Location: The Gullies, Maatari – The Harmonic Rail
Time: 2:07 AM
Maatari slept in fragments.
Rails groaned below the smog, and every few blocks a light stuttered itself awake just to prove the city still could.
Khaz arrived at his station, then descended for his walk home without hurry, each step quieter than the last. The high from the bracket was gone. It burned out and bled dry. All that remained was static behind his eyes and the hollow throb of Se'lo still flickering under his ribs.
The streets were near empty. A delivery drone buzzed overhead, the hum from a GridLeech tower spilling into the quiet like low thunder. He passed a few night workers, glow vendors shutting down stalls, and someone arguing with a meter about their balance.
None of them looked twice at him.
Khaz kept his hood up and didn't slow. His Se'lo flickered faintly under his ribs, like a bad circuit trying to restart. By the time he reached the cracked stairwell of his complex, the hum in his spine had turned into a full-body ache.
Inside his apartment, the lights came on dull. He leaned against the counter, opened the drawer beside the sink, and pulled out a small black roll marked in gray thread: SOOTSTICK // REDLOAD STABLIZER
The smoke was soft and sweet, the kind that stayed low in the lungs. His Se'lo eased, its flicker dimming to a steady ember. The pain in his limbs blurred to background noise.
He sat by the window, watching the city's veins blink in and out of rhythm, until the tension in his shoulders gave way to gravity. Somewhere in that silence, he fell asleep.
Location: The Gullies, Maatari - Khaz's Apartment
Time: 09:42 AM
Khaz woke to sunlight creeping through the blinds and the distant chatter of vendors setting up shop. He blinked at the clock. Too late. Way too late.
His body protested the movement when he sat up.
Every muscle heavy, his Se'lo still misfiring under his skin. His heart was beating out of sync, like it was trying to remember its tempo.
He ran a hand over his face, sighed, and stood. The air felt thick, his apartment tighter than usual.
By habit, he climbed the stairwell to the roof. The morning heat hit him like a soft slap.
Maatari sprawled beneath him with smog ribbons over the skyline, magnetic trains whispering through distant tracks, a faint shimmer where the upper districts caught the sun.
He settled cross-legged, spine straight.
The world narrowed to breath.
In.
Out.
In…
The rhythm faltered.
His focus slipped before the third exhale. Se'lo energy stuttered, running jagged through his veins. The light from his chain spasmed once and died back to gray.
"Not today," he muttered.
He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small inhaler that read, VEINLIGHT // INTERNAL COOLANT.
He pressed the nozzle and got nothing but air. The cartridge was dead.
He stared at it for a second before tossing it aside. The metal rolled across the rooftop, clinking once against concrete. His throat felt dry. The city noise below seemed louder than it should have been.
He stood, rubbing at the back of his neck. Food would have to do what Oru'mi couldn't.
Back at his apartment, the terminal blinked amber as he reached the stairs.
He tapped the screen, and Nelz Mahoney's voice came through in her usual half-flirty tone,
"You're two months behind again, sugar.
Even ghosts gotta pay to haunt.
Drop what you can before sunset and maybe I'll pretend you're cute enough for a late-fee pardon."
Khaz exhaled through his nose, faint smirk tugging at one corner of his mouth. "Still thinks she's funny."
He shut the terminal and kept walking.
Location: The Gullies, Maatari - The Rustpan Diner
Time: 11:32 PM
The Rustpan was half full and loud in all the wrong ways. The air smelled like grease and coffee grounds and comfort.
Marta spotted him before he even sat down. "Look who finally left his cave," she said, flipping a pan with more aggression than needed. "You look like somebody ran you through a blender, Khaz."
"Morning to you too."
She nodded toward the back booth. "You eat, or you brood first?"
"Both," he said, sliding into his seat.
While she cooked, the ambiance of the diner filled in the gaps with customers arguing over bracket replays.
Including one guy saying he saw a man turn into light mid-fight and another swearing the whole story was staged.
Marta dropped a bowl of rice and stew in front of him. "You hear about that pit incident in Rustline? They said some fighter turned spectral. Whole crowd fainted."
"People love their stories."
"Mm." She smirked. "This one's making rounds faster than a T'alü Moon hangover."
Khaz didn't bite. He just ate, slow and deliberate, until his muscles felt less like they were made of wire.
He paid his bill, with the addition of his usual tip, and slipped out as quiet as he entered.
Location: The Gullies, Maatari - Market Strip
Time: 12:30 PM
The market was alive by the time he left the diner. Vendors shouted, fans whirred, cables hummed. The smell of fried grain mixed with ozone from old power lines.
He stopped at a stall lined with colored tins and inhalers. The vendor looked up, eyes tracing the faint glow of Khaz's chain before glancing away.
"Need a refill?"
Khaz nodded once.
"Got Veinlight, new batch. Fresh Ashmint Tabs, too. Two packs for one Musa."
"Just one of each."
The vendor smiled, all teeth. "Rough night, huh?"
"Something like that."
Khaz tapped counted his Musa and handed it to the vendor. He pocketed the inhaler and the tin, then moved on without another word.
>>> NEW MESSAGE INCOMING…
> FROM: Spots Ren
> MESSAGE: "Yo, you alive? You forgot your Musa bag at the pit.
Don't make me chase you down again — I'm too pretty for cardio."
[> KHAZ: "You're too broke to chase. Meet at the Rustpan"]
[> SPOTS: "Fair. Be there before I spend it all on ashpepper stew and apache dumplings."]
Location: The Gullies, Maatari - Alley beside The Rustpan
Time: 2:10 PM
He found Spots waiting near the back of the diner, leaning against a rusted pipe with the bag in hand.
"You look less dead than I expected," Spots said, tossing it over.
Khaz caught it, weighed it in his hand. "Feels lighter than it should."
Spots grinned. "Weight of legend tax. I had to replace half the panels in the pit and a few lights too! But at least everyone's calling you the Rustline Hound now. Might as well start charging for autographs."
Khaz gave a flat stare. "I'll charge you first."
"Yeah, that's the spirit." Spots tipped his chin toward the street. "Don't spend it all on T'alü Moon and SootSticks. Go do something! Even legends gotta live."
Khaz half-smiled. "You say that like you have a life to speak of."
"Yeah, but I can at least act like I like mine."
Khaz didn't argue. He was already walking.
Location: The Gullies, Maatari – Khaz's Apartment Rooftop
Time: 8:58 PM
Dusk laid long shadows across the city. The air was cooler, quieter, but never still.
Khaz sat on the roof again, back to the low wall, the skyline breathing around him. He pressed the Veinlight to his lips and inhaled. The cold burned through his chest, sharp and clean. The ache dulled.
He chewed an Ashmint Tab, let the mint sting his tongue, and watched the rails below spark to life for the evening cycle.
Somewhere in the distance, a vendor was already telling a new version of the Rustline story, about a man who fought his own shadow and won.
Khaz picked up his on the concrete beside him, the screen flickering to life.
>>>ENCRYPTED THREAD INITIATED: GHOST // D.R
[>KHAZ: "Offer still open?"]
[>DREV: "It is."]
[>KHAZ: "I'm ready to talk."]
[>DREV: "Heal first, Ghostboy. Then come to the Loft. Bring your reason for saying yes."]
[>KHAZ: "I don't need one."]
[>DREV: "Good. Less to lose."]