Chapter One - A hopeful beginning.

In the city of Zenith, only the rich and successful have the best tech and implants. People will do anything to get their hands on new tech that puts them above the rest. After the 2025 economical crash that left most of the world in poverty, the city of Zenith rose to claim power over the rest of the world, establishing a rich and powerful government. Over the next 200 years, Zenith thrived whilst the rest of the world crumbled into nothingness. The introduction of cyberware tech and implants created hope that the poor could get strong, but Zenith had a monopoly over that too. Those with little money and power did anything they could to get their hands on that tech, with a plethora of black web markets and auctions gaining popularity, and crime increasing tenfold. You would even witness desperate thieves ripping tech from peoples arms and legs in the street, murdering and killing just to gain power. 

After the Zenith government acknowledged the extreme increase in crime, they implemented one law that they believed would save humanity.. families could sell their first born for riches and power. The world saw a fall in the number of orphaned and abandoned children, and once their children turned 18, they were sold to the Zenith military to be trained to become soldiers. Black web markets still thrived, people were still murdered on the street and there were extreme levels of overpopulation, but Zenith believed they had solved the problem. The biggest problem was the increase in family abuse, as people who should never have had children, brought children into the world purely for money.

That was how my story begun. My mother and father were desperate for the best tech they could get their hands on, so they had me. They didn't even bother to give me a name. They implanted a tracker in my system to make sure I didn't run away, and would throw me out of the house to go and find scraps to eat. As a young kid, I would almost freeze and starve most nights, but as I got older, I got smarter. I was small and agile, my dark black hair and clothing made it easy for me to sneak into auctions and steal tech to sell on the street. Some tech I wouldn't sell, and I would save to have it planted into me. My left arm was almost all tech, and pretty high grade stuff too. I also had my right eye removed so I could sell it for tech, and stole an implant that increased my vision and allowed me to scan other tech more efficiently.

I couldn't wait to turn 18, I didn't care how disgraceful the Zenith military was, I just wanted to leave my disgusting family and not have to worry about fighting to survive for at least a day. As I looked into the mirror on the day of my 18th birthday, I couldn't help but be happy, knowing that this was the last day I would ever have to see my mother and father again. My long, dark black hair swept over my face, I put on my best fake smile, and I left my bedroom for the last time as I heard a loud knock on the door. I sprinted towards the door but my mother had reached there first. She looked absolutely delighted to see soldiers from the Zenith military.

"We got a telegram that your daughter turned 18 today, is that correct?" One of the soldiers says, in a deep, stern, rumbling voice.  

My mother almost cuts them off with excitement and after numerous identity checks, I notice one of the soldiers erect a grim expression at my mothers obvious resentment of me, after noticing I did not have a name, and was only identified by a long, tedious number. She essentially throws me out the door, and after entering the soldiers' large vehicle, I let out a sigh of relief as I bid farewell to my decrepit house, once and for all. 

A wave of nausea hits me as we lift from the ground, hovering above the side street. One of the soldiers yells at me to hold tight and my adrenaline sky rockets as we violently zip through the air. I had so many emotions running through my mind that I almost didn't notice the other young people sitting across from me in the large vehicle, who I can only assume are headed to the same place I am. I make eye contact with the person next to me, who extends his hand out to me to greet me. His dark skin and hair are juxtaposed by his light blue eyes, and I almost forget to meet his hand.

I am overwhelmed by an intense feeling of awkwardness and embarrassment me as I witness many other people staring at me during this encounter, and I realise it is because of my hair. Black hair is very uncommon in today's society, as technology has allowed people to adjust their genetics and change their hair and skin colour to colours that were never natural before. Due to my parents extreme resentment of me, they decided to give me hair as dark as the night, which is thought to be a bad omen in society today. 

A voice breaks me out of the trance I am in, and I stop focusing on all of the eyes around me.

"Don't worry about them, just think about how soon... we will be living out our dreams. The names Raze! How about you?"

Raze's voice is deep yet friendly, and I feel comfortable in his presence. Yet soon I realise I haven't responded, and realise that I'm going to have to tell him I don't have a name, and he will realise how unwanted I am.

I quietly mumble to him, "I don't have a name..." 

His eyes soften slightly and without hesitation he speaks again.

"How about Midnight?!" He says confidently whilst touching the ends of my hair.

Midnight? I think I like that a lot actually. A smile spreads across my face and I nod happily, before watching Raze point outwards towards the enormous buildings in front of us. It's the capital. I never thought I would see it so close up. A large lump forms in my throat and I don't know how to feel. The vehicle we are in lands and the soldiers usher us out to a large platform.

I don't know what emotions to feel right now, but what I do know is... this is where my story begins. 

Little did I know, this story was anything but what I expected.