From the shadows of a thicket, I crouched and scanned the open field with my phase rifle’s scope. The trail of cobalt blood I had been tracking using sensors for hours was now barely visible on the dusty soil. The creature either bled out and ran on fumes, or it healed its wounds up ahead. Option two seemed more likely, considering my luck.

Soon, it would be strong enough to tear me apart.

With no movement on thermals, I eased out of the underbrush, boots crunching on lichen-covered twigs. The creature was built for stealth, not speed. I was near enough that I didn’t need to worry about it escaping.

There were no records of the Essence beast, but that made sense. Few people were dumb enough to enter a new portal.

New portals were an opportunity to gain a large payday, but they were also a risk. The beasts in this portal, whatever they were, were scarce. Everywhere within three days of the portal was mostly barren rock, with a few weeds poking through. Not much worth hunting.

Hopefully, the blood scent didn’t summon a tide of hidden beasts that my sensors didn’t pick up. I didn’t mind a good fight in VR, but a proper lady like myself couldn’t afford too many scars. I certainly didn’t need any more right now.

I took a second to probe my side and gritted my teeth at the hot flare of pain. Earlier, my phase bolts had barely scratched the damn creature’s hide. Should have used shells, but with only three left, I couldn’t afford to waste them on anything other than a sure kill. Not with the expenses I had coming.

Once I was sure it was safe, I called up my health Status.

Body Status:

Sub-Optimal

Injuries:

Splenic Contusion, 9th & 10th Rib Fractures [Expand]

Illnesses:

None

Genetic Abnormalities:

None

Neurological Response:

63.4%

Perfect. Getting slammed into a rock would do it. But I couldn’t waste the Essence to mend my wounds until I made it back to the gate. Just had to hold it together a little longer.

If it weren’t for the fact that I needed the Essence to survive and the credits to pay my bills, I wouldn’t dare step in these wastelands.

After figuring out my situation, there was no point creeping around. I didn’t see anything dangerous nearby. I needed to end this hunt before that thing recovered enough to come after me.

The monster crouched by a clogged stream. Some weird hybrid evolution had spit out. With four webbed upper limbs and two stocky rear legs, it looked like it was built for leaping between the sky-high fungi stalks popping up in the distance.

Unlike most Essence Beasts, it had only attacked once I cornered it. Usually, they don’t waste a moment before lunging at anything near them. That abnormal behavior made it difficult to judge and a pain in the ass to fight. If I were smarter, I probably could have walked right up to it and put a shell into its head.

Eventually, though, seeing a human in skinsuit armor freaked the creature out. We’re an invasive species no matter where we gate in.

I unholstered my mace, fingers tightening around the worn grip. It’s a brutal thing, but it gets the job done without bankrupting me on ammo or training fees for more advanced weapons. The club worked well enough on most things.

As long as the monster’s wrinkled gray skin wasn’t too thick, there wouldn’t be any problems.

I circled it slowly, running simulations in my optic chip for the highest percentage approach vector. Nothing. They were all equally bad.

Out of ideas or better options, I used my go-to technique and broke out in a full sprint. I raised the mace over my shoulder and put all my weight into one downward swing, aiming for the folds behind its skull.

It connected with a loud thud against the monster’s head, its carbide flanges bit deep into its flesh before the stored charge shot into its body.

It shrieked, more outraged than hurt, lashing out blindly. A tree-trunk thick limb smashed into me like a train, lifting me off my feet. I slammed into some nasty razor-laden foliage that flayed my skin even through my suit.

Half a ton of claw and rage crashed down, narrowly missing my head by mere inches. I muttered a silent thanks to my helmet as I scrambled away, my heart racing. Two days ago, that purchase had seemed frivolous. Now it might have just saved my life.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

The beast bit down on my forearm, and for the first time, I noticed it had four eyes. Thankfully, its small teeth were more for shredding than they were crushing. It burned like hell, but it gave me a moment to grab my next weapon.

I fumbled my knife free from my waist and jammed it to the hilt, right under what looked like ribs. Hot blood sprayed my body as I pressed deeper, almost black in the gloom. It reared back, squealing, and took my knife with it.

It clawed at its chest to pull it free, but barbs held it in place. I rolled from underneath it and grabbed my mace. With burning lungs, I limped to the shrieking beast, ready to end the fight.

I braced my feet, blinking sweat from my eyes. One more. This was it. I roared through the pain and smashed its skull to a pulp, watching those dark, empty eyes deflate.

