The echo of Blake's interview with Liora Kane still resonated throughout the city. His words flooded the net, repeated like mantras: "Scars are proof that we've lived." Aurora City had heard him—and for the first time, it seemed ready to believe.
But the system didn't give him time to savor victory.
> [New Mission Activated: "Echoes of the Past"]
[Objective: Face your roots to strengthen your narrative.]
[Reward: +$10,000, Unlock: "Emotional Memory"]
Blake closed his eyes. He knew what it meant. This wasn't about a new contract or a public event. It was a journey backward—toward a place he had sworn never to return to: the Lower District.
---
The maglev train dropped him off at the district's border. There, the city changed faces. The glass towers disappeared, replaced by worn buildings, hanging cables like exposed veins, and improvised markets on every corner. The air smelled of smoke, sweat, and spices.
Blake walked slowly, recognizing streets he had buried in memory. Every corner was a ghost: the store where he stole his first pack of cookies, the alley where he fought out of pride, the house where he heard his mother cry in silence.
The system pulsed.
> [Emotional state detected: intense nostalgia]
[Warning: vulnerability increases risk of manipulation.]
Blake whispered,
—Let me feel it. Not everything has to be calculation.
---
He found her in a makeshift plaza, surrounded by young people listening intently. Naomi Vega spoke with passion, her hands carving rage and hope into the air for those who had no voice.
—Aurora City doesn't see us, —she said.— But we exist. And if they won't give us a place, we'll build it with our own hands.
Blake stood watching her. Naomi was just a year younger, but her eyes carried centuries of struggle. Her dark hair fell in loose waves, her clothes were simple, yet her presence filled the space.
When she finished her speech, her eyes met his. Recognition flickered.
—Vega —she said, stepping closer.— I can't believe it.
Blake smiled nervously.
—It's been years.
Naomi hugged him tightly, briefly.
—I thought you'd forgotten where you came from.
Blake lowered his gaze.
—I tried to.
---
They climbed to the rooftop of a ruined building. From there, the city looked split in two: the glow of the upper districts and the shadow of the Lower.
Naomi looked at him seriously.
—I saw your interview. You talked about scars. But what do you know about scars, Blake? You left. We stayed.
Blake swallowed hard.
—I know more than you think.
The system appeared.
> [Mission condition: share one authentic memory from your childhood.]
Blake took a deep breath.
—I remember the night my father left. I was twelve. My mother told me to go find him, but I hid in the alley. I was scared. When I came back, she was alone—crying. That was my first scar.
Naomi said nothing for a moment, then nodded.
—That… is real.
---
Naomi took him around the district. She showed him houses without power, children playing in flooded streets, secret workshops where people labored until dawn for a few coins.
—This is where the city begins —she said.— But no one wants to see it.
Blake felt a knot in his stomach. The system pulsed again.
> [New side mission available: "Support Naomi's Cause"]
[Condition: allocate part of your resources to the Lower District.]
[Reward: +15 Authenticity, Unlock: "Underground Influence".]
He knew what it meant. Investing here wouldn't bring prestige. It could even harm his standing in Helix.
But it could give him something far more valuable—roots.
Naomi's eyes burned with intensity.
—Tell me, Blake. Are you one of them now, or are you still one of us?
---
That night, Naomi brought him to an old community center. The walls were cracked, but inside, children painted murals, elders played cards, and teens practiced music on broken instruments.
Blake stood silently. He remembered playing a broken guitar in that same room once, dreaming of escape.
The system projected fragments of memory:
His mother serving watery soup.
Himself, running barefoot through rain.
Naomi, younger, organizing games for the children.
> [New skill unlocked: "Emotional Memory" – access past recollections to strengthen your narrative.]
Blake closed his eyes. The scars weren't just words. They were his story.
Naomi watched him quietly.
—See? This is where the real stories are born. Not in the towers. Here.
---
Back in his Helix apartment, the contrast was brutal. Bright windows, designer furniture, suffocating silence.
The system displayed two paths:
Path A: Invest in a new Helix project. +20 Reputation, +10 Influence.
Path B: Support Naomi's cause in the Lower District. +15 Authenticity, Unlock: "Underground Influence."
Blake closed his eyes. He saw the plaza again, the children, Naomi's gaze.
—Path B —he whispered.
The interface glowed.
> [Side mission complete: "Support Naomi's Cause"]
[Reward: +15 Authenticity]
[New skill unlocked: "Underground Influence" – access to hidden networks in the Lower District.]
---
Days later, Naomi called him.
—The funds arrived. You don't know what this means to us.
Blake smiled.
—I didn't do it for charity. I did it because I'm from there too.
Naomi looked at him with a mix of gratitude and challenge.
—Then prove it. Money isn't enough. Stay. Walk with us.
The system pulsed.
> [New bond unlocked: Naomi Vega – "Shared Root"]
[Effect: strengthens emotional resistance against reputation attacks.]
Blake stood silent, gazing at the city from the Lower's rooftop. Aurora shimmered in the distance—but for the first time, it didn't feel so far away.
The system issued one final notification.
> [New mission unlocked: "The Shadow Responds"]
[Objective: face the counterattack from the Shadow of Helix.]
Blake clenched his fists.
The past had caught up to him. Now, he had to prove he could hold the future.
---
That night, before sleeping, Blake wrote in a notebook he'd found at the community center:
"It's not about forgetting where you came from, but deciding what you'll do with that memory."
The system stayed silent, as if honoring the moment.
Blake understood then: conquering the narrative wasn't just about speaking before cameras.
It was about looking back, embracing his scars, and realizing his story didn't start in Helix, or NovaLux, or that interview with Liora—
It began in those wet streets, in nights of hunger, in Naomi's voice crying out that they existed.
Aurora City was waiting.
But now, Blake wasn't just a player with territory.
He was a man with roots.
---
End of Chapter 14