88CloudSpace

Gabriel Alvarez was born with nothing. A poor Hispanic-American kid struggling to survive the streets of New York, he died alone and starving—just another forgotten soul. But death wasn’t the end.

He awakens in Neo-Terra, a world where magic and technology have fused into a powerful System that governs society. Every person has a class, skills, and stats, their fate determined by the System’s rules. Yet Gabriel is different. Labeled Unawakened, he has no class, no abilities—until he discovers something forbidden.

He can hack the System.

What starts as a glitch quickly escalates into something much bigger. Gabriel isn’t the first to defy the System—there were others before him, people known as Deviants. Every single one of them was erased. Now, the Academy that once offered him sanctuary wants him dead. The Federation considers him a threat to world stability. And an ancient secret buried deep within the System is waiting for him to uncover it.

Armed with his unique ability to override the laws of reality, Gabriel is no longer a forgotten street rat—he’s a rogue element in a world that runs on rules.

And if the System wants him erased?

Then he’ll rewrite it.

Reborn in a World of Magic and Machines

Gabriel and Aurelia stumbled out of the damaged mech, the metal still hissing from the heat of their fall. Around them, the Underbelly stretched into the darkness—an endless maze of rusted walkways, collapsed infrastructure, and abandoned tech long forgotten by the Federation.

From the shadows, figures began to emerge. Silent. Watching. Armed.

Gabriel's instincts screamed danger. These people moved like hunters, their weapons jury-rigged but deadly. Their armor wasn't Federation-issued—this was something else. Something older.

Aurelia tensed. "We need to move—"

A hooded figure stepped forward. Unlike the others, they carried no weapon—only a faintly glowing emblem embedded in the palm of their hand. As they raised it, a surge of invisible pressure filled the air.

Gabriel could feel it reacting—but not like before. The usual sterile, controlled presence of the Federation's System was warped here, rewritten into something different.

The hooded figure spoke, their voice distorted by a mechanical filter.

"You shouldn't be here, System-breaker."

The crowd of figures closed in, their weapons raised—not to kill, but to capture.

Aurelia whispered, "Gabriel, what do we do?"

The hooded figure took another step forward. "Welcome to the Red Hand."

Chapter 16: Ghosts of the Underbelly