Initialization\*\

The heat in Apartment 3C wasn't just temperature; it was a physical weight. It sat on Jax’s chest like a wet wool blanket, smelling of boiled cabbage and stale sweat.

Jax sat at the wobbly kitchen table, a single bead of perspiration tracing a line down his spine. The air conditioner had died three days ago, and the landlord—Mr. Henderson—had laughed when Jax asked for a repair.

*“Pay the rent first, kid. Then we talk about luxuries.”*

Jax looked at the paper in front of him. **NOTICE TO QUIT.** Three days. They had three days to come up with twelve hundred dollars, or they were on the street.

In the next room, his little sister, Maya, turned in her sleep. She was breathing heavily, the heat making her asthma flair.

Jax put his head in his hands. He was nineteen. He worked double shifts at the warehouse, but the medical bills from their mom’s funeral were a black hole that swallowed every dime. He was drowning.

* Bzzt.*

The sound didn't come from his phone. It came from inside his skull.

Jax snapped his head up.

A blue, translucent rectangle was floating in the air, hovering right above the eviction notice. The text scrolled across it in crisp, white pixels.

**[SYSTEM INITIALIZED.]**

**[CANDIDATE: JAXON MILLER.]**

**[STATUS: DESPERATE.]**

"Heatstroke," Jax muttered, rubbing his eyes. "I'm hallucinating."

He blinked, but the blue box didn't vanish. It expanded.

**[TUTORIAL MISSION AVAILABLE]**

**[TARGET: BIO-MIMIC (CLASS 1)]**

**[LOCATION: APARTMENT 4B]**

**[REWARD: $5,000 USD (TAX-FREE)]**

**[ACCEPT?]**

"Five thousand," Jax whispered. It was a lifeline. It was impossible.

He reached out, his trembling finger passing through the light. As he did, he felt a sudden weight in his right hand.

* Clang.*

Something heavy hit the formica table.

Jax jumped back, knocking his chair over. Lying on the table, shimmering with a faint digital aura before settling into cold, hard reality, was a knife. It wasn't a kitchen knife. It was a jagged, ten-inch combat dagger made of dark, matte steel. The hilt was wrapped in black leather that felt cool to the touch.

**[WEAPON EQUIPPED: BEGINNER’S FANG.]**

Jax picked it up. It felt balanced. It felt real.

He looked at the eviction notice. Then he looked at the bedroom door where Maya slept. If they got kicked out, the shelters were full. The streets were dangerous.

"Apartment 4B," Jax said. That was Henderson’s unit. The Superintendent.

The blue text flashed. **[OBJECTIVE MARKED.]**

Jax gripped the knife. He didn't feel like a hero. He felt like a cornered rat. And rats, when cornered, bite.