1 The Promise

I stood in front of my house, grief-stricken and teary-eyed at the pile of rubble that remained of my home. As I wander around the dense fog that covered the streets of my neighborhood, I hear gunshots and the screams and pleas of my neighbors before getting silenced.

I call out for my mother or father, but they don't answer. No one does.

I wander until a man walks into my vision, brandishes a rifle, and shoots me in the head.

"AHHH!"

And then I wake up.

Once in a while, I recall that same nightmare. As much as I hate to admit it, with the exception of that last part, everything in that nightmare actually happened. It was known as "The Fall of Haustoria." What seemed like a normal day was interrupted by a cloud of smoke that stretched across the country for an entire month. Once the smoke cleared, only a quarter of the original population was left. No one knew how the smoke arrived and no one knew who was behind it. The remnants of Haustoria were left to pick up the pieces. Not long after, the government collapsed and it became a free-for-all for power.

That's the only memory I have of the country I was born in. It happened so long ago, I pretty much forgot everything else. Luckily, I was able to seek refuge in the country of Holia along with a bunch of other Haustorians. I've been living here for most of my life now in zone six. Otherwise known as the Haustorian ghetto.

I looked at my alarm clock and realized I woke up five minutes earlier than what I set it for.

"Well there's no use going back to sleep. I might as well get ready for work!"

I put on my work clothes and went sprinting out of the door and into the plaza of zone six. Because we don't have as much space, we've got everything from markets, our shrine of our God, to housing in one spot. We don't have much, but us Haustorians work with what we've got!

As I ran to the zone's entrance, I saw my coworker and friend of many years, Ori.

Us Haustorians all have certain features that set us apart from the other races. We tend to have darker skin tones than everyone else and our hair is a very dark purple. Ori is no exception. She had her hair in countless small twists that went down to her neck. She also wore the Haustorian's everyday work outfit: black long sleeve coveralls with work boots.

"ORIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!" I yelled out her name as I ran to her and hugged her. She had her tool set ready and was waiting for the overseer.

"What did I tell you about being all touchy?! I let that stuff slide when we were little, but we're older now so things are different!"

"But you're still Ori and I'm still Arno! What could have possibly changed?!"

"A-A lot of things! Now hands off!"

"Fiiiiine." As I let go, she let out a sigh of relief.

As if right on queue, our overseer arrived to pick us up. In Holia, if businesses want cheap workers, they enlist the help of us Haustorians. It's way cheaper to hire us since we only get paid half as much as normal workers. However, despite Ori's handiwork and my strength, we still get paid less than the average Holian.

"Let's get moving, Haustorians! We got a LOT of work today!"

Once we stepped through the gates of zone six, there were Holian protestors at both sides of it waiting for us. Their signs had various curse words and slurs. We're not allowed to interact with them at all, so we just ignore them and keep going. Some of them throw stuff at us and others just boo us. Not only do adults come here, but sometimes they bring their kids.

"Tch. They're mad that we're 'taking their jobs' but it's either we take this or we starve to death." Ori kissed her teeth.

We're not all that different from the Holians. We're all people, you know? The Holians just have paler skin and white hair.

As we passed the protestors and walked deeper into the city, we reached our destination: The Steamed Ham. This isn't our first time coming here. Ori and I came to fix their lights and I guess we did such a good job, they want us as regulars here.

"Alright! Today, you two are gonna be fixing the steamers! They're the highlight of The Steamed Ham so we can't mess this up! Ori, you catch on really quick. It's like all you need is a glance to understand a machine! This should be no problem! There's also some heavy lifting involved, so it only makes sense that the strongest Haustorian would be by your side to help!" The overseer continued to praise us.

"Oh stop it, you!" I began to blush as he showered Ori and I with compliments.

"Sure, I guess." Ori rolled her eyes.

Ori doesn't like the overseer as much. When we met him for the first time, it was all sunshine and flowers with him until we were approaching the deadline with an unfinished task. He didn't hold back any of the insults that were usually thrown at us. I got over it, but Ori doesn't forgive and forget as easily.

As Ori, the overseer, and I walked into the restaurant, I took notice of the glares we were getting from the customers and staff alike. The restaurant had a very distinct look to it. It felt like I was in a train with the way it was built.

