Chapter 4: Navigating the Undercurrent

March 23, 2024

The holo bracelet hummed softly on my wrist as I walked through the streets, its flickering light casting a faint glow. I had upgraded it the night before, and though it wasn't cutting-edge by the standards of this world, it worked. For now.

But even as the bracelet provided me with access to maps and information, there was a problem I hadn't anticipated. I didn't exist in this universe, not officially. Without an identity, I couldn't access digital currency.

Everything here was tracked and managed through the system, but I had no place in it. That meant credits, the universal currency, were out of my reach unless I could get my hands on the physical form. And those coins weren't easy to come by.

I ran my fingers over the few credits I'd earned yesterday, feeling the smooth black surface of the coins, etched with light blue lines that formed intricate patterns. I could feel the weight of them in my pocket, but it wasn't nearly enough.

Each coin bore microscopic designs to prevent counterfeiting, a mark of how tightly this world's systems were controlled. I needed more if I was going to survive, let alone rise.

The jobs I'd been taking were small, repair work and maintenance for lower-tier vendors in the marketplace. It was enough to keep me afloat, but not enough to push me forward.

The bracelet, as it was, wouldn't cut it for long. I needed better tech, and for that, I needed to move into the underworld, the place where the real money moved.

I started by scanning through the holo bracelet, trying to dig deeper into the local information network. The more I read, the more I learned about the hierarchy of this world.

This planet was considered low-tier, a backwater compared to the rest of the galaxy. Beings above E-rank were rare here, and as a result, the planet was treated like a ghetto by those in the higher class. Even the knowledge, which had seemed so advanced at first, was limited. The true power and wealth lay elsewhere, in worlds far beyond this one.

But for now, this was my starting point.

I found a job listing that looked promising, discreet repairs on illegal tech down by the docks. The pay was good, and the work was off the record. I accepted it immediately and headed toward the industrial district, the holo bracelet guiding me through the winding streets.

The docks were a different world. The polished exteriors of the market district gave way to grimier streets, filled with rusted metal structures and towering cargo containers. Workers moved between them, unloading shipments under the watchful eyes of security drones.

There was a tension in the air, an edge that told me this was where the real deals happened. And, more importantly, this was where I could start earning real credits.

As I approached one of the larger warehouses, I saw a group of people gathered around a set of machines. They looked rougher than the vendors I'd been dealing with, cybernetically enhanced limbs, scars crisscrossing their exposed skin, and a hard look in their eyes.

They were part of the underworld, no question. The one who seemed to be in charge, a tall man with a mechanical arm, looked up as I approached.

"You the repair guy?" he asked, his voice sharp and metallic, clearly modulated through some kind of implant.

"Yeah," I replied, keeping my voice steady.

The man nodded and pointed to a large machine behind him. It looked like some kind of power generator, but the design was different from anything I'd seen before. "It's been acting up. We need it fixed before the next shipment comes in. Think you can handle it?"

I approached the machine, already scanning it for problems. The outer casing was scorched in places, likely from an overload. I opened the panel and got to work.

The internal components were more advanced than what I'd been dealing with in the marketplace, but my mind processed the information quickly. Within minutes, I found the issue, a burnt-out capacitor and a few misaligned power conduits.

"I can fix it," I said, reaching for the tools they'd left by the machine. "Give me a few minutes."

As I worked, I could feel their eyes on me, watching. I wasn't worried, though. I had a good grasp of the technology now, and the more I tinkered, the clearer everything became.

The knowledge I'd absorbed from the articles was already paying off. My hands moved swiftly, disconnecting the damaged parts and replacing them with spares. It wasn't long before the machine hummed back to life.

The man with the mechanical arm nodded approvingly. "You have quick hands."

I shrugged, trying to play it off. "Just good at what I do."

He tossed me a small pouch filled with credits. I caught the pouch and checked inside. The weight was decent, enough to keep me going for a while longer.

"If you're looking for more work, we've got plenty," the man said, crossing his arms. "But it's not all clean. You're gonna need to keep a low profile if you want to keep doing jobs down here."

I nodded, understanding the implications. The underworld operated outside the official system. No digital transactions, no records, just physical exchanges and untraceable deals. It was perfect for someone like me who didn't exist in the system yet.

"I'll keep that in mind," I said, slipping the pouch into my pocket.

With more credits in hand, I started heading back toward the marketplace, feeling the weight of the coins against my leg. It was progress, but it wasn't enough.

If I was going to rise through the ranks, I needed an identity. Something that would get me into the digital system. Without that, I'd be stuck in the shadows, always scraping for physical currency.

I stopped by a clothing vendor on the way back and bought myself a new set of simple clothes. Something that blended in better, sleek, dark fabric that fit the style of the people around me. It wasn't much, but it helped me disappear into the crowd more easily.

As I slipped into a quiet alley to change, I pulled up the holo bracelet and started searching for ways to forge an identity. The information was sparse, but there were whispers in the underworld about tech that could bypass the official system.

For now, though, I was still an outsider, stuck navigating the undercurrent of the city. But with each job, each bit of knowledge I absorbed, I was getting closer to breaking through.