Hyejin looked like she was about ready to rip Dion’s face off with her perfect manicured nails. The whole argument sounded ridiculous. Atticus looked around the room, trying to find something of interest while the other two fought. He wasn’t about to step into whatever weird tension was happening between them. 

The apartment was pristine. White in every corner. It was so devoid of character or depth that it reminded him of the nexus in a lot of ways. It must have cost Hyejin an absolute fortune to hire. White things didn’t stay white on Agafra. Hyejin found that out the hard way. As soon as they landed, she had complained about the state of her clothes. Planet Agafra's surface was coated in a fine red dust that stuck to everything like glitter. 

It wasn’t coarse like sand, so even minimal movements were enough to kick it up into the air. The skyline was perpetually hazy on a regular day, but it was worse while thousands crowded the street below. One could barely see more than a short distance away and medical tents were set up everywhere to assist with breathing issues. Of course, the locals never needed the assistance.

Rumours said the planet was once full of life, but that had been before. Dimension tear after dimension tear and wave after wave of alien monsters brought the world to its knees until the last shreds of life clung to the major cities like a disease with nothing but oceans of dust in between. That had been centuries ago, but even now, tears still appeared from time to time. Humanity was just better at dealing with the crisis now. Not that there was much left to fight for.

“Atty, let’s go,” Dion commanded.

Atticus stopped scratching at the back of his hand. He hadn’t realised he’d stopped listening. Dion was at the apartment door, holding it open and glaring at him. Oops.

The roar of thousands of voices erupted below in the street.

Hyejin suddenly shouted at no one in particular, “This is insane. These people are insane. Why would people even risk their lives in this ludicrous race? Is the prize money worth it when they win?”

“We don’t get paid to win,” someone replied.

Atticus whipped around to see a tall man standing in the doorway. He almost towered over Dion, nearly as tall as the door frame. Between the neck tattoo, muscles and golden mana-stained eyes, he would have looked like some kind of thug if he didn’t also have a pretty face and long hair like a supermodel. 

“It’s rigged. Jim will win. Here, hold this,” the stranger said, pushing armfuls of something to a bewildered Dion. Some of the pieces fell when Dion fumbled them. It took a few solid seconds for Atticus to realise what they were. Chocolate bars? 

Free of his burden, the tall guy held the door open for another shorter man while he examined the hall. The new guy’s arm was in a sling, but he was struggling with an equally excessive amount of treats. It looked like the pair had raided a vending machine… probably more than one.

The short guy’s face was hard to see, obscured by a sick mask with fangs on it. Atticus was sure he’d seen that mask before, but couldn’t place where. His short, shaggy hair was in his eyes, but the vibrant yellow was hard to miss. Both of them looked worse for wear; their clothes were tattered, their hair tangled, their bodies bruised and scuffed or worse. 

“This is a private suite.” Hyejin snapped at them, crossing her arms.

“That’s good. No one will look for us here.” The giant beamed with a lopsided smile. He had a bizarrely warm expression for someone who had just walked in uninvited.

“But you shouldn’t be here.” Hyejin insisted, though she looked like she was more confused than angry.

“Don’t mind us,” the masked guy said with a distorted voice. He dumped his hoard on the table beside Atticus and took a seat without so much as glancing at her. “If the doctor asks, we’re not here.”

Their eyes met under the mess of hair and Atticus shivered. Some people believed that consuming the mana powder would let them use mana without ManaTech devices. It didn’t. Most addicts went mad long before the poison finally killed them. It took substantial volumes of mana powder to stain one’s eyes the yellow-gold Atticus was looking at. 

Atticus scratched the back of his neck, looking away. He hadn’t meant to stare, especially not at someone who was probably mentally unstable.

“Thanks!” the giant said, taking back everything he had handed to Dion. 

Red dust coated the front of Dion’s clothes. There was also a red handprint on the white door to the room. Dust was everywhere. The two strangers were practically coated in it, which was odd, given that the hotel was especially upscale. The building had gale-force blowers and vacuums at the entrance to clean patrons off upon entry, like a dry car wash for people. 

How did they even get in like that?

Atticus glanced at Hyejin, in time to see her explode.

“Are you crazy? Has everyone in this galaxy gone insane? You can’t just waltz in here like you own the place!” she raged, storming over to the table. “Get your filthy faces out of my room!”

The masked stranger stood to meet Hyejin, standing over her tiny frame. It put Hyejin’s height into perspective, but she didn’t back down, even a little. “You should consider what planet you’re on before you go talking like that, Princess.” The man said, practically standing toe-to-toe.

“Echo…” the friendly giant mumbled, putting a hand on his companion’s shoulder to hold them back.

Atticus winced and scratched his neck again. He wasn’t sure if he should step in or let it play out. He glanced at Dion for direction, but he seemed to be more interested in patting off the dust than getting involved.

“We nearly died today. All I wanted in return was some chocolate,” the masked man growled. The distortion made his voice sound almost demonic. He aggressively shrugged the hand off, but sat back down at the table.

