Walking beside the buildings, Rayne stayed close to the wall, hiding in every shadow she could, she hated how bright the city was, and how it made her feel small and alone. 

Even if she was that. 

With an ear-shattering screech, Rayne hears as PART bots run around the city, sirens blazing. 

It was morning…or midnight, either way, it was too early for this! 

Can’t they shut up? 

“What type of moron would cause a ruckus so early….?” She mumbled, covering her ears with her sleeves as she walked faster, just wanting to get out of this city. 

She had been here for a few days, and so far it was horrible, nothing but crime, bots, and rich pricks. 

And while she usually didn't mind pricks, they weren't the fun pricks, rich people….tch.

Dragging herself along, she was exhausted, mentally and physically, all she wanted to do was go back to sleep, she was always so tired, as if her body was filled with lead and not her squishy skin. 

But she couldn’t, Rayne knew that,  she needed to keep going forward, she was already behind, years behind. 

Hurrying, Rayne stepped forward and promptly crashed into someone’s chest, stumbling a few steps back as she shook her head and slowly looked up. 

Her eyes caught his as there she saw them, a brilliant crimson she had only seen in dreams and illusions, red seeped into her own eyes like spilled ink, rain pulsated through her veins, the essence of wonder itself calling to her because of….him?

“Whoa! Careful, gotta watch out there” He was tall and sweating as if he was running and he smelled faintly like dust and oil.

Stunned into silence, she just stared at him, who was he…?. 

I could have sworn I’ve seen those eyes before….

The moment promptly interrupted when sirens and flashing lights fill the area and the man tenses, jolting as he runs past Rayne, his hands slipping from his pockets. 

“Sorry bout meetin' like this, but I gotta go, catch ya later Blue.” 

The man took a breath and quickly started running in the direction that Rayne had come from, into the city, vanishing from her sight, and the light began to fade, like a lightbulb shattering.

What a freak…. She thought and then looked down to see a cred chip on the ground, bending down to pick it up. 

Raising an eyebrow, she looked at the amount and sighed, looking back she couldn’t see the man, what type of moron drops this many credits?

Finders keepers…. Rayne guesses, and shoves it in her pocket, and starts walking along, heading to the Maglev station, it wasnt her concern after all, she just needed to catch the Maglev and leave, his bad luck was her good luck. 

As Vagram reaches further and further away he notices he’s practically clear of the bots now, relief filling every thieving bone in his body. “Phew…….and that’s that, imma buy me a……huh?”

Taking a deep breath he reached into his pockets, but couldn’t feel the Cred-chip anywhere, and for a moment he stopped, and felt around all of his pockets…….nothing……

Panicked, afraid, and mildly frustrated he leaped forward and ran back avoiding every lookout, and stopped where he met that girl, the one with the dead eyes, but to his trouble, he didn’t see the chip at all.

Vagram looked around a bit more frantically, before half groaning, half yelling in frustration and kicking some random pipe on the floor off into the alley, the wrong alley, but in the end they all looked the same when you were frantic– he’s screwed up big time…

 “Great…….just freaking fantastic……..” Obvious frustration lingers in his voice and very actions as he starts searching again, all his hard work melting away.

Arriving at the station, Rayne looked at the flashing signs, bright lights illuminated her path and she just scowled, the blinking lights happily droning on and gathering people to the station. 

It was horrible in every way— what she wouldn't give for absolute darkness. 

Rubbing her head, she could already feel the beginnings of a proper headache coming on, she needed to get on that Maglev as soon as possible and take a nice long nap, even though she had just woken up.

Darkness was…like the sea….not that oceans even exist anymore…..now it’s nothing but acid and pain…..

I wish you were here River……you’d be able to see the good in this situation….