Chapter 1: Marked.

“In today's news, The Merlin Foundation is unveiling a revolutionary new technology they are calling, “Magic”. Chairwoman LaFey is scheduled to hold a press conference this noon where the grand unveiling will take place in front of City Hall.”- New Orleans Local TV.

Chapter 1: Marked.

Wake up.

Go to school.

Go home.

Go to sleep.

Wake up.

Go to school.

Go home.

Go to sleep.

Graduate.

Wake up.

Go to Work.

Go home.

Go to sleep.

Wake up-

“This… fucking sucks,” Isaac’s eyes snapped open, sighing as he woke from the sound of an alarm blaring through the thin wall of his one-bedroom apartment. “Age of AI and of course I get the one neighbor that still uses an analog alarm clock.”

“Tch. Damn geezer,” Isaac groaned, crawling out of his navy blue sleeping bag fully dressed in a black suit and walking across the cold tile floor.

Isaac blinked, his H.U.D finally powering on as his implant recognized he was awake.

*Good Morning, Mr. Isaac.* A sauve gentlemanly voice said.

[6:30AM]

Partly cloudy

Precip:20%

Humidity:59%

Wind:23 km/h

Air quality: Acceptable.

32°C

*You have. 13, New Messages*

Spam. Mostly. Messages about pills, promos, and porn. The three Ps that came with his cheap H.U.D Implant.

Isaac blinked away the words, the auto greeter displaying the day's date, temperature, and humidity.

“Man, what I wouldn't do for a sexy bot’s voice,” Isaac muttered, eyeing himself in the mirror.

At five-ten, dark brown hair with hazel eyes, Isaac was a self-described seven on a good day. Not ugly, not handsome, just… average. Maybe even painfully so with dark spots under his eyes and callouses on his hands like every other indentured servant.

He blinked again, focusing on an app in his peripheral vision, opening GenshinVerse for his login rewards as he turned the stove on.

“MOM! LILY! BREAKFAST!” Issac barked, dropping the ramen into the water to cook as he sprayed a pan with oil and prepared the two eggs laying on the counter.

Before long, the only bedroom door in the immaculate apartment opened, a sickly bald woman creeping out of the room with the help of a humanoid mechanical aid nicknamed Kara.

The bot was six feet tall, pale synthetic skin with choppy and frayed blonde hair. A former pleasure bot reprogrammed and recycled for aid work.

A luxury item if not for half the bot’s rusted face missing and much of its internals scavenged from a nearby junkyard, the only kind of aid Issac could get on his meager salary as a fry cook and an office assistant.

Well, at least for now. Fortunately his luck was about to change.

Isaac grabbed a box of knock-off brand cereal, pouring it into a bowl along with tap water as the bald woman took a seat at the family dinner table.

“Alright, eggs are almost done. Lily! Lily get up or I'm pouring water in your ear!” Isaac yelled, banging several pots together.

“Isaac, why don't you let Lily sleep a bit?” Alleigh said, her soft voice contrasting her sunken eyes and hollowed face marred by black lines, the side effects of rustlung.

“Would love to mom, but we got a bus to catch in thirty. Need to make sure we're early in case the bus arrives too soon or we miss the first one,” Isaac said, placing the plate of eggs in front of his mother. “Don't want to ruin Lily's first day.”

Alleigh looked down, eyeing the peppered eggs that were being cut by her helper bot.

“You should be eating this. Have you eaten yet?” Alleigh said, grabbing Isaac by the hem of his jeans.

“Doctor said you need high protein food. So eat up. Don't waste food ma,” Isaac replied before calling out for his sister again. “Look, I even got some hot sauce for the eggs for you. Mr. Won gave me a discount.”

“I'm up! Immm up!” Lily groaned, the eleven year old red-headed child rubbing her eyes, half awake and half dressed.

“Where's your coat? Where's your shoes? Why don't you have your backpack? Lily! This is your first day of school, I expect you packed up and ready to go. Here eat, brush your teeth, get your stuff. Chop chop girl, we're on a timer!” Isaac rattled off, shoving the bowl of cereal into the girl’s hands and rushing her off. “And make sure you have your pepper spray!”

“You should be kinder to your sister, Isaac. You know that when I'm gone, you'll only have-”

“Ah! Nonono,” Isaac interrupted, waving the woman off as he grabbed a stack of papers off the table. “Don’t want to hear it. Eat your food ma, once I drop Lily off, I'll be back for you after I handle some business.”

Alleigh looked up at the word business but didn't pry, instead eating quietly, neither speaking as Isaac licked his lips and reviewed the paperwork with a frown.

“Ma… why haven't you signed this yet?” Isaac asked, lifting the document that was stamped with the logo of the U.S Army.

