SHATTERPOINT

Chapter 1

so this book is very unlike the other ones i have written, in the way that it is actually a somewhat serious endeavor

im mainly posting this on wattpad to gain feedback :p

pls dont flame me 

i will eventually add a cover (depends if ppl actually read this)

Chapter 1

July 6th, 11:40 pm

The casino hummed like it was a living thing. Neon bled through the ceiling in ribbons of green and gold, pooling on polished floors where men in tailored suits and women in shimmering dresses played a dangerous game. The air was thick with smoke, perfume, and bad choices.

Cassian Spade leaned back in his armchair, one hand draped casually over the armrest, the other guarding a stack of chips that would make anyone cry "Damn!". Everyone in the room was sneaking glances at him, trying to figure out his secret. But he wasn't trying to look like a winner. He just was.

The craps table was a warzone made of felt and wood, surrounded by gambling veterans who have been there for hours. Across the table, a man in a charcoal suit narrowed his eyes. "You've been winning a lot tonight, Spade."

Cassian smiled. It was the kind of smile that warned people that they were about to be stabbed in the wallet. "I roll the dice for a living, Mr. Carnegie. You just watch them land."

He tossed the pair. The room became so quiet you could hear a pin drop. The dice clicked, spun, and settled.

Seven. Carnegie's jaw tightened. He'd been betting on six.

Cassian didn't celebrate. He just motioned for the dealer to sweep the chips into his pile. Around them, other gamblers watched with a mix of admiration, jealousy and suspicion. Some whispered he was just lucky. Some whispered "Damn!". Others whispered he was cheating. He heard the whispers. He didn't care. He'd heard them all before.

The casino stretched out like a maze of velvet and glass, a circus of noise and colour. Doors lined the padded walls, each leading to a game of a different nature. Cassian had played in all of them. He knew which ones to walk into, and which ones to walk out of.

Cassian was twenty years old, and rolling in cash. But by midnight, he would be twenty-one years old, when the Shatterpoint test was due. Everyone knew it. Everyone was tested at that age. The system measured your likelihood of future crime, your chance of falling from grace, of being a criminal. If your score passed ninety percent, you were erased.

For most people, the test was something you pretended didn't exist until it was too late to ignore. Those who were favored say the system was fair, that it only caught those already halfway to becoming criminals. Those writing their last words claimed it was a rigged game, decided long before you ever rolled your first bad choice.

His phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out and checked his messages, and there it was. A message, plain and cold: "Your criminality assessment is ready. Please report to testing center 5 within the next 24 hours. Failure to comply will result in enforcement."

Cassian stared at it for a moment, unable to comprehend the words on the screen. The notice wasn't routed through any app or carrier network—just a stark text. No greeting. No sender. It was the kind of message that came from something that didn't need permission to reach you at all. Cassian's thumb hovered over the screen, hunting for a way out. He read it again, half-expecting it to be different. Not a single thing changed.

"Your criminality assessment is ready. Please report to testing center 5 within the next 24 hours. Failure to comply will result in enforcement."

Cassian had always treated the shatterpoint test like a pop quiz due in the far future. But tonight, the future had finally caught up with him. And he was completely unprepared.

His chest had gone strangely light, like his body was already trying to float above the panic. The room seemed to tilt. Everything blurred into each other. The chips, the noise, the players—it all faded into the background. 

I knew this was coming. Yet why am I so surprised?

Mr. Carnegie peeked a glance at his phone screen, and then at the clock on the polished wood walls. "Oh, happy birthday. Going to be the worst one of your life, ain't it?"

Cassian didn't answer. He reached for his chips, counted them, and slid the stack into a bag. He stood, adjusted his jacket, and headed for the exit.

The casino doors opened into a narrow street, filled with illegal operations like the one Cassian just walked out of. Gambling, betting, the things the government banned. Suddenly, Mr. Carnegie appeared behind him, placing a warm hand on his back. "Kid, it's going to be alright."

Cassian looked at him with an unsure expression. "But I gamble."

"Well, think of this test as a game. You want to win, you have to get lucky. And you're always lucky, aren't you?"

Cassian's panic slowly settled. "Thanks, old man."

Mr. Carnegie patted his shoulder and walked back into the casino, the burst of air conditioning soothed Cassian's mixed emotions. He turned and began the long trek to the testing center. "Cassian, if you get flagged, leave me all the chips you won from me!" he heard Mr. Carnegie shout behind him. Cassian smiled inside, knowing that at least one person believed in him.

The street was quiet now. Gradually, as the noise from the casino faded into the darkness, Cassian felt a strange sensation tugging at his heart. Walking away from the casino felt like leaving home—and where he was going wouldn't feel a bit like home at all. As he headed to the testing center, he thought about the Shatterpoint assesment. He thought about the system. He thought about his feelings. It was sad, really, that the closest thing he had to a home was an illegal gambling operation. 

Walking down the urban street, all he could see were row after rows of grey, identical buildings. During the short time Cassian was in school, he recalled learning about something called "nature", and how it was green, beautiful and fresh. For the first time in his life, he thought about how the monotonous street looked quite ugly indeed.