Hyejin opened her mouth to say something, but hesitated. Instead, she threw her arms in the air and walked away to sit on the couch again by herself, mumbling under her breath. 

It turned out Atticus had been holding his breath. He didn’t realise it until he relaxed and scratched his neck again. Every part of him was screaming that Hyejin was going to get herself killed. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Dion subtly relax as well. He probably thought the same thing. She had a very hot temper for someone so… sheltered.

The two strangers started talking to each other in a border language, having their own hushed argument. The little one threw a chocolate at the big one’s face, but he caught it mid-air like it was nothing.

Atty scratched his neck, realising the big guy’s eyes were on him. Was I staring again?

“Want one?” The stranger asked while he chewed, holding one out in his palm. 

Atticus hesitated at first. He was pretty sure there was a cautionary tale about taking candy from strangers. But when will I ever get this chance again? Chocolate was a luxury, and not one Dion was ever willing to spend money on, even when they had it. Besides, what if the guy got offended if he turned it down?

“Thanks…” he quietly replied, tentatively reaching for it. A sharp zap crackled through his outstretched hand. Hissing, he scratched furiously, first at the back of his hand, then working his way up to his wrist. There was already crimson under his fingernails. His skin was raw and red on both hands. That’s when he finally noticed the stinging in his neck. He wiped his fingers over the itching spot and they came back with a blood smear. What—

“What’s he doing?” Dion asked. He was looking at something on the racetrack outside. 

A figure in a dark blue hood stood in the centre of the finish line, arms stretched out on either side. Everyone was yelling at him, but nobody tried to stop him. Atticus couldn’t blame them. He wouldn’t want to be on the track either, especially not this close to the end of it. Given the nature of the event, it wouldn’t even surprise him if there was no such thing as ‘security’.

The air crackled again. This time it wasn’t subtle. It wasn’t just an itch. More like a thousand biting insects, followed by a powerful static shock. It was so much worse than the stagnant air on Oryx. It kept building and zapping, building and zapping. Fervent scratching wasn’t enough to stop it. He gnawed desperately at his arm with his teeth. Why won’t it stop?

“That’s a Yesterday’s Children insignia…” Hyejin gasped, joining Dion by the window.

Atticus only had a second to glance up and see the falling star emblem on the back of the cloak before the pain made his knees buckle. “Augh! What—”

CRACK!

It was like thunder that shook the core foundations of the hotel. An expanding red ring engulfed the middle of the track. The cloaked figure was nowhere to be seen, and the ring was growing at an exponential rate.

“Mother Earth, save us,” Hyejin prayed, backing away from the window, trembling like crazy and wide-eyed. “It’s a dimension tear… they opened a gate…”

Dion grabbed Atticus by the wrist. He hadn’t even seen his brother approach. He could hardly think through the fog of pain. The heat was building again.

SKREEEEEEEEE!

Enormous crab-like legs emerged from the gate. The monster that emerged was two or three times larger than the average adult human. The body was long, like a lobster with no claws, and when it screamed again, its mouth opened vertically, lined with what could be hundreds, maybe even thousands, of needle-sharp teeth.

The crowd had barely begun running for their lives when more legs poured out of the gate, along with the loud chorus of ear-piercing shrieks.

Atticus was pulled into the corridor, stumbling and sweating profusely.

“Atty? Atty, we can’t stop here.” Dion said, now tugging on him more forcefully. It took everything Atticus had to focus on running. The bright white corridor was a vague blur, both familiar and strange at the same time. The only notable thing was the trail of red dust that led straight to the apartment door.

BOOM! BOOM!

The building shook so violently that Atticus was thrown off his feet, nearly taking Dion down with him. They were on the 18th floor. Under his hands and knees, Atticus could feel the foundations of the building struggling. It was coming down. Other people were running toward the elevators as well. The empty corridor was filling up very quickly.

“There are too many people!” Hyejin shouted from… somewhere… 

“Head for the stairs! Just go!” 

Atticus couldn’t tell who shouted. Atticus didn’t know where the stairs were. Atticus didn’t know where Atticus was. Who was Atticus?

BOOM! CRACK!

They were running again. When did he get off the ground? He blinked, rubbing his eyes with his free hand. The other one was… oh, Dion was pulling him again. It was hard to make out the vague shape of him through watering eyes. He let himself be led to the stairwell, where he had to focus on every step to stay upright. They were moving too fast. Atticus couldn’t tell where one step ended and another… another step… another… where is it? 

The sensation of falling forward was less terrifying than the intense pain that shot through his skull. He whined through clenched teeth and gripped his head with both hands. Somebody caught him before he hit the floor. Squinting, he could barely make out his brother’s panicked face.

“Atty, your nose!” 

The words took a moment to sink in, but once they did, he could taste metal. Mother Earth, why now? He brushed the wetness away from his top lip, his hand coming away with more red than he had expected. His hands were shaking uncontrollably. Or was that the building? 

“Dion…” Atticus barely got the name out before he felt his muscles tighten and a vague sense of falling again.