Sage

ONE

I struggle to shrug off the incessant feeling that someone is following me.

I fold my cold hands into the pockets of my thick coat and cut through the biting cold wind weaving its way through the streets. The sun's light has long faded away, and the city adorns a cloak of darkness. As I hasten through these dangerous streets, I take a sharp left down a skinny alley, the sounds of my boots scraping along the wet cobble stones trailing behind me.

The buildings are bricked and tower over me, casting harsh shadows onto the city floor, concealing all manner of characters within. I bury my nose deeper into my face mask in an attempt to keep my lungs clean of the ill-scented, drug-laced smoke infused into the air.

I take another left, and the alleyway opens up into a district. My eyes are assaulted by bright red neon lights, which illuminate each corner of the district. I blink rapidly to acclimatize my eyes, shortly after catching a whiff of more concentrated and potent drug-vapour. My eyes begin to sting as I struggle to weave my way through the packs of people littering themselves haphazardly throughout the district.

Boards of LEDs and screens plaster themselves on the walls of the buildings, advertising erotic and degenerate images, calling the attention of those who have relinquished all traces of their dignity and morality. This is life in Grime City.

I swerve to the right, daring a glance at the character behind me. 

I was right.

I am being followed.

I duck under the swinging fist of an degenerate and slip into another small alleyway. I unveil a silver blade from beneath the layers of my clothing and wield it in my hand. Clenching my fist around the blade, I back up against the walls of the alley, dissolving into its shadow. I attune myself to the sounds and movements of those around me, and wait patiently for the suspect pursuing me to appear.

The neck of the street lamp wilts over the street and casts a dim light over the city floor, highlighting the shadows scuttering by. Amongst the crowd of shadows, a single form separates itself from the crowd and slides across the cobblestone of the alley. In an instant, my stalker appears, and I waste no time. I emerge from the darkness and pounce on them, brandishing my blade across their throat and pushing them up against an adjacent wall. 

Their back meets the wall with a harsh thud and I feel their muscles tense beneath my threatening touch. My eyes dart towards those of my stalker, and I am met with icy blue orbs starting back with amusement. A look of instant recognition rolls over my face and I let out an irritated sigh. I release Tau and slip my knife away between the fabrics of my clothing. 

I turn away and head towards the exit of the alley, intent on continuing my initial path. Tau slings his heavy arm around my shoulder and my gait changes to adjust to the weight of him. Tau and I have been a solid team since we were kids. He found me at 8, scavenging through a lump of trash, looking for something to eat. We were two street kids with nowhere to go. He was 11 at the time, coming from a similarly tragic background. We've had each others' backs since then. 

"You training today?" he asks, and I hum a confirmation, "and everyday", I say. As we meander our way out the district, Tau pulls me closer to him in an attempt to shield me from the intoxicated zombies roaming along the side streets. 

Grime City has been a degenerate society for decades now. One of the main contributors to its decay in the early days was the abolishment of time. The logic of which was predicated on the notion that time was an oppressive social construct designed to prevent us from expressing ourselves to the fullest extent. As a result, the use of clocks, watches, or any devices designed to keep track of time was forbidden, as well as any indication of time in speech through traditional markers, such as hour, minute, month, and year.