Mai waited impatiently as the nanites in her sewer suit, and those in the decontamination chamber wiped the encrusted crud and blood from her before killing any lingering germs.

Even so, she still felt dirty and brushed at herself. Nothing she did changed the feeling and she brushed harder and harder, faster, and faster before breaking down into tears.

Hug sobs racked her body as she mourned not only her dead friend, but now that her adrenalin had worn off, but her sister as well. What she now truly believed was in the futility of thinking she could ever escape this hellish place and have a chance to save her sister. Li was well and truly on her own, and Mai wailed as she imagined how hard her sister must be finding things.

Nothing ever seemed to go right for Mai. Mostly she knew that was her fault, but this was different. She’d finally started doing well at something. She’d made more friends down here than she’d ever made in her past life. She’d seen how she could skill up and - she’d thought - defeat whatever the sewers threw at her. But her best friend, her mentor, and one of the most talented fighters she’d ever seen had suffered a truly horrible death before her very eyes. How could someone like her survive this?

WORKER CLEANSED

-5UC FOR DECONTAMINATION

Still crying she stepped out of the chamber and walked through the bunkhouse.

As the nanites changed her hazmat suit to normal day clothes she tried to count the number of days she’d been a part of the company. Giving up, she knew that no matter how many days she had actually been down here, it felt as though she’d been there far longer.

She took a minute, standing stock-still as she sorted out her emotions. Crying had helped her purge her initial angst and feeling of helplessness. Now her thoughts were clear. Whilst it might be futile to think she could escape, she couldn’t bear the thought of not trying, of essentially abandoning her sister.

Decision made, door after door cycled and then she was out of the company barracks and onto the pedway.

Workers weren’t confined to barracks when off-shift and were allowed to mix and go to the few bars and restaurants dotted along the pedway.

It was a cruel illusion of freedom. Each and every man, woman and child here knew they were slaves in all but name. Nothing better than the vat-grown soldiers the emperor used as cannon fodder.

Not me, I’m going to be free if it kills me.

With no true idea as to where she was heading she jumped onto the pedway, walking to speed her progress. Smiling, she weaved her way between her dour and downtrodden co-workers.

Every lift heading up had at least two guards. Stepping off the pedway and pretending to look in the windows of an overpriced clothing designs shop, she watched as only high-level managers were allowed into the lifts.

I need a diversion.

Activating her STREET SMARTS skill she scanned the area around her.

An emergency pedway stop button was a few yards away. Whilst most things in the city were automated, cut-switches always had manual back-ups.

Noting that, she continued to look, pushing her skill to the max, trying to see if she could spot anything else. Nothing stood out.

Stop button it is.

Still using her STREET SMARTS she sauntered along the pedway. Bluffs only work if the person trying to bluff doesn’t look as though they’re trying to bluff.

In order to blend in, you have to look like you belong. Hunched shoulders. Attempts at sneaking. Acting like you don’t want to be seen. All of those would guarantee that the bluff would fail.

So Mai stood straight and strode along the pedway. Reaching the button she slapped it hard and kept walking.

She was completely unprepared for what happened next. A klaxon blared, red lights started flashing, warning glyphs popped up onto her retina display and with a jolt, the pedway stopped.

Cries of anger, pain and fear filled the narrow confines of the pedway as the unprepared workers were thrown to the floor. Glancing into a window, she saw the guards run towards the crush of people.

No time to waste she kicked in her FREERUNNING SKILL, stepped onto the back of a trapped worker, and bounded across the piled bodies.

“Hey! She’s running!”

The guards were roughly ten yards to her right and about the same again away from the lifts. She cursed as she saw them stop and then look in her direction. Pushing off the last worker she sprinted towards the elevator.

She saw the realisation of what was happening written on their faces as their training kicked in. Inductees regularly attempted to escape. Without hesitation both turned and ran towards the elevator. Whilst she had to run at an angle, they had a straight sprint. Head down, she put everything she had into her sprint.

She lost. Both of the guards reached it barely a second before she did. Nano-boosted reflexes spun them around to face her.

Spreading their arms and legs they made a barrier of solid flesh.

FREERUNNING activation counter flashing red, Mai decided to risk it all.

“No further you little …” The guard didn’t get to finish his sentence as she dropped into a skid, sliding along the well-polished tiles, and slipping between his legs.

FREERUNNING +1%

Mai laughed as the notification popped up as she leapt back to her feet and sprinted along the pedway to the next set of elevators. Whereas the activation bar had been nearly solid red before the notification, her skill was now completely reset. Skidding to a halt she slapped the elevator call button, legs sagging in relief as a chime sounded and the doors to her right opened.

Diving into the elevator she smacked a higher-level button at random. The doors started to close as she stood and helplessly watched the guards charging towards her. Heart hammering in her chest as if it was trying to batter its way through her ribcage, she prayed to every god she could think of to help. Hand extended, eyes wide, face red with anger, one of the guards lunged at the ever-decreasing gap between the doors. Mai squealed, certain that she'd been caught. Then the doors closed, ringing dully as the guard slammed into the other side.

