She walked through narrow walkways through towering buildings that surrounded, lit only by the crystals floating in the air, chained there by the constant arcs of ruby flowing from the walls into the crystal, providing the flame that allowed her to move under the endless dark sky. 

As Storm turned a corner, she fell into darkness, the only flame was far ahead of her and around the corner. She pulled her jacket closer to her, as the temperature dropped significantly. The crystals that had been floating about at every turn was missing. 

She huffed, her breath visible in the cold. 

The crystals, while common, was still worth enough that the desperate few would attempt to steal them. More often than not, Storm would just have to step over the smoking bodies of those who had tried yet failed. However, she thought, it seemed that someone had succeeded this time. 

She hated those sorts of people, as now the residents of this area would have to move. Without the crystal, the touch of the cold would make living here terrible, many who couldn't move fast enough would freeze to death, if they were lucky. As the Authority wouldn't bother patrolling the areas where the crystals were stolen, that would lead the less reputable to their doors. Slavers, Prostitutes, Smugglers, the filth that plagued the regular folks.  

She took a final huff as she continued walking, speeding up in the hopes of leaving the area faster. 

The walls were still warm, a fact she could determine when she nearly slipped on the sheet of ice that had formed on the uneven Ceclium pathway and reached out to steady herself. 

She cursed herself, it was only because of the pipes in the walls that had yet to be shut off that had kept the walls warm. If they had been shut off, her bare had could have been stuck on the wall. She had seen it before, a worker in the same factory as her.

Oscar, she remembered after a moment. He had been dared by a few of his friends when they were out to fix a broken crystal to put his hand on cold wall. She remembered him taking off his glove, a luxury that she didn't have, placing his hand on the wall, all the while laughing and making jokes. 

The laughter had however, died off when he tried to remove his hand. 

The idiot she thought, they had been told many stories of people losing skin when placed on the cold Ceclium. Now he was another story told to warn potential fools of doing stupid things. 

Something, she thought, that had little effect on the minds of young men. At least she had the enjoyment of watching his friends shouting and Oscar's screams as knives cut through the skin on his hand to separate him from the wall. 

She shook to remove herself from her daze, and continued on. 

As Storm got to the next area who still had their crystal, she stopped and looked back into the darkness. It was the second this cycle. There would usually only be one every Rotation, that was 20 times higher, she thought grimly. She hoped that this spike of crystal thefts would pass by, without ever affecting her.  

She dismissed the thought, that was for someone else to worry about, but not her. No, she would continue on, like she has always done. 

She turned corner after corner, ignoring the sunken eyes of those who had lost their job, and now waited to die. 

The dead were easier to deal with, she mused. Those who were dead didn't give her the look of hatred, jealousy, and anguish. The fact that she moved with purpose and had was more than just skin and bone meant as she moved through narrow walkways, she was the recipient of more than a few gazes, who she knew, were filled with more than just curiosity. 

She sighed in relief internally as she the once narrow walkways lead onto the proper roads of the city, gone were the uneven Ceclium pathways. She stepped onto the even, smoother Ceclium road. She dodged and pushed past people, as unlike the walkways she exited from, the roads were jam packed with hundreds of men, women and children moving about, hoping for a uneventful day that would lead to a hearty meal of gruel and stale bread.

Large carts pulled by steam powered engines passed by, threatening to crush anyone who wouldn't move out of its path. It happened far too often for her liking, another reason for her to hate those despicable merchants. Stepping over the body of a crying man, who had tripped and had failed to pull his leg out of the way of a passing engine. His leg barely holding together with a flattened knee. She tried not to look at the bone that would have been piercing through the skin as she tried to move as far away from him and his noise as possible. 

The sound of his screaming soon died out as the sound of the city overtook it. 

He would die shortly, she knew that, she also knew that no one would help him. He was useless, and nobody would feed a useless mouth, no one could afford to.  

