On the east coast of once USA, just about hundred kilometres away from the destroyed city of New York sits the city of New Manhattan.
Spread over just three kilometres, the city is surrounded by heavy walls made from a mixture of stones and metals. Sitting atop it are heavy weapons such as Laser Canons, Anti Aircraft Artillery and Missile Launchers, ready to shoot down any Monster which dares to come.
Inside the wall, the city itself is extremely different from those of the Pre - Apocalyptic Era.
Gone are the tall Skyscrapers and Glass Towers, once the trademark of Manhanttan Skyline.
Infact, very few buildings could be seen on the surface. Most of them either belonged to the Military or to the mercenary. Between them were few businesses, mainly dealing with the mercenaries who dared to travel and hunt outside.
But below the surface, was the true New Manhattan. It was spread over several kilometres and in several layers. Many had even forgotten how deep the city went. Many layers had already been abandoned and new layers were still being dug out. Sane people would question the choices. But honestly, sane people never made decisions, politicians did.
Most of the buildings on the first few layers seem to be made of stone or compressed reinforced mud It gave the whole city a sort of feudalistic look. But breaking the monotony were large electronic displays showing colourful ads, floating holographs basically covered the whole subterranean sky.
Android's were rushing down the lanes completing their tasks. Hawkers werw selling everything from monster bones to mini super computers. Drones were zooming past the people, scaring hapless idiotic pedestrian's who didn't knows to move fast.
Maglevs were streaking above, moving from one sector to another, one layer to another. Flying cars and bikes were rushing past each other following some rules which only the AI operated vehicles knew.
The people of the city were not much different. Wearing an assortment of clothes and knick-knacks. From wild looking hides barely resembling clothes to perfectly maintained silk suits. Some wearing clothes which would have belonged to the 80s'. But the weirdest were infact wearing nothing except small clothe to cover their decency.
Between them were the people who had enough money to bio-mod themselves. Metallic claws, antennas, xray eyes, metal skeletons...weird cyborgs who were looking for their next craze.
In short, New Manhanttan was odd. A bizzare combination of rich and poor, strong and weak. A haven for adventurers, the crazies and the sucidals.
But Alex was currently none of them. Oh, it was not like he didn't want to be one. But he neither had the finances nor the courage to become one.
Alex was one of the residents of this city. Living in the slums of the second floor, the fourteen year old was currently facing the greatest dilemma of his life : career choice.
He was educated enough to be one of the white collars, as seen by the three certificates hanging on the black wall.
But he didn't want to waste his life shoving paper work. He wanted to see the sun. Feel the wind. Feel free. And white collar jobs offered none of these. What they did offer, was safety, insurance and job security.
So why not try to be an Awakener and take up adventuring or military life? If you would have asked him, he probably would have asked you to get yourself checked. When could a slum dweller get enough money to try for awakening. Unless he didn't care about his life. You see, drug selling, robbery and murder were a lucrative business.
Even if he did manage to get a Awakening Potion, he didn't had the resources to evolve himself. So all in all, he was facing what many people face : Reality.
Coming back to Alex. He was an orphan. Not because it makes the story writing simple, but because his parents were Awakeners and had died in a beast raid. The insurance settlement had gone towards his education, paying his family debts, bills and his backstabbing relatives who had managed to bribe the lawyer.
Although, the relatives were not a problem anymore. All of them seem to have died mysteriously. From what he had heard, they had got food poisoning. Poor people.
The lawyer had also slipped on a banana peel and unfortunately broke his skull.
And no, Alex didn't do any of this. Nope, nada.
So anyway, here was Alex brooding over his choices.
' I really don't want to join the white-collars. I really want to awaken. If I miss this chance, I will probably never get one again.'
'Shit...What the hell should I do? I can probably buy a cheap potion from the streets. The only problem is quality.'
The potions on the street were usually the once that couldn't reach the quality mark required for selling. Basically, defective products which might cause more harm than good.
' But it's effects...in simplest case I might lose a bit of vitality and in the worst case I might die. Fuck...what to do?' he sighed.
