The Capital, Slums

Like most cities, the Capital of Unity had its slum, also known as the Quarter of the Poors. Most of the underwaged, criminals, and outcasts lived there. The first apartment Miles rented wasn’t too far from this area, but compared to here, that neighborhood was like heaven in hell.

In the slums, crime was the norm, and people would ignore it to avoid trouble. The slums were marvelous in a sense, considering how much technology had advanced. AIs were running the city and monitoring people, yet criminals could avoid the authorities and act in a wanton manner. But one of the best human traits was adaptation. Humans could adapt to any situation and thus could circumvent these shackles and these criminals had their own ways to do so.

Luckily, criminals weren’t the only inhabitants of the slums. There were also people who lucked out to get stronger but were too attached to their birthplace. So they acted as vigilantes, and protected their neighborhoods. One such person was Cale Charlie Chua Cantillo.

Cale wasn't an orphan since birth, he used to live with his family in the slum. His father was an honest man who failed to awaken a strong superpower and was working as an electrician. He wasn’t making much, since the technology had advanced too far for him to catch up, and he didn’t have good enough superpower to barge into the Portal World to hunt. He could only visit door to door to fix houseware.

His mother was a housewife, taking care of their child. And she would help other people living close by to take care of their children to earn a few extra bucks. All in all, they lived happily. But, when Cale was only a few months old, a criminal syndicate wanted Cale’s father to help them infiltrate one of the government facilities. Not because he was capable of doing it, but because he had a job assignment there and was given permission to enter. The syndicate threatened Cale’s father with his child and wife’s lives to do their biddings.

Cale’s father couldn’t stomach the evil syndicate and reported them to the police. With luck, the police arrested all of the people who wanted to infiltrate the government facility, and with their testimony, the rest of the gang was caught in their cave with lots of stolen goods and they were sentenced to lifetime imprisonment.

It would be a heroic story if that was the end of it. Unluckily for the little family, the leader of the gang had a brother just as infamous as him. The little brother wasn’t part of the syndicate because of his mad attitude. But he loved his big brother more than anything. When his big brother was prisoned, he learned the ins and outs of the situation and went after the little family to avenge him.

One night, he broke open the door of the house with his powers and killed the wife and husband. He would have killed Cale too but an alarm placed in the house by the police saved little Cale’s life. Unfortunately, Cale’s parents weren’t as lucky.

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Cale was then taken into the army and added to the Raise and Rule program. Every soldier who graduated from this program would start to serve in the army as a Captain. Cale was one of the best in the program and was shining in every drill. His achievements would be unprecedented thanks to his superpower allowing his brain and body to work faster, but his disposition was a major minus. He had a judicious mind and wouldn’t allow any injustice to happen to anyone he deemed as close.

So close to his graduation, one of the Colonels of the R&R program saw Cale’s close friend flirting with one of the kitchen workers. The army would use regular people in such odd jobs, and they were all simple and honest people trying to earn their fill, and this girl was the same.

Ever since she worked there, she always thought the people there were above her, and that she couldn’t reach them. So, she would always bow her head and dare not to look them in the eyes. But that one particular handsome man was different. He would greet her every day. Thank her after every meal. In time, their relationship progressed, and they were officially darlings.

But love affairs were prohibited within the army compounds. In this place of discipline, such behavior couldn’t be accepted. So when the Colonel saw Cale’s friend flirting with the girl, he went crazy and punished Cale’s friend with a heavy hand. It was normal until there, but when the Colonel wanted to fire the girl because she broke the rules, Cale could no longer stomach it.

The innocent girl could hardly feed her sibling with her job, and if fired, she wouldn’t be able to find another job. He couldn’t allow it, so he faced the Colonel. But the Colonel was mad already. In his rage, he accused Cale of getting in over his head because of his fame, and charged him with insubordination against him. Cale was fine with it. He thought, ‘If the matter blows up bigger, higher-ups will notice and will stop this madman from firing the poor girl.’

In silence, He waited for the trial to come. When he noticed the Colonel went behind everyone’s backs and forced the girl to quit her job with threats, Cale lost in his rage and fought with the Colonel. Of course, he was too weak to fight against him, but he landed a punch right on Colonel’s face, and after that, he was kicked out of the R&R program.

He would have even been sentenced to prison, but Malcolm took pity on him and recruited him as his man. In his lifetime, he wouldn’t be able to rise in ranks, but he was fine with it. In the face of injustice, he stood straight with his head high, so even death wouldn’t faze him.

“Hello, Cale. Thanks for helping me the other day.” As Cale was walking in the street, an old lady greeted him. Cale smiled back. “It is nothing. If you need anything, do call me.”

“Hey, Cale. Will you be here for the wedding? My daughter will cry a lot if you don’t show up.” A middle-aged man said with a smile. Her daughter was saved by Cale when she was abducted. Then Cale introduced her to a decent young man. He was basically their benefactor.

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world.” Cale smiled with a heart-melting smile. Many people greeted the kind and judicious neighbor as he walked down the street. Cale walked to the end of the street and saw the coffee place that separated the slums from the lesser slums. He was to meet with his friends there today.