The road gave way to a circular area, crystals of a much better quality floated in the air. A tall pillar lay in the middle of the area, acting as base for the ruby to arc from. Storm had to admit, despite the market being filled with arseholes shouting out to passer-byers to buy their wares, it was quite beautiful every time she walked through this area. The ruby flame from the crystals and the arcs that brightened up the area made the crystals that she passed look like dull rocks in comparison. Just above the pillar, unlike the ruby arcs hitting the crystals the surrounded the market area, this one was different. The emerald arcs hitting the crystal keeping it afloat, slightly bobbing as there was only one arc keeping it from falling, bathed the area in a flame that seemed to meld together to form a flame that was said to be similar to that produced by a citrine arc. 

It was a sign of wealth for the merchants who could afford to set up their shops in such an area. 

It is a crytal that some would kill for, she though briefly as she continued to walk around the pillar, moving as one with crowd. It was true though, lately, the people who were content with the crystal in the walkways were now setting their eyes on the bigger prize. She could see armed figures surrounding the pillar, and if she looked closely, others melded into the shadows caused by the ruby and emerald arcs. 

The figures were obviously guards, or more specifically, they were the mercenaries. She had heard them over the public information speakers at the factory, The Mechanics. A large group of mercenaries that were known to replace their body parts with steam mechanisms as their entrance rite. 

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Her eyes briefly crossed the body of one of mercenaries, he, or so she assumed from the tall muscular body, was much taller than she was, arms as thick as steam pipes, and skin that if he was bare and pressed against a Ceclium wall, it would be nearly impossible to pick him out. Or, that was true for one of his arms, the other was literally ceclium, his armed, she guessed, had been replaced with a steam contraption. A long pipe with numerous small tanks surrounded it, most likely containing the gas needed to operate the pistons and gears that she could see along the length of his arm. She didn't know what it done from that alone, and she hoped that she wouldn't every find out. 

She tore her eyes away from him as she bumped into the person in front of her, after a quick exchange of pleasant curses, she felt around her jacket for her canteen, once she held it in her hand, she moved out of the flow of the crowd and over to one of the more bearable merchants. Water was a precious resource, and while traditionally the steam works would use water, only the rich could afford that, that was why she needed to fill her canteen before she arrives at work, least she goes the day without drinking anything. 

There was always the pipe fluid, but she quickly threw that thought out, she remembered watching a worker when she just started working in the factory 6 years ago, it was her second day, and she was given water by the manager at the time. She remembered the kind lady who would help the children get by giving them the water they sorely needed, and any snacks she could get a hold of. However, that kindness didn't reach the older workers, if they forgot or couldn't afford their water, then so be it. That day, she heard that he couldn't afford the water for that day, nor the day before. The desire to drink something, anything, was evident in his eyes. That was when he walked over to the canister of the pipe liquid, and started to drink heavily from it, the workers around him tried to stop him, but not for his safety, but as it would mean they would have to work overtime. She could visualise his face, so full of joy as his thirst was sated, yet it was his face after that would never leave her head, the face of so full of pain, his weakened teeth cracking under the pressure of his clenched face. He wasn't even able to utter any cry of pain, as when he opened his mouth to scream, blood and bile was the only thing that came out. Twitching before becoming still was a sight that she would relive over and over, both inside and outside the factory. 

She approached the merchant, she couldn't remember his name no matter how much she tried, she knew it was rude, but what could she do?

"The usual refill?"

His voice brought her out of her stupor. She wordlessly handed her canteen over to the man. He was large, but not just tall, he was fatter than anyone in her area would ever be able to be. Yet, compared to some of the other merchants around, he was as fit as a fiddle. 

"How much again?" She reprimanded herself, she always said this, and no matter how many times she heard the answer, it was always the same. He giggled as he held her canteen under a pipe, after pulling a chain besides it, water came flowing through it at a slow rate. 

"While I would usually say 10 chronium, I'm afraid that due to attacks on the water supply, prices are going up"

"So, how much?" She said again, this time with a mix of irritation at waiting, and curiosity about what was going on.

"15" 

She liked this merchant for the very reason that he wouldn't overcharge his customers. Too much she added. And that when he did, he at least informed her of it, but for all she knew, he was charging her double the price. 

