I took a gulp from my graphene-reinforced water bottle. It seemed fancy to me, but probably junk to anyone else. The lukewarm water wasn't exactly refreshing, but it did the job, quenching my thirst as I sat on the edge of the narrow bed, gathering my thoughts.

I searched the pod, relying on Rhett's fragmented memories, hoping to find anything useful. Underneath the bed, I pulled out a dusty, worn-out metal box. Inside, I found a few old tools: pliers, a screwdriver set, and a small welding torch. They weren't much, but in a place like this, they could be used for repairs or dismantling. There was also a small stack of frayed, tangled scrap wiring that might come in handy for makeshift fixes.

On a shelf, partially hidden behind a pile of broken parts, I found a spool of insulated wire, a half-full roll of duct tape, and a small solar charger. The charger looked worn out, its casing was scratched and dented, but it still worked when I flipped the switch. I set it aside, hopeful that it could charge my gear.

I now had a small pile of assorted items on my bed, not much, but it was something. Every little bit helped, and it felt good to know I had something to work with. I'd have to get creative to make it all work, but it was a start.

I glanced around the pod, contemplating my next steps. There were still a lot of mechanical tools and broken devices scattered around: a bed, a mini-fridge, a workbench, a nearly empty water tank, and my skimboard.

The skimboard was the first piece of sci-fi tech I had come across, aside from the nanomachines supposedly living inside me. It was a square-shaped sled with metal railings covering the front three-quarters, floating about a foot off the ground. The front of the sled was thicker, with an interface to adjust the floating.

Strangely, the batteries powering its gravity-defying ability were cheaper than the nutrient cubes I'd just eaten; which said a lot about the state of this place and its priorities.

"This is pretty sweet," I muttered, running my fingers along the metal railing.

Leaving the skimboard behind, I focused on more pressing matters. The water tank was almost empty, and there was no running water. Supplies were thin, and the fridge only held enough nutrient cubes for maybe a day. I needed more than just food. My immediate priorities were clear: water, more food, credits to buy necessities, and information.

Standing up was easier now that I'd eaten something. "There should be a datapad around here," I muttered, heading over to the workbench to search for what was essentially a tablet.

After rummaging through the clutter, I found the old datapad beneath a pile of broken parts. The screen flickered to life, displaying my credit balance: 278 creds.

I sighed heavily. "278 creds... that's not going to get me far."

I needed to restock on food and water and buy myself some protection, which meant I'd have to find a way to earn more creds in the near future. Food would cost about five credits a day, and refilling the large water tank would run more than forty credits. Seven days' worth of food and a water refill would be around 75 credits. And I needed a gun. I was surprised the kid didn't have one already, but he knew the prices,it was around 40 credits with a single magazine.

"Living on a corporate scrapyard planet isn't cheap," I grumbled. "I'm going to be broke before I know it."

I rubbed the back of my neck, feeling the weight of the situation pressing down on me. I couldn't stay in this habitat pod without supplies, and I definitely couldn't survive without some sort of income. I needed to head to a store and find out what I could buy and sell.

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"Alright, let's see what I've got to work with," I muttered, glancing at the workbench. I spotted a box of modular circuit boards. They could sell for two to four credits each, depending on the model. "Only got ten of these, so twenty to forty credits... that's maybe a week's worth of food."

I wasn't planning on selling them just yet, but it was good to know my options.

I got up from the bed and walked over to the skimboard. With a press of a button, it floated up, allowing me to load the empty water tank on it. I pushed the mini-fridge onto the skimboard as well, securing it with some straps I found.

Looking over the pile of supplies I'd gathered, I decided not to sell anything else just yet. Grabbing my datapad and water bottle, I headed out the front door.

As I stepped outside, I was hit by the sight of the scrapyard stretching endlessly before me. Piles of rusted metal and heaps of discarded machinery filled the landscape, twisted and broken, all covered by a thin layer of red dust.

I paused for a moment, stunned by the sheer scale of it all. The air was dry, carrying the sharp scent of rust and oil. The horizon was hazy, the dim sunlight struggling to break through the dust-laden sky.

Out in the distance, I could see the towering, rusted structure of Aquavex47. It used to be a bustling settlement, built to extract the extremely salty water hidden beneath the soil. Now, it was a ghost town, the water long gone, with only a few people left, those who worked in the salt mines and the occasional scavenger picking through the remains of the surrounding area.

Beyond Aquavex lay the only real city on this planet, CoreStation R77. Not exactly inspiring names, but it was the closest thing to civilization here.

After giving my surroundings a quick survey, I found nothing of note. I was actually quite high on a mass of rubble.

I looked up at the sun; it seemed to be around midday. The walk to Aquavex would take about thirty minutes. I took a deep breath, gripping the pull rope of my skimboard, and started down from my broken habitat, the sled gliding smoothly behind me.

The path down wasn't the easiest, but it got better once I reached ground level. I carefully avoided a puddle of oil as I thought over what I knew of Aquavex.

Mira's Bar was where I would need to go to get the nutrient cubes, the NutriSynth was located outside of the bar. Jack's Warehouse was where I could get most of the other goods on my shopping list.

"Gotta add some goggles to the list," I grumbled. The sand and wind were making this walk very annoying.

As I approached Aquavex, I couldn't help but notice the eerie silence of the place. The wind whistled through the hollowed-out buildings, their windows broken and frames rusted.

From a distance, the settlement could be mistaken for being lively, but in reality, it was quite different. Buildings on the outer edge were starting to break down and collapse, many of them buried in sand. Not even the guards bothered patrolling here.

As I continued through the main pathway, the buildings started to look better. They weren't pristine, but they still looked functional. Soon after, I came across the first guard post. It only had two guards, both staring off into the distance; probably watching a movie through the HoloVision implanted in their cybernetic eyes. Man, I wanted some cybernetics.

As I walked past the guards, I raised my hand to notify them of my passing. Only one of them bothered to acknowledge my presence before going back to watching whatever show he was engrossed in.

That gave me something to think about. Here I was, being super paranoid about my arrival, but in reality, everyone else saw me as just a harmless 13 year old kid scraping a living from old junk.

It doesn't mean I shouldn't be cautious but the danger I was in was probably less than I thought.

Moving on I finally saw some semblance of life.

People, I knew from Rhett's memories that there weren't truly extraordinary alien looking inhabitants here, but it still didn't stop my disappointment. Most people here were very human-like, the only standout from the small sample size I have seen are people with strange hair color and obvious cybernetics. The most wild one was a woman with dark blue-brown skin.

Nearly everyone here was wearing a cowl or a cape with a hood, just like myself. I didn't stand out too much so I took my sled into a shaded area and sat down on it, and just watched people going about for a bit.

"Well, we aren't in Kansas anymore," I muttered to myself, watching the steady flow of individuals passing by.