"If it isn't my favorite duo! The brain and the brawn! You guys get this done in an hour and we'll whip you up some quality burgers!" The manager waited for us with open arms.

"Hmph! We'll get it done in 30 minutes!" She gave the manager a thumbs up.

For any man that wants a way to Ori's heart, it's definitely free food.

"In that case, you can have double of whatever you want on the menu!" The manager returned the gesture.

While the overseer had a chat with the manager, the two of us went to the back room, we looked at the various machines all neatly lined up in a row. There were a bunch of large pipes at the opposite side of the room. When Ori set her eyes on them, I could see the gears in her head turning.

"Simple enough. The pressure isn't going through as much, so we need to tighten the screws on some of these and in other cases, replace them. The pipes are really heavy, so we may need a dolly—"

I lifted the pipes and asked her where she wanted them. As she looked at me with a blank expression, I asked her where she wanted me to put the pipes. She pointed out where and how exactly she wanted the pipes. As we began replacing one, Ori saw the wide smile I had on my face.

"You're quite excited for a Holian parasite."

That word...

Parasites are what the Holians call us and any other foreigners that come here. However, they mostly refer to us Haustorians since our country is at war with them right now.

"Can you blame me for being excited? We get paid today!"

"Oh, of course! I bet you can't wait to get your pennies from the Holians." She said in her most sarcastic voice. "You think the pocket change they give us is gonna make us move up the class ladder?"

"Surely if I save enough money, I'll be able to buy land outside of zone six and I'll move everyone there!"

"So your grand plan to help everyone is to buy Holian land? Arno, the location may change but the conditions will still be the same. Holians will just move away, complain about us, or both. Besides, parasites make half of what normal Holians make. To buy a property for all of the Haustorians is near impossible."

"I'll just have to work harder!" I crossed my arms and pouted.

"How much did you make on your last paycheck, Arno?"

"500 Dol..." I muttered.

"Figures." Ori continued "So you're making 500 Dol a month. To apply to be a migrated citizen, a Haustorian needs to have 300,000 Dol. Add that up with the 900,000 Dol it takes to purchase the cheapest of homes and you'll need 1,200,000 Dol total which means..." Ori began to do the math in her head.

I knew she was about to give me a grand total to discourage me, but I was just impressed at her skills in math. She's the only one in zone six that knows how to do that.

"You'd be getting the home of your dreams when you're 200 years old! Assuming you don't don't die before then! But hey, maybe you'll unlock the key to immortality before then!"

I didn't really have anything smart to say against that. I knew my goal was unrealistic but what else was I supposed to do? Sit around and be sad about my life?

"Maybe I will!" I finished aligning one of the pipes and then crossed my arms.

"Arno..." Stumped by my brief response that doesn't really address the issue, she struggled to put together the words to argue anymore.

"Knock Knock!"

The overseer walked into the room and walked directly to where Ori was working.

"How's it going?"

"Pretty well. I'm putting the finishing touches in. I just need to do a test run and if there's no problems, we'll be good to go."

"That's great! So I've been meaning to ask you, the BCT has brought it to my attention that the SamuKami's robot designs have been getting more advanced as of late. You wouldn't happen to know about any of that, would you?"

The BCT is the Bureau of Counter-Terrorism. Terrorism became a large issue in Holia, so they created the BCT to protect the peace from anything that disturbs it. But what do they have to do with us Haustorians? What is the overseer trying to say?

Ori scoffed at the overseer's suggestion. "Of course not. I just get picked up by you at zone six, do my job, and then leave. I don't have any time for anything else."

"The thing is, there's a part missing from almost every location we've been at that has also been seen on these robots."

"HA! Blame the Haustorian when things get rough. What a surprise."

"Maybe...just maybe..."

The overseer grabbed Ori's wrist and violently pulled her to his level.

"I should turn you in to the authorities. They pay pretty nicely for terrorists AND I would be doing the public a service."

As the two stared each other down, I couldn't stand by and watch any longer. I put my hand on his shoulder and gripped it tightly. I didn't really aim to break anything, I just wanted to do just enough so that he got the message.

"She's not a terrorist. Leave. Her. Alone." I told the overseer calmly.

