build. Who can reach the stars first?

Not us...at the bottom. They stand on our backs and reach for the heavens, while we grind for a taste of anything more than the scraps for basic survival. Even the rats eat better than we do. We...eat the rats though. A system that is broken for all of those shrouded beneath the skyline. If you can't wake to see the sunrise, it has probably already set on you.

Not me though. I strive for the heights. The thrill of living on the rooftops, camping out behind the flashing billboards offering your next big fix. You might not see it, but I'm everywhere at once, and no where at all. The perfect way to live a life like mine. The orphanage feels so distant from now. To think I survived. The loneliness. The struggle. It was enough to remove the will to live from within anyone...but I prevailed. And now...I survive in a different manner.

I carefully tuck my helmet over my long braids dirty blonde hair , the sides trimmed up tight, and lock down my polarized visor. The synthetic fibers tighten around my skin as my blackened jumpsuit. It’s form fitting in all areas, hugging all my feminine curves. Others may watch and have lascivious desires. For me though, it’s the better for movement. I tighten the slender bag on my back and let the coarse dirty air filter through my poisoned lungs. Infected with the waste this city produces. A thick smog that is only torn asunder by the neon lights from streaming from above, and along signposts cluttering the side of every building. Selling something for everyone, but who can buy it all?

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There are some who have that luxury. I thrive under their weighted boots. The rich. The favored. No, I feed them what they desire. I am the bug that crawls in their boot. I bleed them dry, even if they know I'm there. A Parasite.

The bitterness, the jealousy. They all want what they can’t have...but with me...they can have it all.

For a price.

I look down, crouched over the edge of an adjacent building, upon the luxurious Troan Tower, one of the tallest spires in the city. The unprecedented compound and enduring residence of Raife Chau. An architect of the city. A baron of the sickness that is greed. Wealth has been present throughout his family for generations. His Father, a seminal figure in the city's dark and storied chapter. A history paved in blood. The blood of my people. The little people. I relish the opportunity to take something from him...even if I hand it to one of his kind.

I take from the rich, and I give to the rich.

A gig unlike any other. The credits I receive are more than enough to start a new life. I've been stockpiling for quite some time. The offer tonight is the greatest I've yet to see. It'll allow me to finally start my life. Get off this forsaken planet, and I find somewhere else. Somewhere better. For a simple penance.

I assure you, there is a price for everything.

And tonight...that price will bring me something that I’ve clawed for my entire life. Tonight, I will gain a future. One that I have craved for far too long. Nothing will stop me.

No one will take this from me. The future...my future...begins tonight.