I run down the streets and alleys, no idea which direction I'm even going in now that the suns have set, the single moon in the night sky barely illuminates my surroundings with its blue light. It feels like I've been running for hours, and my breath is coming in gasps, but I can still hear them behind me, giving chase. In the alley ahead of me, I can see a bolt hole I've used before, and I head for it, desperate to escape.

  Suddenly all I can feel is pain as, with a crack, I collide with the wall to the side of the alley entrance. Standing in the place I was a second ago is a tall figure, clad in silver armour from head to toe, staring down at me through their golden visor.

  "Got you, freak," he spits down at me. I start to shake as another Paladin arrives on the scene and they start dragging my limp and heaving body.

  "No... please..." I whimper, unable to get my voice above a whisper, the Paladin's don't respond, one just leans down and punches me in the gut, and they continue dragging me like nothing happened.

  Soon enough they roughly throw me into a little secluded square among the alleys, not a normal soul in sight. My horror begins to mount as more and more Paladins and Squires file into the square. There must be 40 people here now. I don't understand why they've put so much effort into catching a little street urchin like me, just because I was stealing food, even if it was from that new fancy restaurant.

  I can barely move, so I just sit there and watch the Liberty Front soldiers milling around and vaguely guarding me, they must be waiting for someone.

  Before long, a tall woman joins the assembled group, her distinctly higher rank clear from the golden threads through her armour and the fact that she deliberately does not look like one of the many, as the other soldiers are.

  "So, you finally got the aberration then? Any idea what triggered the alert?" She asks the nearest Paladin.

  "No, ma'am, she seemed to run for some time, but hasn't displayed any anomalous abilities. Not yet, anyway."

  "Hmm, then what did..." she murmurs, before catching me staring at her.

  Oh, fuck, why do all the Liberty Front Officers have to be so pretty, man?

  I quickly try to look away, but she advances on me, grabbing my face roughly in her hands. "How disappointing you've turned out to be, pet," she says, voice slick with disdain, before dropping my face and glancing at her hand in disgust. With that, she walks away, speaking to the Paladin as she does. "Dispose of it, then get back to base and try to write a report that doesn't make this look like such a shitshow, eh?"

  With that, she's gone, and it's just me and the 40 Liberty Front soldiers.

  As they ready their weapons, clicking their batons into the position that means kill, I feel a rumbling in my chest; it feels like my body is vibrating. I start to feel faint, and my vision darkens around the edges. I hear a Squire shout, "Sir, look! An aberrant ability!" and then I can’t make out the rest as I hear a deep, inhuman growl in my mind, "Useless scum..." and I pass out.

  I slowly regain consciousness, groaning at the pounding headache I can feel. As I push up from the ground, my hands slip slightly, and I notice the ground is wet. I look at my hand, the palm is red, covered in the same wetness that covers the floor. As it drips to the floor, the realisation that it’s blood, so much blood, slowly sinks into my still groggy mind. I shake my head, trying to clear it, as I look around.

  Stolen story; please report.

  The scene I see unveiled around me is unbelievable. What was once a relatively neat square, where several alleys joined up, is now unrecognisable. A chaotic jumble of dismembered limbs, barely recognisable bodies and so much blood, it blankets the floor, paints the walls.

  I look around, eyes wide in terror, trying to come up with some way that this is even possible. What could have even presented a fight against a full two squads of Liberty Front troops, let alone done whatever this is to them.

  I shake my head, trying to clear it. It doesn’t matter what happened, or how, or even why. All that matters is that I need to get the fuck out of here, like yesterday. First order of business is getting clean. I’ll never make it out of this city, covered in any blood, let alone this much blood. I quickly head down an alley to my left that should lead me to the river that bisects this giant city. The water is so dirty that drinking it is pretty much a death sentence, but it should be good enough to get rid of this Sunsdamned blood. Hopefully there’s still no one up and about, I’m not sure how long I was out for, but it’s still dark out so I have hope there’s no one else around yet.

  I manage to get to the bank of the river without seeing anyone, but I can see the light from the twin suns starting to peek over the horizon so I know I’ve gotta be quick. I decide on speed over subtlety and wade into the freezing cold, brown water. Fuck, this water is so gross I’m not even sure it’s water anymore. I quickly douse all my clothes and visible skin in the water and wade back out shivering. It’s not perfect, but it’s all I can manage. Any blood that’s left is probably covered up by muck from the water anyway.

  I trudge my way up, away from the riverbank and sit down, taking a moment to figure out what the fuck to do next. Obviously, I need to leave the city, because even though I didn’t kill those soldiers, I don’t know how I would even begin to manage that, I’m gonna get blamed for it anyway, and I don’t particularly want to die today. So, I need to go back to the homeless shelter I slept in last night, grab my like three belongings and the get out of the city, so far so simple. I’ll figure the rest out if I actually manage to get out of here.

  I make it to the shelter no problems, the few people I do see, clearly very eager to give the wet, dirty homeless woman a wide berth. Once in, I quickly grab my bag and check its contents are still there. Good, one necklace, one cloak and one letter opener, and like three brown, metal coins right at the bottom. The necklace is the only thing I have from my parents, although that is largely an assumption, because they died when I was a baby, but I’ve always had the necklace with it’s blue gemstone. The cloak is the last piece of clothing that still survives from the time before this stretch of homelessness and the letter opener is because the shelter wouldn’t let me come in with an actual weapon, but Suns know the shelters aren’t fully safe a lot of the time. I gather myself, and walk out of the shelter, dropping one of the coins into a bowl near the exit, paying for my night here. Once outside again, I quickly glance around. Noticing there’s already more people around, but no Liberty Front presence that I can see and hurry off to my left, towards the nearest city gate.