As the three of us stood there in a standoff, eyes locked on each other, I heard a peculiar noise. Before I could even register what it was, I pushed both Ori and the overseer and ran to the opposite end of the room where the noise was coming from.

Almost instantly, something came crashing through the restaurant and the back room. Numerous pieces of debris and glass came crashing through as smoke enveloped the room and something came flying past us and into the wall.

As the smoke cleared, the two figures were revealed. The first was a bulky, robotic creature made of metal with various pipes and tubes that also had two piercing eyes that glowed in the dimly lit room.

The other figure was a man with a gas canister on his right arm with a gauntlet connected to it via a small tube. He wore a white military uniform that was now dirtied, bloodied, and ripped beyond repair. On the right shoulder of his uniform was an emblem of a black and red bird. Surrounding the bird was stitched writing that I couldn't read. Regardless of whether or not I could read it, I knew what that emblem meant. Ori and I's eyes widened.

A counter-terrorist just entered the area. Trouble usually follows.

All of the restaurant's guests began to rush out of the restaurant in fear as the robot began to rush towards us.

To retaliate, the counter-terrorist extended his arm.

"Output 100%!" From the palm of his hand, gas released and covered the entire area in front of us.

Not even seconds after, the gas burst into flames that enveloped the death machine in a brilliant inferno of red.

As if not affected, the bot charged through the fire brandishing a large blade attached to its arm. As it swung, I ducked my head and made Ori and the overseer do the same, barely dodging the blade by our hairs.

Once I saw an opening, I swept Ori off of her feet and bolted past the robot. Once we made it past the robot and onto the street, we looked over at the counter-terrorist attempting to take down the monster.

"DAMN IT! WHERE THE HELL IS MY BACKUP?!?!" The counter-terrorist tried to use his earpiece to get assistance, but no one was coming to help him. At least, not anytime soon.

"He can't do anything because his stemata just burns things. Even at his strongest, at the end of the day, he's up against an ironclad death machine. Unless his stemata can burn through metal, there's no way he's winning."

Stematas are advanced pieces of technology that the BCT gives to counter terrorists to help carry out their missions. They can honestly range from swords or guns to things to help with damage control like extinguishers. However, anyone could see that this man wasn't the best fit for this mission specifically.

"He was probably deployed to keep this thing busy until another CT comes. The city's gonna pay to have those steamers replaced so we might as well just leave—"

"I want to help..." I told Ori.

If we don't do anything, the robot will cause more damage. People live near here. Regardless of whether they're Holian or Haustorian, destruction causes sadness. I don't want people to be sad. Besides, even though the overseer threatened to turn Ori in, I don't want him to die.

Ori saw the determination in my eyes and sighed. She then began to pay deep attention to the struggle between the CT and the robot. The overseer stood trapped in the corner of the room. He was probably scared to move out of fear of being collateral damage.

Although it looked like was staring off into space to a regular person, I know that this is her specialty to analyze a situation. As they fought, they created more and more collateral damage and my worry grew.

"I figured it out." Ori snapped back to reality as she explained. "To win you'll need to clear three conditions..."

Once she told me those conditions, I rushed to help the CT. As I ran over, I picked up one of the replacement pipes. As I wielded this item, I thought of the first condition.

Firstly, acquire one of those heavy pipes. Then...

I took the pipe and swung it as hard as I could towards the robot's head.

Secondly, knock the head off of the robot.

Its head went flying and landed in the middle of the street.

I wasted no time and cleared the third condition.

Smash the robot's head in. It protects its head, so we can assume that it's Its weak spot.

I brought the pipe that was the size of a tree trunk down on the robot's head and finished the fight. I looked over to the robot's body and saw it crumple to the ground. Apparently, Ori's hunch was right on the money.

As the fight happened, an audience outside of the steamed ham patrons gathered and saw everything. They were astonished to find that the counter-terrorist wasn't the one to finish off the monster that was wreaking havoc.

"Another SamuKami robot? These attacks have been getting worse..." someone whispered.

"A CT couldn't finish it off but a parasite could?" someone began to mutter.

"What the hell are we paying these guys for..." Another one mumbled.

Regardless of what they said, I wore a smile and walked over to give the counter-terrorist a helping hand up.

"GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!" He swatted my hand away and helped himself up.

