The final sliver of light faded from the grimy viewport of their soon-to-be-former home, casting the small room into a deeper gloom. Sixteen-year-old Aureon moved with the weary resignation of someone who had grown old far too quickly. He carefully tucked the worn synth-wool blanket tighter around the shivering form of fourteen-year-old Elleaner, her face pale and fragile in the dim light filtering through the cracked windowpane. The eviction, now less than a cycle away, hung over them like a death sentence.
The late winter cycle on Port Veritas had sunk its teeth deep into the city's underbelly, a relentless assault of icy winds and bone-chilling dampness. The abandoned dwelling, their sanctuary for the past few years, offered little protection against the encroaching cold. Their meager stores of scavenged food were dwindling, each shared ration a stark reminder of their increasingly precarious situation.
Elleaner's cough, a dry, hacking sound that had become a constant companion over the past few weeks, had taken a turn for the worse. Her breathing was shallow and strained, and a persistent fever burned in her small frame, leaving her skin clammy and her eyes glazed with a worrying listlessness. Aureon watched over her with a knot of fear tightening in his chest, his protective instincts screaming at his inability to provide her with the warmth and care she desperately needed.
He had tried everything within his limited means. He had spent countless hours scavenging for extra scraps of fuel to feed their tiny makeshift heater, his hands numb with cold. He had bartered his few remaining salvaged tech components for a slightly thicker blanket from a dubious trader in the lower markets, sacrificing the potential for future small repairs that could have earned them a few precious credits. He had even considered resorting to desperate measures, things he had witnessed on the streets but always avoided, like outright theft, but the thought of the potential consequences for Elleaner stayed his hand.
The weight of responsibility pressed down on Aureon, heavy and suffocating. Elleaner was his world, the one constant in a life that had been marked by loss and abandonment since his earliest memories. The promise they had made as children, huddled together in that forgotten alleyway, to never abandon each other, echoed in his mind with a painful intensity. He had protected her for so long, shielded her from the worst of the streets, and now, as she lay frail and feverish, he felt a crushing sense of failure.
The final night in their abandoned house was filled with a tense, unspoken anxiety. The wind howled through the gaps in the broken windows, a mournful lament for their lost sanctuary. Elleaner's breathing grew more labored, her small body wracked by fits of coughing that left her weak and gasping for air. Aureon held her close, whispering soothing words, though his own heart was a leaden weight in his chest. He knew, with a chilling certainty, that if they were forced back onto the streets in this condition, her chances of survival were slim.
The morning of the eviction arrived cloaked in a dense, grey fog that clung to the spaceport, amplifying the damp cold that permeated everything. The OmniCorp security team arrived precisely at the designated hour, their faces grim and impassive. There were no words exchanged as they efficiently ushered Aureon and Elleaner out of the only home they had known for years, their few belongings bundled in the worn satchel.
Once back on the icy walkways of Port Veritas, the reality of their situation hit with brutal force. The biting wind seemed to penetrate their thin clothing like needles, and the dampness clung to them, exacerbating Elleaner's already severe condition. Finding any semblance of shelter was a desperate struggle. The usual spots were already overflowing with others seeking refuge from the elements, their faces etched with the same weariness and despair that Aureon felt mirrored in his own.
Elleaner could barely walk. Her legs trembled beneath her, and Aureon was forced to support much of her weight as they stumbled through the crowded thoroughfares, searching for a place to rest, a moment's respite from the relentless cold. He finally found a narrow alleyway tucked behind a bustling med-supply depot, the faint scent of antiseptic mingling with the stench of refuse. It offered a sliver of protection from the wind, and he gently helped Elleaner to sit down against the cold plasteel wall, her head resting against his shoulder.
Her breathing was shallow and ragged, each inhale a painful effort. Her fever seemed to have climbed even higher, her forehead burning to the touch. Aureon held her close, pulling their thin blanket tightly around them, desperately trying to share his own meager body heat. He looked around the alleyway, his eyes scanning for any sign of help, any glimmer of hope in their bleak circumstances. The med-supply depot loomed nearby, a cruel reminder of the aid that was so close yet so utterly inaccessible. He had no credits, no means to get her the medical attention she so desperately needed.
Despair, cold and sharp, threatened to overwhelm him. He looked up at the towering structures of the spaceport, their lights gleaming like distant stars, impossibly far removed from their desperate reality in the grimy alley below. He felt a surge of impotent rage, a burning injustice at the indifference of the world to their plight.
"Anything…" he whispered into the biting wind, his voice choked with a sob he couldn't suppress. "Please… just help her. I'd do anything."
In that moment of utter desperation, as the icy wind whipped through the alleyway, carrying the faint, tantalizing scent of antiseptic, a series of stark, shimmering words materialized in the air before Aureon's tear-filled eyes. They hung there, luminous against the encroaching darkness, impossible yet undeniably real:
[Urgent Mission: Save Elleaner Aya Zahreli]
Below it, another line of text shimmered into existence, its glow more intense, more vibrant:
[Reward: Minor Start-up Capital (Galactic Standard Credits), Basic Combat Module (Level 1), Basic Business Module (Level 1), Basic Medical Module (Level 1)]
A gasp escaped Aureon's lips, his gaze fixed on the otherworldly script. He blinked, his mind reeling, but the words remained, as clear and distinct as the frantic beating of his own heart. And then, beneath the mission and the reward, a new line of text solidified, bold and resonant:
[Absolute God Tycoon System: Initializing for Aureon Emil…]
A wave of something he couldn't quite name washed over Aureon, a strange mix of disbelief, awe, and a desperate, flickering ember of hope. He didn't understand what this "Absolute God Tycoon System" was, but the urgency of the mission, the direct call to save Elleaner, and the promise of a reward that included a medical module ignited a fierce determination within him. He looked down at Elleaner, her face pale and still against his shoulder, unaware of the extraordinary event that had just occurred. Her own awakening was still weeks away, a silent process unfolding within her, but for now, Aureon Emil, a sixteen-year-old boy abandoned by fate and driven by an unbreakable bond, had just been given a chance, a system, and a mission to save the girl he vowed never to leave behind. The brutal grip of winter might just have found its match in the burgeoning power of the Absolute God Tycoon System.