Tier Zero
Lucas Cadalain had never expected much from his life. Born into a world controlled by corporations and the implants they used to manage nearly every aspect of society, his future seemed simple: work, survive, and remain useful enough to be left alone. Then a dying stranger placed an impossible implant in the back of his neck and shattered everything Lucas thought he understood. Within hours, Lucas is branded a dangerous fugitive, hunted by Aethis, and driven from the only city he has ever known. His new implant refuses corporate control, learns without permission, and can seemingly undo the restrictions built into other implants. Worse, nobody seems to know exactly what it is capable of, including Lucas. His escape brings him to Amiri, a stranded engineer whose own implant has been disabled by the corporation she once worked for. Together, aboard a half-repaired shuttle that was never meant to leave under fire, they make a desperate attempt to reach the freedom waiting beyond Aethis-controlled space. For the first time in Lucas’s life, there is no schedule waiting for him, no corporation assigning his place, and no clear path forward. He has no idea where he is going. He only knows that, for once, the future belongs to him. And an unknown future may hold far more possibilities than the life that was chosen for him.
2 chapters · 6,676 words