Once he got his footing, he looked at the crowd and their judgemental faces. He then looked back at me with a hateful gaze. As we locked eyes, I had a sudden feeling that he wanted to take my life right then and there. That wouldn't make sense though. Counter-terrorists are supposed to uphold the peace. He then ran away in defeat. I felt bad for him. It's not his fault that he couldn't do anything in that fight.

"ARNOOOOOOOO!"

The overseer and Ori came rushing towards me. He thanked me for saving him and apologized to Ori.

"I guess a SamuKami creation wouldn't attack one of its own."

Not long after, the police came to assess the damages. We were kept there for a couple more hours to give our stories on the event. Once we did so, we were free to leave. Ori was pretty sad that she couldn't get her free burger, but there's not much we could do about it since the steamers got destroyed in the fight.

While we were walking home, I saw a large structure floating in the sky on our way home. If I had to describe it, it was like an iron fortress. It was being held up on the power of steam that was being exhausted through the large pipes that kept it up alone.

This structure is the Elizabeth. It's the home base of the BCT, otherwise known as the Bureau of Counter-terrorism. CTs eat, sleep, and train up there. Ori saw what I was looking at and explained.

"People can walk the streets safely knowing the BCT is ready to drop down and protect them at all times. At least that's what they say."

By the time we came back to the ghetto, the sun had already set and it was beginning to get dark. I walked Ori home and made sure she got inside safely before going home myself and falling asleep.

And that's when everything we built fell to the ground...

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

I woke up and noticed a bright red light leaking into my room after hearing the shriek of an old woman. As I ran out to see what was wrong, I saw the entire marketplace on fire. As entire rows of stands burned to ash, and vendors burst into flames, the owners of these businesses stood by in despair as the flames rose.

Who? Who would do such a thing?

I scanned the area and saw none other than the CT from earlier burning down our shrine, wearing a smile whilst doing it.

"W-why?"

That's when he turned around and made eye-contact with me. When he did, he directed a cloud of gas my way.

As I was completely submerged in the gas, I remembered that horrible scenery once more.

The dense fog that muffled the blood curdling screams, the countless buildings I walked past, the dead bodies I tripped over, those memories began to flood back to me.

It made me feel small. Like a helpless child.

However this time, I wasn't all alone.

Ori tackled me right out of the gas the very moment it ignited.

As we fell to the ground, the flames roared and engulfed my home.

"DON'T JUST STAND AROUND!" Ori yelled at me.

"R-right..." I said as I recovered and looked onto the CT causing the destruction.

"It's a damn shame! I was hoping to take you out with one use of my stemata. I guess getting rid of you rodents is going to be harder than I thought!" The CT said.

"Rodents and parasites are a bit far from each other don't you think?" Ori snapped back.

"Rodents, parasites, insects, blights, SCOURGES, STAINS, THEY'RE ALL THE SAME! YOU ALL ARE A PLAGUE TO THIS COUNTRY. NO ONE WILL MISS YOU PEOPLE!"

"Sounds like you're just mad that a parasite outperformed you at your own job! Why don't you run along before an actual counter-terrorist comes to stop you-"

"No one's coming, rodents! I'll burn this entire terrorist den to the ground and not a single Holian will bat an eye!"

This is all my fault...I stuck my nose where it doesn't belong and now everything I care about is going to get burned to the ground.

"Arno!"

I made eye-contact with Ori and she looked like she wasn't ready to give up.

"Keep him distracted. I'll get us out of this."

"But he's a CT—"

Before I could object, she already took off running. As she ran to her home, the CT pointed his gauntlet at her. He was going to kill her. At first he was only targeting property. At the end of the day, things like that could be rebuilt. But when a life is taken, it's gone forever.

"LEAVE US ALONE YOU BASTARD!" I screamed out.

Before I knew it, I was rushing in with my fist raised to attack him. I shouldn't be doing this. Obstruction to a CT's job could give someone a punishment of death. I can't help it though! Ever since that day, I told myself I would help the Haustorians in any way that I could! So that they would never see a tragedy like the one they saw. I kept up a mask with a smile and said "there'll be better days" but nothing's changed! This is the same exact scenery!

My fist connected with the CT's abdomen and I was shocked to find that he didn't move an inch. He didn't even flinch.

