Sector 7 — The Market
The Warp Gate spat him out into brilliance.
It was endless.
A sprawl of glowing avenues, stacked on levels above and below, holographic shop signs blinking in languages from hundreds of sectors. Floating walkways curved like ribbons, guiding traffic between bars, casinos, amusement zones, bio-grocery spires, cybernetic boutiques.
Every sense was assaulted smell of synthetic spice, laughter of android children chasing holo-drones, vendors calling with metallic voices, neon-lights flickering against chrome skin.
Valerian glanced at his wrist-watch. The translucent display hovered above his arm:
SDX Balance
→ Initial: 4,100,000 Star Credits
→ Warp Usage (2,000)
→ Current: 4,098,000 Star Credits
He muttered under his breath. "Two gates, two thousand gone. If this takes a year, I'll bleed millions just moving around. No matter. I have to keep pushing."
He lifted his gaze toward the flood of shops. "Even if it takes a year, I'll scour this market. Somewhere in this ocean, someone knows where the black veins flow. Dealers, smugglers—they always show their hand."
The Bar
He entered not for drink but for truth.
It was dim-lit, walls alive with shifting holograms of dancers. Music pounded like thunderous heartbeats, every bass drop sending waves through the chrome floors.
Androids filled every corner. For a moment, Valerian's eyes narrowed are these human? Their biomechanical layering was so lifelike, so perfectly sculpted. Skin that flushed under the lights, eyes that shimmered with desire, breath that misted faintly.
"They look too real. For one second… I almost believed they were human."
He scanned carefully. Female androids laughed in bold cropped outfits, their chests glowing reactors pulsing bright pink, entwined with partners whose reactors glowed green. Husbands. Boyfriends. Lovers.
But then Valerian's gaze sharpened. Across the room, some stood differently. Their outfits just as bold, curves displayed, but their reactors glowed not pink, but faintly… white.
He leaned back, his voice a whisper only to himself. "Faint white. Untouched. Not linked with any partner. A purity marker… virginity, in human terms."
He exhaled. "This place isn't just pleasure. It's selection. Buyers, sellers, dealers they'll pass through here. I just have to move carefully. Too much force, and I'll be noticed."
He sat at a table in the corner, posture calm, one hand loosely on his drink he had no intention of sipping. His reactor glowed dimly beneath his coat, beating like a restrained heart.
The music was heavy. Neon holograms shimmered across the walls, dancers projected midair, and synthetic smoke curled like threads of silver mist above glowing drinks. The bar's energy was intoxicating, but Valerian's focus was sharp as a blade.
He leaned back in his chair, reactor pulsing faintly beneath his coat. His eyes scanned the crowd, iris implants flickering with augmented overlays. Each android's reactor color was tagged in his vision green for bonds, pink for affection, white for unlinked.
But Valerian wasn't looking for romance. He was searching for the imposter.
"I can crush someone, force their secrets out. But one mistake… one wrong target, and I'll expose myself. A human, disguised as machine, surrounded by predators. I can't afford it."
A waiter drone glided toward him, legs clicking faintly. It set a drink on the table fluorescent liquid swirling with nano-bubbles. Valerian didn't even glance at it. His reactor glowed darker, watching everything, ignoring the charade of hospitality.
Then movement.
An android slid into the seat across from him. Mid-level build, casual clothes, reactor pulsing steady green. Valerian didn't flinch. Didn't speak. His face was stone, cold as steel.
The android tried small talk. A joke. A mention of the "good music." Valerian ignored every word. His silence wasn't just indifference it was a test.
The android fidgeted after a while, finished his juice, muttered something, and left.
Valerian's reactor pulsed sharper. "Unimportant. Not him. But his words… small fragments. 'Smuggling.' 'Star credits.' The bar bleeds whispers if you sit long enough."
He closed his eyes for a second, filtering. His audio sensors pulled stray conversations from the crowd
"Shipment delayed, too many guards at Warp…"
"Smuggling chips, better rates near the docks…"
"Star credits doubled if we push in Sector 15…"
Then something sharper. Hindi. Almost buried beneath the bass.
"…dealings about microchips… trading with parts…"
Valerian's eyes snapped open. His head turned slightly, pretending to be casual, but his gaze locked on the source.
In the corner booth, half-hidden by a holo-curtain, sat a pair: an android male and his girlfriend. They looked ordinary enough, reactors glowing pink and green, leaning close to each other. But the man's words, the tone, the way he spoke low while his partner distracted herself with a glowing cocktail was it.
Target.
Valerian's reactor pulsed red-green. His mind calculated scenarios.
"If I move now, I can intercept. Break his arm, force the truth. But no too dangerous. One violent mistake and this entire bar will turn on me. I need subtlety. Patience."
The couple laughed suddenly, a touch of hands across the table. Perfect disguise.
Valerian leaned back, eyes cold, calculating. "Smile with your partner. Whisper crimes in the same breath. Clever. But I see you."
He tapped his wrist-watch lightly, activating a silent tracker. A micro-drone no bigger than dust drifted from his sleeve, invisible in the neon haze, floating toward the couple's booth. It clung to the underside of their table, capturing every vibration, every word.
The girlfriend giggled, her reactor pulsing brighter pink. The man leaned closer, voice dropping again
"…shipment… rare… memory cores… Sector 15 handoff…"
Valerian's grip tightened on the table.
"Sector 15. Dark Alleys. That's the trail. But I can't rush. If they're tied to trafficking, I need evidence strong enough to cut through shadows."
His reactor pulsed, red and green clashing like fire and storm.
He sat, silent as stone, pretending to sip the untouched drink. Waiting. Watching. Hunting.