The bar quieted as the night wore on. The air was thick with the smell of smoke and spilled drinks, the kind of scent that clung to everything.
By the time Lura flipped the sign to closed, only a few stragglers were left—too tired or too drunk to bother leaving. Kael waited by the back door like she'd told him, the low hum of the city pressing through the walls.
When she finally came over, she tossed him a rag. "Start with the counter. Try not to break anything."
Kael caught it without looking. "Yes, ma'am."
Lura gave him a sidelong glance, half a smile tugging at her mouth. "You don't have to call me that. Makes me sound ancient and take off that cloak, you're giving me the creeps."
He almost smiled back. "Sorry. And sure."
They worked quietly for a while—Lura clearing tables with her tentacles, Kael wiping down glasses and counters. He moved with care, he was used to working and he didn't want to break anything.
After a few minutes, Lura spoke again. "So, what's your name, kid?"
"Kael."
She paused, just a beat too long. "Kael, huh? Haven't heard that one in a while."
He looked up. "That a good thing?"
"Guess it used to be," she said with a shrug. "Names go out of style, same as everything else."
He let that hang. Whatever memory she was chasing, it wasn't one he wanted to disturb.
When they finished, she led him down a narrow hallway to a small back room. A cot sat against the wall, thin but clean.
"It's not much," she said, patting the blanket, "but it beats sleeping on concrete."
"It's perfect," Kael said. It really was.
Lura nodded, her tone softening. "You're polite. Not a lot of that around here."
He gave a small shrug. "I just know what it's like not to have options." If he had been given a choice he wouldn't choose to be here.
That made her pause. For a moment, her expression eased. "Get some rest, Kael. The scavenger hub opens early. And… don't go wandering off alone. This part of the city's got teeth."
He nodded. "Thanks. I'll be careful."
When she left, Kael sat on the cot, the mattress creaking under him. He looked at the sky through an open window.
The night was beginning to be his favourite part of the day, when everything looked pretty in his eyes.
Tomorrow he was going to work in the scavengers hub, hopefully it won't be too hard.
____________
Morning came slow.
There was no sunrise, just light.
Kael woke up, rubbing his eyes and yawning as he got of the cot, coming out of the small room, the smell of something warm reached him before he noticed Lura by the counter. She was pouring steaming water into a metal cup, tentacles moving with practiced ease.
"You're up early," she said, glancing at him with a faint smile.
Kael rubbed his eyes. "Didn't sleep much."
How could he when he kept on having nightmares that he was pretty sure were connected to the old Kael.
"Not surprised." She dropped a small cube into the cup. It hissed, then melted, spreading color through the water until it turned into a thick, murky broth. "Here. Breakfast."
He blinked. "For me?"
"Who else?" she said, sliding it across the counter. "It's not fancy, but it'll keep you standing."
Kael took it carefully. The warmth bled through the metal, chasing off the cold that clung to him. He took a sip—salty, rich, strange. But it was food. The only real meal he'd had since waking up in this world.
"Thank you," he said, quietly but sincere.
Lura shrugged, cleaning a glass with one of her free tentacles. "Don't make it sound like I did you a favor. Everyone's got to eat."
He smiled faintly. "Still… thanks."
She didn't look up, but the corner of her mouth twitched. "Just don't die out there. Makes the place look bad."
Kael finished the broth, set the cup back on the counter, and pulled his cloak around his shoulders. "I'll try not to."
"Good boy, come back safely" she said with a wink, already turning back to the bar.
"Come back huh." He muttered, a smile creeping up his face, someone had told him to comeback.
Vendors shouted over each other, steam hissed from vents, and the air smelled like oil and dust. People filled the street—humans mixed with all kinds of others. A woman with blue skin and clear eyes carried a crate on her shoulder. Two tall, scaled men argued over the price of a broken engine. Kids with strange markings on their faces chased a rolling can, some with four eyes, laughing.
Kael kept his hood low and walked on. He tried hard not to stare but it wasn't easy. He still wasn't used to seeing so many different kinds of people, but no one seemed to care about him, which was good.
He crossed a rusted bridge, the metal groaning under his boots. Below, the canal shimmered faintly, catching light from the neon signs above. On the other side sat a squat building with a dull red lamp flickering above the door.
The directions to the hub, Lura told him about.
The scavenger hub.
Inside, the air was thick with the smell of grease and sweat. People moved everywhere—shouting, arguing, trading. Terminals along one wall flashed job listings.
Kael spotted a broad man behind the counter, arms crossed, a gray-streaked beard and eyes that looked like they'd seen everything twice. His tag said BRONN.
Kael walked up. "Lura said I could find work here."
Bronn looked him over. "So you're her stray."
Kael didn't react. "I'll take whatever's open."
Bronn grunted. "You got tools?"
"No."
"Experience?"
He didn't have anything.
He shook his head.
Bronn smirked. "Least you're honest. Fine. Zone 12. Scavenging run. Bring back what you can, you get ten percent of the profit."
Kael frowned. "Ten percent?"
"Take it or leave it," Bronn said flatly.
Kael thought for a moment, then nodded. "I'll take."
Bronn slid the small data chip across the counter. "Meet back here before sundown. That chip's your ID and pay key. Lose it, and you don't get paid."
Kael turned it over in his hand. It was warm—too warm for a simple piece of metal—and faintly pulsed with red light beneath the surface.
It had the same symbol on the terminal 45-B chip.
He frowned. "Feels… alive."
Bronn shrugged. "Old tech. Don't think about it too much. Just keep it on you."
"Got it," Kael said, pocketing the chip.
When he stepped back into the street, the noise of the city hit him again. People shouted, machines rumbled, airships hummed somewhere high above.
Kael pulled his cloak tighter. He didn't know where this path would lead, but for now, he had food in his stomach, a job, and a direction.
It was enough.