"Let me tell you something, parasite. My first stemata couldn't do much, but this one right here is perfect for your inhuman strength!"

He revealed his torso to reveal a skin tight long sleeve that began to glow red.

"This stemata holds kinetic energy wherever it is hit and repurposes it for use with other stematas."

"You're gonna need to use smaller words with me, friend. I'm not all that smart. " I joked.

"I'm not your friend..." The CT snapped and raised his gauntlet to my face with gas already leaking from its palm.

My goal at this point is to keep him busy while doing the least amount of damage possible. So to do so, I redirected the gauntlet towards the sky with a quick movement of my hand. However, I wasn't fast enough.

An explosion of gas came rushing out in a cone that made contact with the top of a nearby building. That gas quickly turned into flame and set the top of that building ablaze.

Other Haustorians were about to step in to help, but I immediately warned them.

"DON'T COME ANY CLOSER! THIS MAN IS VERY DANGEROUS!"

They backed off and I continued my defense by redirecting his moves. That's all I could do, after all. If I tried to hit him, he would just send my attack right back at me.

"STOP IT!" I yelled to him as I pinned him to the ground,

"WHY SHOULD I?! YOU PARASITES CAME RUNNING TO OUR COUNTRY TO TAKE OUR JOBS, OUR LAND, OUR FOOD! GO BACK TO YOUR RUN-DOWN COUNTRY AND DIE THERE!"

I don't think of myself as a negative person. I would never say that I hate someone. But this person...I was certain that for just a moment, I held hatred in my heart for them. The moment I noticed this feeling, that hatred quickly washed away and turned into sadness.

"What's wrong with that? What's wrong with us wanting to seek happiness? Everything was taken for us, so what's wrong with us picking up the pieces and wanting something better? I didn't ask for my family to be killed...I didn't ask for my country to be slaughtered in a month's time...Why don't you get that? What's it gonna take for you to understand?" I begged for him to meet me halfway in understanding, tears falling down my face and onto his body.

The counter-terrorist stared blankly at me. It was as if he tuned me out and was thinking of a way to get out of my grip.

"Hey, terrorist. I don't even care anymore...I let out all of my rage. It's over for me. The BCT is definitely going to come to kill or imprison me for life, so screw it."

The CT's gauntlet and armor began to glow and swell. This can't possibly be good.

"I'm gonna blow this place sky high. I might as well finish what I started..."

There's no way! He already burned everything to the ground and he wants to blow it all away too?! I won't let him!

I was about to pick him up and move him out of the ghetto, but he would just cause harm to the Holians around the ghetto. If I want to minimize damage, It would be best to just stay here.

But that just leave's another problem! Everyone in zone six will get caught up in the explosion and die.

"EVERYONE! GET AS FAR AWAY FROM HERE AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN! HE'S ABOUT TO BLOW UP! I'LL KEEP HIM HERE SO JUST SAVE YOURSELVES!"

The Haustorians took my message and stampeded away from me as fast as possible.

Even if that means dying with this jerk here, I'll keep him pinned and make sure everyone is safe—

Pwish

In an instant, a bullet came flying and passed straight through the CTs head. Once it did, the swelling and glowing stopped. I checked his pulse to make sure and realized that he was dead. He must have died on impact.

"Why were you wearing a face that said you were ready to die, Arno?"

I looked to where the voice was coming from and realized that it was none other than Ori. She carried a weird gun with a long barrel and spyglass on top of it.

"Where did you find that?"

"I didn't find it, I made it." Ori told me.

That's when I remembered the conversation with the overseer and the accusation he made towards Ori.

"So you were stealing parts!" I called her out, but she ignored me and looked onwards. I followed her gaze.

The both of us looked at the damage around us and noticed that everything was destroyed. Thankfully, nobody died. However, a lot of people were hurt.

We heard a loud sound and looked up to see the Elizabeth a bit ways in the sky. Not long after, two figures crashed into the scene and created a wave of smoke on landing. Once the smoke cleared, they were revealed.

One was an inhumanly muscular man that wore a full suit of armor from head to toe. If it wasn't for his white and black suit and CT emblem, I would assume it was another robot.

The second was a slender woman with metallic arms. Both arms had many spheres attached to it that detached themselves and grew small tubes for legs once they landed. They then began to walk off and put out the fires that were still spreading. It didn't matter where the flames were, the little bots made their way to them by scaling the buildings if they needed to.