Giggling at the thought of her close escape, and the mental image of the guard face-planting into the metal doors she leaned against the elevator wall for a brief second before the adrenaline coursing through her body had her back up and jigging up and down as she prepared herself for another sprint. There was no way that the guards were going to let something as minor as an elevator stop them from capturing her.

WARNING: INDUCTEES ARE NOT ALLOWED TO LEAVE THE LOWER LEVELS UNESCORTED.

RETURN TO YOUR ASSIGNED LEVEL OR SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES.

DO YOU ACCEPT? YES/NO?

Mai had never selected NO in her life, and she wasn’t going to do so now. No one knew for certain what happened to civilians who did, but there were enough urban legends to put someone off.

And considering I’ve just seen someone killed by a creature everyone outside of the sewers considers to be an urban legend, I’m not going to risk pressing NO now.

Instead she pressed YES and blinked the guideline, showing her the best route to return to her barracks, off.

Looking at the floor counter and the button she had pressed, Mai prepared to run as soon as the lift came to a halt.

As soon as the doors were open she was off. Keeping her FREERUNNING in passive, she used her innate skill to forge a path.

Bouncing through the crowd, she left a tide of angry and pained shouts, taking no care as to their feelings or physical well-being. Notifications pinged across her vision as Karma Point after Karma Point was deducted, credit fines adding to her debt.

RETURN TO YOUR ASSIGNED LEVEL OR SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES.

DO YOU ACCEPT? YES/NO?

A guideline appeared, one she couldn’t turn off as the system insisted she return to the sewers. Still she didn’t press NO, something holding her back. She pressed YES instead, just to stop the messages from appearing again.

YOU ARE TRAVELLING IN THE WRONG DIRECTION

PLEASE FOLLOW THE GUIDELINE

Over the cries of the crowd she heard deeper roars. Risking a quick glance over her shoulder she saw at least three guards pounding after her, the crowd parting before them without a moment’s hesitation.

A virtual banner ad appeared over the pedway, filling her retinal monitor as she pushed her way through the people crowding the pedway. Men and women fought to the death, nanite blades and weapons destroying lives with glorious, bloody ease. With the ease she wished she could destroy the thugs chasing her. She didn’t want to form a fat cutter and fight them. Despite her hard-earned experience in the sewers, they had chosen a life of violence. They were like the urbexers, people who willingly faced violence.

THE CULLING. WIN AND YOU ASCEND

DO YOU ACCEPT? YES/NO

The Culling! The annual event where one million people were given the chance to ascend to the highest echelons of society by entering a bloody fight to the death that spanned the whole of the city.

All crimes and debts were instantly forgiven upon entry. And for the lucky one hundred survivors and their families, a life like they’d never thought possible.

Risking a look over her shoulder she saw the thugs were gaining, the nearest just over an arms-length away.

I can’t go back! I can’t!

Before she knew it she had stabbed a finger onto the YES, sobbing with relief as the guideline appeared. Three hundred paces and several floors lay between her and freedom.

Heavy, pounding feet drew closer and closer behind her. Not daring to look behind she dived towards the pedway handle, flipping herself down onto the next level.

Wind whistling past her ears as she fell, she activated FREERUNNING again. Nanites kicked in, taking over her body and forcing it to tuck and roll as soon as she hit the ground.

Three more levels. Mai bounded to the next handrail and threw herself over just as she heard the crash of a guard landing mere feet behind her.

“Bitch!” The guard was closer than she thought, fingers brushing at her clothing.

Kicking off a nearby wall, she changed her trajectory, aiming for the next handrail instead. Pain lanced through her arm as her palms didn’t quite hit the handrail at the same time.

“Fuck!”

DAMAGE! 30%

HEALTH 70%

As if the pain wasn’t enough of a message. Sobbing, she landed on the pedway. Her FREERUNNING skill wasn’t high enough to stop her from crashing into the pedway driving the breath from her body. Arm snapping wetly. No matter how good she got there was still the chance for failure, and she’d failed hard. Rolling onto her side she spat out the vomit which filled her mouth and got back to her feet.

LITTERING -5UC

Drones, sirens wailing and lights flashing, swooped down towards her. People around her screamed in fear at the sound. A stampede broke out as they tried to get as far away from her as possible.

Letting the crowd carry her, she clutched her arm. Every step hurt and she screamed time and again as the people trying to get away from her knocked into it. She was barely able to keep from emptying even more of the remaining contents of her stomach due to the constant jostling they caused.

Glancing over her shoulder she gasped at how close the drones were. Unable to fire because of the crowd they were matching her pace, flying mere yards above her head.

Turning back, she sobbed with relief as she saw a red Culling sign hanging in the air just a few feet from her. With one last effort she threw herself forward and slapped her good hand into the Culling safe zone.

APPLICATION ACCEPTED

WELCOME CONTESTANT 999995