Realisation

In the wastelands outside the quantum city, shrouded by colossal, rusty machine parts amidst which stood a young boy with his face covered in dirt and oil, giving his pale skin a darker hue. Gripping a hollow metal pipe in one hand and an orb emitting a vibrant crimson glow in the other, almost making him resemble a lamp if seen from afar in this dark, foggy night. Merfy was standing in a pose that screamed offense, and why wouldn't he? A quartet closed in on him from all four directions, holding machine parts in their hands that could barely be called weapons.

"Sure it's a space gem, captain?" queried a weak-looking guy among the quartet as they continued to close in.

"I don't care if it's a space gem or not; its crimson shine is proof enough that its value far exceeds that brat's life," the captain reported in a dismissive tone.

"I guess I have seen this brat before," spoke the guy approaching Merfy from the front, a subtle crease formed on his forehead as if trying to remember something.

Another quartet member, taking a threatening stance from behind, replied, "He is quite popular around here; recently he found a piece of wood, you see."

Taking a little pause he added "that thing is so rare nawadays".

While the quartet was trying their best to threaten him, Merfy's sharp eyes scanned the surroundings as if a hunter preparing for a hunt. He knew that he stood no chance fighting them head-on, so the only chance he had was to escape their formation while they are taking him lightly as a harmless kid. As soon as he noticed the quartet in the range of his makeshift weapon, he swiftly rotated his upper body, swinging the pipe with great agility, cutting through the air with a whooshing sound. The pipe stopped abruptly as it struck the lower jaw of the guy approaching Merfy from behind. The shock produced at the lower jaw shook the assailant's brain, and he crumpled to the ground before he could even feel the pain produced by his broken jaw. Without wasting a single second, Merfy broke free from the formation of the quartet, exploiting the gap created by the absence of the fallen assailant, as he sprinted towards the direction of the city gates, leaping over the huge machine parts. The remaining quartet followed, not sparing a glance at their fallen comrade. They knew pretty well that a moment of slight ignorance could result in losing their elusive target in the maze created by these humongous metal chunks lying everywhere around them. But despite their desperate struggle, the trio lost sight of Merfy as soon as the crimson glow of the orb vanished.

....

As robots took over a large portion of jobs all over the world, impoverished youths like Merfy had no choice but to work as "treasure hunters," which, unlike its grand name, includes searching through the junk to find anything sellable before the cleaning robots could melt it in the furnace. Merfy barely made enough to fulfill his daily necessities. But today was different as he wasn't searching for something sellable but for something he weirdly felt was attracting him by an unknown little force. Following his instincts, he unearthed a transparent orb under a huge bearing.

"Strange, how did I know it was here," Merfy thought, scratching his head in confusion. But soon, his confused expressions turned into worry as the orb started shining like a bulb with a crimson glow. He knew very well what it meant: finding treasure in this lawless area outside the city, trouble. As Robocops were only active inside the city, so other treasure hunters won't think twice before killing him if they knew he had something valuable on him. Thinking about the worst, Merfy hopes for the best as he starts taking his shirt off to wrap it around the orb. But before he could do so, he noticed a quartet approaching him from a distance, all thanks to the very glow he was trying to hide. Merfy quickly dropped the idea of hiding the glow as he hurriedly looked around him for a weapon.

......

Seated half naked between the teeth of a giant cogwheel, Merfy looked at the orb wrapped tightly in his tattered shirt, pondering the possibility of it being a space gem that's highly valued by the awakened and exchanging it for a sturdy bunker house inside the city. While unbeknownst to him, his consciousness slowly began to drift elsewhere.