The officer's voice echoed again once the meal was done.
"Rest here for the night. Bunks have been prepared. Tomorrow begins your conditioning. You will eat, train, and sleep on schedule. After that—each day, you return to your designated homes in the Outer City. The facility does not host you permanently."
A low murmur rippled among the children.
"Return?" Darius frowned. "Back to the Outer City?"
"Yes," the officer said. "Training lasts six hours a day. You'll report here by sunrise and be dismissed by the tenth hour. This facility is for recruits, not residents. You have no rights to stay beyond your schedule."
Hale's eyes narrowed slightly. "So… we get to breathe clean air for only half a day."
The officer didn't respond. He simply turned away, signaling to the guards. "Lights out in one hour."
They were led into a dormitory lined with double-decker bunks welded from dark steel. The sheets were plain but clean. For some, it was the softest thing they had ever touched.
Alexis climbed to the top bunk and lay down, staring at the faint glow strips running along the ceiling.
He could hear faint whispers below—Ren and Darius talking about the Inner City lights, Hale quietly humming something old, a lullaby maybe. The sound mixed with the hum of the ventilation system.
'Back to the Outer City tomorrow, huh…' Alexis thought, his fingers brushing the cold frame of the bed.
He didn't really mind. Rago was waiting for him back at the scrapyard, and even though their home was a patchwork of metal sheets, it was still home.
But others didn't have that luxury. Hale had been living alone for years, Ren had lost his parents, and some of the younger ones had no one at all. Going back meant returning to the filth and danger they thought they had finally escaped.
Still, none of them argued. They were too tired to care.
The lights dimmed automatically, and soon the room fell into silence, except for the soft breathing of children too exhausted to dream.
***
The next day.
A blaring tone woke them before dawn. The dorm's ceiling strips flickered from blue to white, flooding the room with harsh light.
"Up!" barked a metallic voice from the intercom. "Training begins in thirty minutes."
Alexis groaned, rubbing his eyes. His body still ached from the previous day's trials, but he swung his legs over the bunk and jumped down.
They were handed basic training uniforms—gray compression suits that fit tight around the skin, lined with faint circuits for monitoring their vitals.
The facility's training hall was enormous—an expanse of metal and light, filled with machines, climbing rigs, and running lanes marked with glowing lines. Above, drones hovered silently, recording everything.
The silver-jawed officer stood near the center, arms behind his back. "Listen well. Your bodies will break before they grow strong. That is normal. Endure it."
He nodded to the instructors—humanoid androids, each with dull chrome skin and blinking ocular lights.
The training began immediately.
Running laps around the circuit until their lungs burned.
Push-ups until their arms gave out.
Weighted vests pressing down on their shoulders as they were forced to squat and jump until their legs screamed.
Alexis could barely breathe. His entire body felt like it was on fire, but when he saw Darius still pushing through and Hale gritting her teeth through the pain, he refused to stop.
"Keep going!" the officer's voice rang out through the hall. "You are not meat—you are investment! If you cannot endure, you will be replaced!"
Hours blurred.
By the time they were told to stop, Alexis collapsed to his knees. His muscles trembled uncontrollably, his skin slick with sweat.
The officer nodded once, apparently satisfied. "Acceptable. Most of you survived the first session."
He gestured toward a line of food trays being distributed by drones—thick nutrient paste, protein blocks, and electrolyte water.
"Eat. Recover. You'll repeat this tomorrow."
As they sat down together, no one spoke much. The food was bland, but they ate in silence, too drained to care.
Ren finally managed to chuckle between breaths. "I can't… feel… my legs…"
Darius laughed hoarsely. "That's good. Means you have legs to feel."
Even Hale cracked a faint smile at that.
Alexis just focused on breathing, staring at his shaking hands. Every nerve screamed, but deep down, he felt something new—something fierce.
I survived the first day. I can survive the rest.
When they were dismissed, they changed back into their outer clothes and were escorted to the main gate.
The air outside hit different—dirtier, colder, alive with the noise of the Outer City.
Ren sighed. "Back to the trash and fumes."
"Don't complain," Darius said, patting his shoulder. "We'll be inside again tomorrow."
Hale adjusted her collar. "Six hours a day in paradise. Eighteen in the gutter. What a deal."
Alexis glanced at the skyline in the distance—the shimmering towers of the Inner City glowing like ghosts beyond the smog.
He started walking toward the scrapyard. "Then we make those six hours count."
The others watched him go, and for a moment, no one said anything.
Because somehow, his quiet determination made the distant city lights seem a little closer.