"Look at this mess." The woman shook her head and began to look around. She noticed the CTs dead body and Ori's gun. "W-what the hell?! I thought parasites weren't supposed to have weapons! And is that Alvin on the floor?! This isn't gonna look good in the paper...TC, what should we do?"

"TC... TERROR CRUSHER?!" Ori recalled the man's name and yelled out.

"I'm confused. Who is this?"

"I read about him. He's the Number one counter-terrorist. Crime dropped to an all time low five years after he graduated from the academy."

The man began to walk towards us. With each step he took, my heart began to sink as it wondered: is he with us or against us? At the end of the day, we killed a counter-terrorist. We killed one of his colleagues. We'd be lucky to make it out of here with our lives.

That's when the terror crusher took off his helmet, grabbed the barrel of Ori's gun and pointed it at his head.

"S-sir!" The lady was going to stop him, but he raised his hand to her in objection. She reluctantly stopped in her tracks.

"I deeply apologize for this. We are meant to keep the peace, but one of our own was the one that disturbed it. I fully understand your pain. You all witnessed the tragedy of the fall of Haustoria and now you have to deal with this. I know that nothing other than my life would suffice. You're free to take it..." He kneeled on one knee as he gave Ori the go-ahead to kill him.

He had a deep voice like sandpaper and a face that looks like he has seen better days. Every Holian I met until now either seemed to be living the high life or going through their own battle but this man...looks like he had a war he was fighting.

With her finger on the trigger, Ori stared down at the CT. Her eyes darted around the burnt down ghetto and sighed.

"As if I would let you take such an easy way out. I have a better idea. You're gonna let us become counter-terrorists."

She took her sniper away from the Terror Crusher's head. The lady in the back's jaw dropped upon hearing this. I was certainly surprised to say the least.

"You've got some nerve! You're asking the number one counter-terrorist to pull some strings and get two Haustorians enrolled in the academy?! If this is to get out of your ghetto, I hate to break it to you, but you'll be treated the exact same."

"It's not to get out of the ghetto, right Arno?"

"Huh?" That's when I realized I've been quiet for most of this.

"Counter-terrorism is the field that pays the most in this country. After all, terrorism just keeps getting worse and worse. Even with the law cutting the pay of Haustorians, we'll be able to make way more Dol than any other profession."

The Terror Crusher stood back on his two feet and began to chuckle in response.

"What if they reject my request at first?"

"You'll have one year! I'm seventeen and Arno here is eighteen. You have to be an adult to enroll so it only makes sense. We'll train up at your place and until then. If you can't get us enrolled in the academy within a year, then I'll gladly take your life."

"What about the other Haustorians?" The Terror Crusher asked.

"Either way, they're living in your mansion until their homes get fixed. I already know you have one, Mr. Number One."

Ori reached her hand out to him to seal the agreement and he immediately returned the gesture.

"I feel like I'm making a deal with the devil." He joked.

At this point, the lady recovered Alvin's stematas. I was still completely shocked. Ori was able to turn this entire thing into something that could have great potential for us. It almost doesn't seem real. I poked her and asked to confirm.

"Hey Ori, weren't you against me trying to get land outside of the ghetto?"

"Well...Yeah. It was unrealistic and I couldn't think of any way to help everyone. It was like I was trying to find a path when there was none available and shooting you down when you tried to make one. But that doesn't matter now that we found a way."

I must've made a distinct face because Ori snapped at me as soon as she finished saying that.

"Do you still not believe me?!"

"No."

"What'll it take, Arno?!"

"A pinky promise."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

She sighed and held her pinky out. I received it with my very own. At the break of dawn with a beautiful, colorful sky, we made our promise.

"I promise that from this point forward, we'll work our asses off to create a place where everyone can laugh and smile without the fangs of discrimination. We'll create a paradise for parasites!"

"Well said!" I couldn't help but smile at the positive direction we were going.

Although I didn't know what discrimination meant.

"Hey it's time to leave, you two." The lady called out to us.

"We'll be right there!" I told her as I motioned Ori to come.

And thus, our journey to create a better ghetto began. Little did we know at the time, we would be making a better world in the process.