The Catalyst

It was pitch-black. There was no moon, no sun, nor stars in the canvas sky. The wind howled, twisting with the odd scream, creating an eerie symphony foretelling of death. The air had quickly dried up. With each breath a light tickle in the chest. 

Chrono had eagerly followed a touring pod to the edge of the main street, leading into the Central district. He did so without consideration, and as the night befell him, he realized just how big a mistake he had made. 

Beads of sweat dripped from his face, he had only traveled 30 minutes past his shelter, but in the dead of night, as eyes from all directions watched in quiet desperation, it felt like a lifetime. He cringed at every step, as they loudly echoed throughout the desolate street. 

The boy was no stranger to the workings of Sector-1. He kept it in his heart that with every journey outside his alley he would risk his life.

He looked down at the pendant in his right hand, slowly loosening his tight grip. It was in the shape of a ring, too big to fit on any finger. It shone a brilliant ocean blue, with white engravings in an unknown language that seemed to flicker with each heartbeat. He noticed a slight electronic hum emanating from the ring, as if it were somehow turned on. As he ran, he clipped on the thin silver-white chain to his neck.

Drowning out every sound in the vicinity, was the sudden ring of an old cathedral bell. The boy knew exactly what this meant. 

Without thinking, he increased the tempo of his running, to near-frantic. In each alleyway he passed as he ran, small bonfires of plastic, upper sector trash mainly consisting of discarded one-time use holojoys and outdated robotic parts. Some had people huddled together hoping to escape the freezing cold air. 

He knew he could only keep up this pace for another 5 minutes, but he was still over 15 minutes to his shelter. He had to find a different way to escape the inevitable. 

As his muscles were being torn from his bones, and his legs slowly turned to noodles, it was the first time Chrono dared to look behind him.

"They're here." Said Chrono fearfully.

Descending from the sky were rays of neon pink and blue that cut like a cleaver through the black. The sky tore apart as if it were opening its mouth. One singular ship, almost the size of a mountain slowly descended from the abyssal black sky. The ship was covered with massive screens, making the entirety of the ship light up. On each screen the size of  a basketball court, advertisements. Holojoys, robotic maids and companions, the newest brain ultra-q implants, various new-gen weaponry, hoverbikes, prosthetic limbs and upgrades for every body part - were only some of the items that appeared on the massive screens. In the middle of the ship covering parts of the screens was the logo of the company, "Astra MegaCorp". 

Just then, ejected from the underside of the ship were about 500 lite-hawks, black-grey ultra aerodynamic ships that could maneuver through the sky like a bird. Each had a glowing white streak right through its center. 

Suddenly, piercing through the air was a booming voice that sounded more human than the one from the touring pod.

"Citizens of Sector-1, We hope you have found your day to be filled with possibility!"

"We will now be conducting a routine search of any Time-debts in your possession, please be advised that attempts to avoid our search will result in a Time-debt."

"Please line up on the streets connecting to the central district, and we will be with you in due time. Thank you."

The moment the announcement shut off, the ships that eerily hovered in place a second before bolted in each direction in perfect synchrony. They made no sound, the strong gusts of wind coming from above and the faint traces of white neon light the only evidence of their movement. 

Around Chrono, some started to panic. Those who had no place to hide were now at the mercy of the time-keepers. In the alleys, mothers scrambled to hide their crying children under mounds of garbage. Others fought violently for a place in man-made bunkers, blood seeping down their frail bodies, staining their rags. And some, young and old, ventured out into the street, lifeless, as if they had given up on life a long time ago. 

This scene, although he had seen it many times before, ignited something within Chrono, something that seemed to have atrophied long-ago with an expectancy. An expectancy to live as a slave, to be compliant. Without him noticing, the ring around his neck that shone blue moments before, turned blood red. 

Somewhere far away, a man, surrounded by gorgeous women, dressed in the fur of the last begal tiger, felt a faint shiver run down his spine. 

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