He plopped down on his cot, thinking and brooding. Mostly brooding. If it was anyone apart from him they would have happily chosen to be a White Collar. With his qualifications he could easily enter mid-management and aim for top management within few years. By the time he was 20, he would easily be a manager at high position. He would have a nice house, probably at one of the lower level, a car and if luck blessed him, a girlfriend.
But he didn't care about these stuff. His parents had trained him to be an Awakener. When he was young, they would spend hours regaling tales of their adventures. From the ruins of NY, to the Secret Area 51. They would tell him about the dangerous Amazon, the unconquerable Himalayas, the raging sandstorms of Sahara, the unfathomable Pacific. He had grown on those.
He had spent countless hours practicing, building his body. He had trained in archery and close combat. And now would he just dump everything? His dreams just for a safe life? No, can he dump everything for a safe life.
His reposnse was no.
'Goddamnit...I will just buy one. Worst case I die. Or awaken some useless ability. It's not like the job will run away.'
And so Alex left his shabby room, hoping for a promising future.
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The so called street were the back alleys and the sewers. Most of them controlled by some small time gang or the other. These small time gangs were further controlled by bigger gangs. Most of the members were just civilian with no future. They happily wasted their life on whatever drug they could get their hands on. With no future, half of them were crazies. They will happily stab you for few cents and kill you for few dollars. They honestly, just didn't care.
And Alex was going to meet one such crazy. Ironically, the crazy actually had good qualifications and had worked in some super big Gene Tech firm. But like in most novels, he had gone against some big shot and had been fired. So here he was, selling Gene Medicines in the back alley. Atleast people did promise that his quality wasn't that bad. Plus, he had once worked in a Gene Tech Firm, he atleast knew a test tube from a beaker, which was way better than most pharmasists on streets.
Leaving his building, Alex covered his face with his hoodie. He didn't want anyone to know what he was trying to do. Plus not to be narcissistic, he was handsome. So his ass would probably sell for few hundred bucks. So yeah, no. With hands in his pockets he walked down to the next street. Despite acting nonchalant, he was extremely nervous. The medicine was bordering on grey. He was basically breaking the law. And his whole shitty future depended on it. Personally, he felt it was the latter. It's not like he cared about the law.
Very soon, he passed the crossroad and entered an alley. The entrance of the alley was littered with garbage. The walls were covered with graffiti, which were mostly people over compensating for their size, or gangs marking down territory. The alley itself was barely 10 meters long, ending in front of a large wall.
But if you looked carefully, you would find a small metal door hidden between the heaps of garbage and empty crates of beers.
With well practiced motion he knocked thrive on the door. He waited for exactly three seconds before gently knocking twice followed by a heavy knock. The door was immediately opened.
Facing him was a big burly man. The same sort you expect with gangsters. Basically, the template bald dude with muscles larger than brains. In a heavy gruff voice the bald dude asked, "Password."
"Seriously Luke? It's not like anyone cares about the alley." questioned Alex with a roll of his eyes.
Luke simply grinned and answered, " Regulations."
Once again Alex rolled his eyes. The new Boss of the alley was extremely enamored with all the secret spy stuff. Despite not being his left from right, the guy had laid down heavy rules and regulations. From a special knock, password to even a secret handshake. It was like chunibyou met James Bond and God Father.
"Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus." Yes, the boss was a Harry Potter fan.
"Correct." Luke moved aside revealing the hidden alley. Alex grinned and entered inside.
Calling the alley an altogether different world wouldn't be wrong. The stores were reminiscent of the 20's. Large glass front and all metalic look. People would never believe it be a part of 'streets.'
It was clean and very well organised.
All type of stores were present. From your cloth Store selling rip off Armani's to a store selling the latest fake Apple Mini Computers. In between were medical stores mainly selling marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and other pills for all type of problems. On one corner was a store selling assortment of guns. Some from big firms, while other were manufactured in house. The store was a big believer of ' Self Reliance.' If rumours were to be believed, if you asked nicely, he might also get you a laser gun.