The woman let out a cough, the bot pausing its feeding.

“You know how I feel about you enlisting. About you running off to go die fighting the corpos. The resource tycoon's have enough abled boys, no sense taking another one of mine.”

“Right,” Isaac huffed. “Ma we talked about this. I got a 97 on my ASVAB, Sergeant Gomez says I can get any job I want. I don't have to be on the front lines, I'll be doing paperwork. Won't even see combat. Plus with my score I get a bonus, benefits, healthcare. The whole works. Stuff that can help Lily and you. Besides, between all the drivebys and lack of police, there's no difference between here and the frontline.”

The woman frowned, picking at her plate of eggs covered in hot sauce from packets scavenged from Isaac's job.

“Ma, I've got a real shot here to provide Lily a good life. Maybe start a college fund with the GI bill. Look, I'm asking. I want your blessing. I'm 19, I can volunteer now if I want and Sergeant Gomez says it's better to volunteer before they start drafting.”

The woman took on an apprehensive look. “Isaac… I just. It may be selfish but I don’t want you to end up like your father and brother. I can’t… I can’t do another funeral.”

“It’ll be fine ma,” Isaac said, walking over and planting a kiss on the woman’s forehead. “And with the money you’d get if I die, you’ll live long enough to see my funeral.”

“Not funny Isaac.”

“I know mom. We’ll be-”

“Ok! I'm ready!” Lily exclaimed, coming out of her shared room with a hop, arms brandished with two thumbs up.

“Lil, your shirt's on backwards,” Isaac pointed out.

“No it's not!” Lily refuted before glancing down. “Oh, whoops...”

Lily quickly retracted her arms into the pink shirt like a turtle, squirming around to fix the issue as Isaac smirked.

“Think on it ma. I want you to be ok with this,” Isaac said, reaching over and caressing his mother’s skinny hand covered in black lines.

****

Exiting from his apartment on the second floor, Isaac racked the slide on his silver 1911 sidearm. Chambering a round before tucking it into his biometric holster on his thigh.

The state was a concealed carry state, but better people know he was armed rather than thinking he was an easy mark, especially in a city with rampant crime.

Isaac sighed, observing the neon gentrification that had taken over the better half of the ninth ward, large black megastructures that were built on the flooded ruins of past settlements as the city slid into the ocean.

“Ah! Mr. Carter.” The elderly man next door called out, pausing from watering his balcony plants and surprising Isaac with his presence for once. Normally, the man was never home, despite his incessant analog alarm clock that blared every morning.

“Mr. Ambrosia.”

“Please! It's just Emrys,” The Smiling Man said, flashing a grin, his unnaturally golden eyes peering at Isaac almost as if peeking at his soul. “Thanks again for watering my plants while I've been away.”

“Yeah, no problem sir,” Isaac replied, feeling a bit uneasy under the man’s golden gaze.

At first, Isaac had thought they were cybernetics, but upon future interactions with the man, he realized they were too wet-looking to be plastic and metal.

“Ah, you're always so polite,” Mr. Ambrosia said, his eyes tracing down to the silver weapon holstered on Isaac’s thigh. “Ah, I see you're carrying a 45. You know it has a fun nickname, God’s Calibur. On account of the creator John Browning being a devout Mormon.”

“So I’ve heard. Look Mr-”

“And look at you! Little Lily!” Mr. Ambrosia exclaimed, pinching Lily’s cheek. “All dressed up for school. You've gotten so big now.”

“Yup! Yup!” Lily replied in her pink light-up boots, pink jacket, and matching Hello Kitty backpack. “It's my first day!”

“Look, I'd love to chat Mr. Ambrosia, but Lily's gonna be late due to the parades, and I got an appointment early.”

“Oh! Are you sure?” The bald man asked. “I've got a few credchips in the house as a thanks for the plant care, oh! And I’ve been meaning to talk to you about something.”

At the mention of creds, Isaac froze but ultimately recovered quickly.

“Ah, I'll uh, just throw it in my mailbox slot, I’m sorry Mr. Ambrosia-”

“It’s just Emrys.”

“Uh, yeah, Have a good day sir, Lily tell the nice man bye.”

“Buh bye!” Lily replied, following behind her older brother as the man suddenly shot forward, grabbing Isaac by the arm with speed that belied his old age.

“Rwy'n eich dewis chi.”

Huh?

Suddenly a jolting sensation cursed through Isaac's veins upon contact, almost like a static shock but warm.

“Uh… Mr. Ambrosia, are you ok?” Isaac asked, staring at the gentile neighbor smiling. “Do… do you need something? Are you having a stroke?”

“Oh, I'm fine. How about you young man?”

Isaac blinked, his left eye unknowingly twitching as his pupils darkened.