She pulled out her coin poach from a hidden pocket within her jacket, it was enough that it would prevent pickpockets, or so she hoped. 

She left the merchant area after handing over the coins and exchange the same farewells as they have done since she first done business with him, nearly 3 Revolutions ago. She started heading towards the factory that loomed overhead, and despite looking so large, she knew that it would still take at least 15 clicks until she arrived. 

It took her nearly 30 clicks to reach the factory as there had been an accident where a cart's engine had broken down, bringing foot traffic to a near standstill.

She looked up, the factory standing, at what she could guess, nearly half a charged arc in height, in width and length, she couldn't begin to guess. She approached the only entrance into the factory, a pair of large ceclium doors that reached up to what she guessed was 10 norm arcs, nearly tenth of the entire factory. Across its surface, the doors had large cylinders that cut across door. Similar to her home's lock, where a small piston would shoot a thick pin in the gap between the door and the wall, this one was many times larger, like it was designed to keep out the mystical mechanical titans of the endless forge. She knew that this, however, was just due to an overprotective mayor who had every factory install these locks and seal any other entrances that may still be open in order to ensure that no thieves would make off with the precious resources that lay inside. That was long before she was born though, the only reason she knew this was due to the stories that were passed between workers in the factor to ease the time when it was spent doing the repetitive tasks every workset. 

There was a que to get into the factory, as there were thousands of workers that made their living here, but to some, this would become their ceclium tomb. 

Lucky for her, the que didn't last long, as she reached the entrance to the factory, an impromptu desk was set up. She had forgotten that in her previous workset the manager had told them that a new identification system would be set up. 

Was this it? 

There was a woman sitting on an uncomfortable looking ceclium chair, but she didn't seem to show any discomfort/ 

"Next" The tone in her voice was cold and emotionless.

She approached the woman. Until she realised that this wasn't a woman, but one of those mechanical workers that she has heard about. Servitors the creators had called them, but down her they were just known as rusters or some other term meant to confer the workers hatred for them. This was due to them taking over many jobs that people used to do. The unlucky few, or she should say, thousands, had not been able to find work that was already in high demand, and for those who didn't work, their future was pretty much the same anywhere, death or slavery. 

She shuddered at the thought but continued to approach the ruster. 

Her face slowly creaked up, steam bellowing out the ruster's back, gears turning as the head turned to look at her. 

"Face... Masks... Off" 

It was cold out, something it didn't, or couldn't understand, but she knew better than to argue with something that couldn't comprehend what an argument is, only follow set commands. She had heard that there were a few that was said to be smarter than many of workers class. 

That was only a rumour, she told herself as she slipped off her goggles, the cloth covering her face. Her hair had been caught when she tried to pull the goggles off, she flicked her hair away, causing it to untuck itself from within her jacket. Her ruby flame hair bellowed out and flapped in the cold wind, as it died done, her hair came to rest just middle her back. 

The ruster looked her up and down, seeming to scan her, then proceeded to write down on a book, from what she could see was her details. 

Name: Storm

Height: 1 norm 6 damped arcs

Eye Flame: Ruby Flame

Hair Flame: Ruby Flame

Body Type: Petit

Skin Flame: Pale Cream Flame

After it finished writing down what it could about her, its head rose to what she assumed was its reset position, as it looked forward just below chin. 

"Report... Anything... Su. Su. Su." It seemed to have been stuck on the word. After a few failed attempts to say the word, it stopped altogether, the gears, the fumes, all for a moment stopped. Then it proceeded to restart, skipping over what it was trying to say.

"Welcome... Citizen... Of... Cystella"

Glad that it was, she left and pass through the doors, that at this point, seemed more like gates to some land beyond this. She wished it was, but as she passed through, with the sound of the ruster calling the next person to come forward. She gazed the factory, thousands of gears, large and small, pistons of all sizes pushing and pull, ore in one end, metal out the other. All a process that keeps the city moving, and off she went to her work area, another day in her life.

Briefly, she wished that all would change, that someone, or at least something would come and whisk her away.