Broken ribs grated against each other with each breath, sending hot spikes of pain through my side. I spat blood from my bitten tongue and grimaced. This hunt had become a desperate fight for survival rather than a calculated job. And it was taking everything I had not to collapse where I stood.

A day’s worth of tracking ended with a few minutes of attacking.

I raised my right arm and set an alert on my wrist sensor. As long as nobody approached me with a large-scale energy weapon or a beast with a monster core came, I’d live.

With a kick to its head to make sure it was dead, I took out my scanner and ran the beam over the corpse, watching the projected profile spin and collate data. Unknown.

If I could be the first to ID this thing, I might earn some credits after all. The tech had cost me, but each discovery paid the scanner off a little more.

My scanner highlighted where the core was nestled in the creature’s abdomen. I took a deep breath, steeled my nerves, and dug my knife into its belly, prying open the wound wider. This was going to get messy.

Foul-smelling intestines dropped out, writhing like headless eels. They coiled around my leg, almost tricking me into thinking they were alive. I shoved them aside until I found a bony sphere floating amidst veins and putrid organs.

I cracked the bone open, watching the amber core inside flare. Everything I’d risked and suffered for coalesced into a gem too small to fill my palm. Strange that something so tiny was the gate to immortality and could fuel an industry.

I rinsed it clean and slotted it into my scale. 27.3 grams. Even better than expected for something this quick and stupid. The monster was strong, but I was never optimistic about cores.

Factoring HexaGen’s 40% cut, the government skim of 20%, and 5% in processing fees, I was looking at a solid 0.75mL return, give or take. Close to hitting the lottery, for me at least.

I placed the core in a transfer box and stowed the case. It was a shame about the carcass. No sense in cutting this thing up for trophies when I didn’t recognize the species. The scanner hadn’t flagged any other valuable biologicals.

I limped back to where I’d hidden my beaten hoverbike. The thing was nearly 10,000 credits used, but it was worth every credit. Without it, I’d have died a long time ago.

I had been frugal during the six months on my own. If I wanted to move on to better sites, I needed the strength to get there. Mods weren’t cheap. Carving my core would cost even more. The bike was the only large expense I had made.

After admiring the purchase once more, I plugged in my coordinates and got directions to the portal. Two days. It would take me nearly two days on my hoverbike to arrive.

Before kicking off, I pulled up my Status.

Ella Parker:

22 Cycles

Lifespan Remaining:

3.2 Days

Free Essence:

0.034 mL

Core Layers:

3

Core Mass:

37.7 g

Mass to Next Layer:

12.5 g

Body Status:

Sub-Optimal

Injuries:

Splenic Contusion, 9th & 10th Rib Fractures [Expand]

Illnesses:

None

Genetic Abnormalities:

None

Neurological Response:

63.4%

Essence Utilization Eff:

74.3%

Attribute Multiplier:

1.56 [Expand]

Core Abilities:

1

Injury Repair:

Variable

Unattributed Core Layers:

2

Cold reality set in.

Three days left unless I made it to the portal. Every speck of free Essence in my body was being leeched away by the swirling vortex of my core. This thing was going to drain me dry if I didn’t get back in time.

Having a core was a blessing and a curse. I knew why my father did it. With a core, a Synthetic human like me could pass as normal. Nobody would be able to tell I was made from a cell model. I looked like any other human that had a core develop due to Tiliri’s strange chromosphere.

Essence. For most, it granted immortality—stay jacked into its glowing stream and you’d never age a day. In the Upper Districts, wrinkles and grey hair were relics of the past. But for me, Essence was a countdown, ticking away the minutes I had left.

Cored humans were different. The cores in their bodies absorbed the Life Essence constantly. Like a black hole, it would suck every bit from your body. A first-layer core burned Life Essence three times as fast as a person with no core. A double-edged sword that gave you abilities like a cybernetically enhanced body, and killed you at the same time.

My father placed the core of a dying woman in me before sending me to the Lower District. Synthetic humans didn’t exist in the Lower District. We were a military resource. Only a fool would limit a Synth with a core. A Synth with a core, nobody would believe it.

Thanks to the core, I could pass as a human, but without the core, I had a chance to live forever. Synthetic humans didn’t age after all.

I still couldn’t understand why he bothered making me. Was I nothing more than a set of memories in a synthetic shell made from his daughter’s DNA, or was I human? What was a human?

It didn’t matter. I’d never have a chance to ask him.

There was no point in thinking about it. I had three days to live. As long as there were no obstacles, I’d barely make it. The 0.75 mL would allow me to heal and give me a few days of rest before heading out for a new hunt.

With a quick prayer and a direction, I jumped on my bike and shot off.