chapter 5

“Incoming call: Lily.”

I had not walked two kilometers before my bracelet projected a light-screen.

By Lower City landlord standards, Lily rarely made trouble. Unless it was absolutely necessary, she did not contact her tenants.

As long as a payment was not too late, she would not hound you over the occasional overdue bill.

And I had just paid the rent and electricity. She had no reason to call.

Had something happened?

My fingertip stabbed impatiently through the endless advertisements clogging the screen while I cursed under my breath.

For ninety extra credits, a VVIP package would remove all this electronic garbage.

Then I remembered my missing job and Peipei, and the impulse to splurge vanished.

By the time the video call finally connected, Lily looked grave enough that the emotion showed even through her flickering projection.

“Something terrible happened. A group of people took Peipei!”

“Tell me the truth, little K. Who did you sisters offend?”

“…Every one of the kidnappers had a golden candelabrum tattooed on her face!”

A golden candelabrum?

That was the emblem of the Upper City council.

How had an ordinary girl just beginning to look for work become entangled with them?

I cut Lily’s call and barked at my bracelet.

“Private airship. Now!”

There was no time to mourn the hundred-plus-credit fare.

I ran the whole way from the landing point, my heart pounding, and stumbled to the door of our room.

One look made me suck in a cold breath.

Only half the door remained.

There had clearly been a violent struggle inside. Smashed electronics smoked all over the floor.

The old carpet I kept scrupulously clean was flecked with blood.

Peipei was gone.

My heart sank.

Combat was a required course at Starship Academy, the Lower City’s best comprehensive school.

Years ago, Peipei and I had both received offers of admission.

But our family could afford to educate only one of us. I had given the opportunity to her.

She treasured it.

Apart from a handful of privileged students who injected “knowledge” and “skills” directly into their bodies, Peipei consistently ranked in the top five of her year.

She was not some helpless girl.

With her combat training, she could have earned excellent resources fighting in the underground black market.

The wreckage around me meant only one thing.

Whoever had taken her was far stronger than she was.

A door at the far end of the corridor cracked open.

Lily peered out.

“You’re back.” Fear lingered in her eyes. A third prosthetic arm extended from the base of her spine through her collar and steadied me as I swayed. “They were terrifying. I didn’t dare ask questions.”

I held on to the last of my reason and waved her off. “This has nothing to do with you.”

“My mother left me this building…” Lily faltered.

I sighed, about to tell her to send me the repair bill, when a cloaked figure emerged from the shadow of the stairwell.

The man lowered his hood as he spoke, revealing a handsome, gentle face.

“K, don’t investigate Peipei’s disappearance.”

“Pretend you… never had a sister.”

I knew him.

I had slept with him too.

Eden, the second son of the Lower City council chairwoman.

I had been his kept woman for several years to pay Peipei’s tuition and living expenses at Starship Academy.

“Why?”

Given Eden’s status, I should have spoken respectfully.

But this was about Peipei, and his evasive manner sharpened my voice into something hard and short.

“Don’t invite trouble.”

He avoided the question and offered me the newest bracelet on the market.

Light danced over it, displaying a balance of more than seven million credits.

I did not take it.

Eden frowned and shook the bracelet again.

This time, it displayed a small transparent card instead of the balance.

A Middle City immigration permit.

Only four were issued to the Lower City each year. Even the black market could not put a price on one.

Lily gasped.

I raised an eyebrow but still did not reach for the bracelet.

“Not enough?” Eden’s face darkened.

I bared every white tooth in my mouth.

“She’s my sister, not merchandise.”

Eden pressed his lips together. “To those Xian people in the Upper City, every Lower City resident is merchandise.”

After a pause, he added softly, “Including me.”

I nodded. “And if I insist on finding Peipei?”

Eden closed his eyes in regret, then stepped aside to reveal two androids.

The same uniforms.

The same stern faces.

The same particle rifles.

“Take the bracelet and act as though nothing happened, or keep digging and end up in the Northern death prison. Those are your choices.”

His voice was gentle but final.

Red light roiled in the muzzles pressed to my forehead.

It was an unpleasant feeling.

“I choose… the third road.”

I stared at the bronze candelabrum emblems on the androids’ faces and answered without hesitation.

There was one thing most people did not know.

Peipei included.

Among tens of thousands of Lower City applicants to Starship Academy, my natural talent for combat had ranked first.