[Beep! Reminder! Reminder!]

“Uh… busy! Very busy!” Isaac replied, taking Lily with him as his HUD alarm beeped repeatedly.

The man kept up a soft smile, waving at the pair until they were out of sight with his face soon becoming marred by a sad frown.

“Good luck kid,” Emrys said before looking down at his liver-spotted hand that began to rapidly age until it, just like the rest of his body, turned to dust and blew away on the wind.

****

On a crowded musky tram, covered in advertisements, Isaac spent the time playing games on his H.U.D, the virtual controller in his hands piloting his GenshinVerse character as Lily slept beside him.

“First day of school?” An elderly black woman asked, her organic legs replaced by metal wheels that was reminiscent of a wheelchair.

Isaac paused his game. “Uh, yes ma'am.”

“My granddaughter starts today too!” The woman said with a thick Southern accent. “Seeing your child off on her first day, you're a good father honey.”

“Oh! Nonono! I'm not her father, this is my sister,” Isaac replied, the woman raising a brow.

“Oh… well where's her father, sweetie?”

“Dead.” Isaac replied deadpan.

“Oh…”

“Yup.”

“Water War?” The elderly woman inquired.

“Yeah.”

“I’m sorry for your loss darling. I lost a daughter and two sons during the crisis.”

“Yeah, one brother and one father,” Isaac said, pursing his lips before he turned his attention to a new message on his HUD.

[-From: Army Recruiter/Sergeant Gomez:

“Hey kid! Want to know if you're still on for breakfast. Did you get your mother to sign off on the waiver? My Staff Sergeant in charge of the station is eager to meet you and wants to talk more about your career as a future soldier!!!”

Isaac blinked, focusing on the respond function before typing one word.

[“Sure.”]

The rest of the trip was fairly silent, Isaac eventually stepping off the bus with a sleeping Lily on his back.

He paused, frowning. The scent of piss, booze, and vomit irritating his senses. A special scent of hopelessness that seemed to cling to downtown Neo-Canal Street.

It was always the same. Homeless, druggies, and tourists littering the streets high on Ice or in various stages of inebriation. A shit-hole city with a local government that was just as twisted as the vagrants that cluttered the streets.

Man. I can't wait till I'm away from here.

At least that's how it felt to Isaac.

“Lily, Lil, my arms are getting tired,” Isaac groaned after walking a few miles, the girl fast asleep.

Great.

Isaac carried on, shouldering his sister and walking forward, drawing eyes from passerbys as he walked down the ruined road filled with beads, toys, and crap from the latest parade.

God I hate this place.

It was less about the environment that put Isaac in a bad mood, but rather the tourists that flooded the city every year during Mardi Gras.

Clogging the streets and holding up traffic, the bus lanes and street cars all jammed up thanks to their antics every February. Normally, this would be a vacation for kids, but the city wouldn’t pay their employees an off day for the occasion and wanted less locals interfering with tourism. So, Isaac was forced to navigate the crowds with his sister in tow.

However! Isaac was smart, hence why he left two hours ahead of when the bus was scheduled to-

[Quest Recieved!]

[Trial One: Survive.]

“Huh?”

[Initializing…]

Isaac blinked, the words overlaying over his H.U.D as he stopped in the middle of a crowd of pedestrians passing by.

“Initializing? I didn't authorize any new programs?” Isaac muttered, confused, the words clear as day in his vision. “Cancel? Cancel. Cancel!”

[Initializing…]

Suddenly something sizzling began to sound, a cooked meat smell that took Isaac a moment to realize it was coming from him!

“What?!;WHAT?!!” Isaac screamed, dropping Lily, his hand on fire as pain shot through his body like a lightning bolt jump-starting his heart.

Isaac clutched his chest, his eyes watering, back sweating, body shaking. All signs of some kind of withdrawal. But Isaac never did drugs in his life! So what the hell was going on?!

“Ow! Wha- Isaac? Brother?!” Lily hollered in a panic upon watching Issac doubled over on the sidewalk, clutching his hand emitting smoke.

“Cancel! Cancel! CANCEL!!” Isaac screamed, his entire body figuratively on fire.

WHAT IS THIS?!

Tears flowed out of Isaac's shut eyes, his body curling into the fetal position, various passerbyers walking around or over Isaac with some even claiming he was suffering from an overdose.

“Isaac! You're scaring me! Isaac!” Lily cried waving at strangers. “Help! Someone help my brother!”

Fortunately, the pain didn't last long as Isaac’s eyelids shot open, his now red pupils feeling an electrifying sensation dance across his skin.

What the fuck?

Then the sunlight above turned off as Isaac grabbed Lily and threw her away before a sphere of energy opened up and a massive maw exited to clamp down on Isaac's torso.