The boy didn't make it.
His legs gave out before the end of the street. He wasn't strong. He wasn't fast. He wasn't special.
Metal hands closed around him.
The robotic enforcers pinned him to the ground, cold steel pressing into his shoulders and back. One of them raised its arm, the barrel unfolding, light gathering at its core.
Execution protocol initiated.
The boy squeezed his eyes shut.
Then—
The night exploded.
A shockwave tore through the street, shattering windows and throwing the robots backward like broken toys. Red light sliced through the smoke, followed by blue—then silence.
When the boy opened his eyes, the robots were gone.
No—
They were destroyed.
Standing between him and death was a group of people unlike anything he had ever seen.
Their bodies glowed faintly in the darkness, energy flowing beneath their skin. Thin red and black lines ran across their arms, necks, and faces like living circuits. The air around them vibrated, as if reality itself was struggling to keep up.
They didn't fight like normal humans.
They moved beyond human limits.
This was the team known as R.K.
The boy trembled as he looked up at them, fear and awe mixing in his chest.
One man stepped forward.
He was tall, calm, his presence heavy without being loud. The glow around him was controlled, restrained—like a storm locked behind steel doors.
He crouched down and met the boy's eyes.
"What's your name?" the man asked.
"And why were you running through a Raid Killer city?"
The boy swallowed hard.
"My… my name is Silas," he said quietly.
A few members of the team exchanged looks.
Then one of them laughed.
"Silas?" the man said, amused. "That your real name?"
The boy shook his head.
"I don't have a family," he said. "An old homeless man gave me that name. We lived together… until he disappeared."
Silence fell.
The man in front of him straightened slowly.
His name was David.
Leader of R.K.
David studied the boy for a long moment—too long. His eyes weren't judging.
They were measuring.
Finally, he turned to his team.
"We're taking him," David said.
The boy's eyes widened.
"W-What?"
David looked back at him, a faint smile touching his face.
"Congratulations, kid," he said.
"You survived a city that doesn't forgive weakness."
And for the first time since he was born—
Silas felt that his life might finally be worth something.