Some steps ahead was the 'Helpers Market'. A large open store which sold all type of 'helpers' for all type of purposes. Although the so called helpers were mostly alive.
But at nearly the end of the 100 meter long alley was a small store. On the glass a shabbily painted sign said, " ABC Medical : Not your general medical store."
Alex simply grinned and barged inside. And as he expected the store was empty. No people, no products. The only exception being a slightly obesed man watching some anime with hard core eechi content.
" Steve, my pal, my best friend, my dearest, how are you today?" he asked in a sing song haply voice. Inwardly, he just wanted to puke.
The guy looked up. His face was pale as if he hadn't gone out for weeks, which might actually be true. His eyes were red either from some drug or just from exhaustion. A scraggy beard adorned his average looking face. All in all, he was no one special.
"...What the fuck is wrong with you, bastard?" Steve asked in a creeped out tone. " Did you finally decided to go gay?"
"...shut up."
" No, honestly. I am all for you. You can try Stacy's. She has a new stock." he started babbling.
"I want the potion." intervened Alex.
"Which one? I have the viagara, the hallucination, even the 'passionfruit.' " he finished the last word with a wiggle of his brows.
"Awakening."
"...Alex...if you have money it's better to invest. I have heard from a reputable source that IamNotGoogle is going to rise. If you don't like Stock, mutual funds is a good option..."
"Steve..." he tried to interrupt his babbling but failed. Finally he banged on the table to just make him stop.
"I have decided, I really want the potion."
"Are you sure? It's not cheap. Fuck, just the materials cost a fortune..."
"Yes." he said with determination. He had decided. If he failed, he failed. He didn't want to live with what if's and regret.
Steve sighed and got up. He walked to the back of the store and came out a few minutes later with a black box. He looked at Alex and finally said, " This is probably my best batch. It was supposed to be a S grade Potion but some guy messed up. Not sure what's wrong but it should work."
"S grade..." stuttered Alex. S grade was the pinnacle of Awakening Potion. It granted atleast an A grade talent. Above all, it would lay down a strong foundation for your future. The virus used were meticulously chosen and engineered into perfection. It was rare. Very very rare. You couldn't get your hands on it even if you paid a premium. You needed Identity, connections and money to buy one. And he lacked all three. Although a failure it was still a S Rank Potion. How did Steve got his hands on it? He didn't care. It was his secret.
"How much?" he asked in awe.
" ...Just give me a million." answered Steve.
"Mill...Million?" Although Million was nothing if you were buying a S Grade potion, heck, a million would not even get you a D grade Potion. Although Alex had some money, it didn't even reach a hundred thousand.
"It's a S grade failure. Million is extremely cheap."
"Steve...do I look like I carry a million? If I had a million I would be Evergreen buying a D grade Potion."
"Tch...it's a S grade. You can take a loan. I have heard that Goldtooth has just reduced his interest to 30%. If you want nicer, you can go to Banks. Morgan is running a nice scheme for people like you..."
"Steve.." Steve was a nice guy. But he loved to talk.
"What's your budget?" asked Steve with a sigh. People these days, they don't even talk.
" Ummm...about 90,000." he replied with embarassment.
"90,000...Alex. I am selling potions. Not water." he shot back with sarcasm.
"I really have only 90." he murmured with more embarassment. His pale cheeks were now red with embarassment.
"You won't even get a F rank potion with 90. Even the failed ones cost around 100."
"Please...anything" he pleaded.
Steve sighed once again and walked back in. Few seconds later, he came with another box. "This is a test product. It should work. If not it won't atleast harm you. I will sell you for 30."
"30?" asked Alex excitedly. He completely ignored the rest. " Done. Deal."
Steve said nothing but handed him the box.
"Pay me. And now shoo...Akira was finally going to propose to Lily." said Steve shooing away Alex.
And so, 30,000 dollars lighter and a box heavier our young hero walks back to his home, hoping for a new future.
Meanwhile, Steve cries as Lily rejects Akira as she was into boys and not girl. And so Steve's yuri dreams were broken once again.