The adrenaline from the Pit lasted exactly until we crossed the threshold of Kael's workshop.
As soon as the heavy blast doors hissed shut, the Junk-Strider let out a final, agonizing groan. The neon-blue light in its headlights flickered once, twice, and then went dark. With a wet shlopp sound, Pod ejected himself from the chassis, landing on the floor as a tired, shivering pile of turquoise jelly.
Without Pod's living energy holding it together, the cart didn't just stop—it disintegrated. Bolts popped like popcorn, and the rusted frame collapsed into a heap of useless, smoking scrap.
"Bloop..." Pod croaked, looking up at me with exhausted eyes.
"He's tapped out," Kuro said, hopping off my shoulder to sniff the wreckage. "Controlling a Class-4 wreck for that long at Level 1 is like trying to run a marathon while holding a boulder. He needs rest, and you need a team that isn't made of literal garbage."
Kael walked over, kicking a piece of the dead cart. "Told you it wouldn't last. But hey, look at the bright side, 'Gritty.' You're the talk of the Lower District. Which is exactly why you need to leave before the people you beat come looking for payback."
"Where do we go?" I asked, patching a tear in my coat.
"The Sub-Sector 7 Trade Hub," Kuro answered. "There's a specialist there. A Xandarian. If we want to climb the Star-Floors, we need his brain."
The Trade Hub
The Trade Hub was a frantic maze of neon signs and heavy smog. We found our target in a corner stall, shrouded in the steam of a boiling noodle pot. He was a Xandarian—an alien with four independent yellow eyes and skin the deep, bruised purple of a stormy sky.
"Vax?" I asked, stepping into the light.
Three of his eyes stayed on the tech he was fixing; the fourth swiveled 180 degrees to stare at me. "A human," he rasped. "Go away. I don't trade with your kind. You're loud, you're soft, and you smell like desperation."
"I was told you know the Star-Floors," I said.
"I'm building a team. We need a specialist."
Vax let out a sharp, clicking laugh. "A 'team'?
You have a cat and a pocket-full of jelly.
You're a tragedy, not a team. Now move, before you attract trouble."
The Ambush
He was right. Trouble was already there.
Four Sector Enforcers—corrupt guards—blocked the entrance to the stall.
"Vax," the lead Enforcer growled, tapping a shock-baton. "Your permit expired. That's a five-thousand credit fine, or we take your hands for scrap."
Vax froze. I saw his four eyes flicker with a sudden, sharp fear. He was a genius, but he wasn't a fighter. As the guard raised his baton to strike Vax's hands, I didn't think. I lunged forward, blocking the blow with my Kinetic-Baton.
"The alien is with me," I snapped. "Back off."
The Enforcers laughed. "A 'Gritty' protecting a purple-skin? How touching. Break them both!"
I knew I couldn't win this. I was Level 1; they were professional thugs. "Vax! Run!" I shouted. "Kuro, get him out of here!"
Kuro didn't hesitate. "This way, purple-skin! Move!"
I stayed behind to buy them time. I took a boot to the ribs and a shock to the shoulder. I fell into the dirt, coughing, but I kept swinging, tripping them, being a nuisance. I was getting beaten into the ground, but I wasn't letting go.
"Enough," the Enforcer growled, pinning me down with a boot on my chest. "Time to recycle a hero."
The Specialist Returns
WHIRRRRRRRR-POP!
A small, metallic sphere bounced into the stall, emitting a high-pitched frequency that made the Enforcers scream and clutch their ears. From the shadows, Vax emerged. He wasn't running anymore. He held a strange, long-barreled device he'd slapped together from his spare parts.
"Release the human," Vax hissed, his eyes focused with lethal precision. "Or I'll scramble your neural pathways into a fruit puree."
Terrified by the tech-specialist's weapon, the Enforcers scrambled away into the crowd.
Vax walked over to me, offering a long, three-fingered hand to pull me up.
"You're a fool," Vax said, dusting off my coat. "Why did you stay? I told you I hate humans."
"I don't care who you hate," I coughed, wiping blood from my lip. "I saw someone who was alone and being hunted. In this city, that makes you one of us."
I looked him in all four eyes. "I'm not looking for a servant, Vax. I'm looking for a friend. We're going to the top, and we need a brain that can outsmart the Archons. We need you."
Vax looked at Kuro, then at Pod, who gave an encouraging bloop. The alien let out a long sigh, his purple skin shimmering.
"My species has a saying," Vax muttered. "
'Never trust a human unless he's stupid enough to die for you.' You've met the criteria, Fuen. I'll join your circus. But if we die, I'm taking your coat as payment."
I laughed, despite the pain. "Deal."
[ NEW TEAMMATE: VAX (LEVEL 3 TECH-SHADOW) ]
[ TEAM SYNC: 25% ]