The Sale

The climb to the roof was brutal. The wind howled through the skeletal remains of the metro station, whipping Sera’s hair across her face.

Kael kept a grip on her arm, marching her up the rusted maintenance stairs. Every step was a calculation. *Fifty thousand credits. Clean air. Life.*

They burst onto the rooftop.

The storm was raging. Rain lashed sideways, stinging like needles. Above them, a sleek, black corporate hover-ship descended from the clouds, its thrusters casting a blinding white light over the wet tar paper of the roof.

The doors of the ship hissed open. Two OmniCorp guards in pristine white armor stepped out, flanked by a drone.

"Package?" one guard shouted over the roar of the engines.

Kael shoved Sera forward. She stumbled, the magnetic cuffs keeping her balance precarious.

The guard scanned her face with a blue laser.

"Identity confirmed. Seraphina Vance."

The guard looked at Kael. He held up a translucent credit chip. It glowed with a soft, golden light.

"Payment authorized. Fifty thousand."

Kael stared at the chip. It was everything. It was a house. It was medicine. It was a future where he didn't cough up blood in the morning.

He looked at Sera.

She was standing at the edge of the ramp, the wind tearing at her ruined dress. She wasn't looking at the ship. She was looking at him.

Her eyes were wide, searching his face. She was remembering the closet. The bandage. The moment he hesitated. She still believed. She still thought he was the boy who let her touch his face.

"Kael," she mouthed. The wind stole the sound, but he read the name.

*Please.*

Kael felt a physical pain in his chest, sharper than any knife. He looked at the golden light of the credit chip. He looked at the grey despair of her eyes.

Survival was a zero-sum game. For him to win, she had to lose.

Kael stepped forward. He reached out his hand.

"Done," he shouted.

He grabbed the chip from the guard.

Sera flinched as if he had struck her. The hope in her eyes didn't just fade; it shattered. It was replaced by a hollow, devastating understanding. She wasn't a person to him. She was just currency.

The guard grabbed Sera’s arm roughly. "Let's go, miss."

Sera didn't scream. She didn't fight. She didn't look back at Kael again. She turned and walked up the ramp, her head bowed, walking willingly into the cage she had fought so hard to escape.

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