The booth stood between two cracked walls like it was trying to disappear.
A faded board hung above it.
M-SCALE QUICK SCAN — 5 CREDITS
Arin stopped.
Five credits.
Two days of food.
Half a week of saving.
Just to know a number.
His fingers tightened slightly.
Inside his chest, the hum answered. Quiet. Steady. Still there.
It hadn't stopped since yesterday.
The crystals.
The explosion.
That purple sky.
What if something's wrong?
What if it's getting worse?
Arin exhaled slowly.
Not knowing was worse.
He stepped forward and slid his wrist into the scanner.
Inside, an old man barely looked up.
A thin beam passed over Arin's chest.
The machine buzzed.
Paused.
Then buzzed again.
Longer than it should have.
The old man frowned.
The screen flickered.
Then stabilized.
M-SCALE: 2.1
Silence.
"You crossed it," the old man muttered.
Arin blinked. "Crossed what?"
"Null ends at 1.9." The man tapped the screen lazily. "You're M2 now. Officially powered."
M2.
The number didn't feel real.
For twenty-two years, he had been nothing.
M1.
Near-null. Invisible.
And now... M2.
Arin swallowed. "What does that change?"
The old man snorted.
"Nothing."
He leaned back, already bored.
"That number won't protect you. Won't keep you alive."
A pause.
"You're just slightly stronger than an average person. Nothing more."
Arin slowly pulled his hand back.
The scanner mark tingled.
But deeper than that, the hum pulsed once.
Soft.
Waiting.
Three days later.
The sign above the door flickered weakly.
LOWER CITY HUNTERS GUILD — UNOFFICIAL — NO QUESTIONS ASKED
Arin stood still.
Opportunity.
In the lower city, that word meant something simple.
A better way to die.
His jaw tightened.
His mother needed medicine.
Lina needed her classes.
And after that incident, he couldn't go back to Goliath.
Not anymore.
Because the thing inside his chest was not letting him go.
M2.
Barely powered.
Still better than nothing.
He knocked.
The door slid open with a tired mechanical sound.
The smell hit first.
Oil. Burnt metal. Disinfectant.
A long counter split the room.
Behind it stood a broad man with a metal jaw and a glowing artificial eye.
He didn't look up.
"Name."
"Arin."
The blue eye shifted toward him.
"Scale?"
Arin hesitated.
"...M2."
A pause.
"Near-null."
Flat. Unimpressed.
A panel flickered to life between them.
TEMP CONTRACT — DISPOSAL & RETRIEVAL
ZONE: SECTOR 9 — SUBLEVEL D
THREAT: LOW (UNCONFIRMED)
PAY: 180 CREDITS
Arin's breath slowed.
180 credits.
Medicine. Food. Rent.
"...What's the catch?"
The man leaned back slightly.
"If you finish, you get paid."
"And if I don't?"
"You don't."
A beat.
"If you run after accepting, your name gets flagged."
Arin's chest tightened.
Flagged meant finished.
No jobs. No money. No survival.
"So I get one chance."
The man smiled faintly.
"Everyone does."
A door behind him slid open.
"Gear room. Pick light."
The room was cramped.
Old gear hung from hooks.
Worn vests. Cracked batons. Dull blades.
Arin picked a compact cutter knife. Then a pulse baton.
They felt... familiar.
Too familiar.
Tools.
Not weapons.
He thought of the explosion.
The workers below him.
The light swallowing everything.
His grip tightened.
These won't save me.
But nothing would.
When he stepped back out, three figures were waiting.
A tall man with burn scars.
A woman with a rifle already in hand.
A quiet boy holding a spear-staff.
The scarred man looked him over.
"You're the add-on?"
Arin nodded.
The woman exhaled softly. "They're really lowering standards now."
"Enough," the man said. "Move."
The lift dropped.
Metal groaned around them.
No one spoke.
Then,
"I'm Rell," the scarred man said.
He pointed.
"Kavya."
Then—
"Jax. Leader."
Jax only nodded.
His eyes stayed on Arin a second longer than necessary.
Rell turned back.
"You stay behind. No rushing. No touching anything that hums."
The word hit something inside him.
Hums.
The thing in his chest stirred slightly.
"...Understood."
"First time?" Rell asked.
"...Yes."
"Try not to die."
The doors opened.
The air felt wrong.
Warm. Heavy.
Like a storm that never broke.
Dim lights flickered across cracked walls.
Dark stains crawled along the concrete.
Kavya's scanner beeped softly.
"Unstable readings."
"Of course they are," Rell muttered.
They moved forward.
Slow. Careful.
Arin followed.
Two steps behind.
Just like he was told.
But the hum,
It was clearer now.
Sharper.
Guiding him.
Or warning him.
He couldn't tell.
The scanner beeped again.
Faster.
Kavya raised her rifle.
"Movement."
Something pulled itself out of the darkness.
Thin.
Wrong.
Four limbs scraping the ground.
Its head split open, revealing something glowing inside.
It shrieked.
Rell fired.
The shot echoed.
The creature staggered.
But didn't fall.
It lunged.
Fast.
Too fast.
Kavya fired. Missed.
The creature closed the distance.
Arin moved.
No thought.
Just instinct.
The baton swung.
Missed.
The creature twisted mid-air.
A claw came for his ribs.
The world slowed.
The hum surged.
For a split second—
He saw it.
The movement.
Before it happened.
He twisted.
The claw grazed past him.
His baton came down again.
CRACK.
The creature slammed into the wall.
Dropped.
Didn't move.
Silence.
Arin stood there, breathing hard.
The hum faded.
Back to normal.
Like nothing had happened.
"...You said M2," Rell said quietly.
Arin didn't look away.
"Yes."
Kavya's eyes narrowed.
"That didn't feel like M2."
No one argued.
They finished the mission quickly.
Two more creatures.
Weaker.
This time, Arin stayed back.
But he watched.
Every movement.
Every decision.
This is how they survive.
Back at the counter—
A soft chime.
+180 CREDITS
Arin stared at it.
It felt unreal.
Proof.
Rell stopped beside him.
"You live nearby?"
Arin nodded.
Rell hesitated.
Then—
"We're short one person next run."
Kavya glanced at him.
Didn't disagree.
Jax met his eyes for a moment.
Then looked away.
"Think about it," Rell said.
And left.
Outside, the broken light buzzed above the door.
Nothing had changed.
Same streets.
Same people.
Same struggle.
But,
Something was different.
Arin touched his chest.
The hum answered.
Steady.
Waiting.
M2 wasn't enough.
Not even close.
But today,
He survived.
He earned.
He fought.
And that thing inside him helped.
That thought should have scared him.
It did.
But underneath the fear
Something else grew.
Slow. Quiet. Dangerous.
For the first time, Arin wondered,
Was it protecting him?