Andreas was afraid. But it wasn’t the kind of fear you feel in a fight or when the police are chasing you. It was a deeper fear, one that had accompanied him his entire life: the fear of being alone.
He never knew his parents. They died when he was just a baby, leaving him at the mercy of a cruel world with no one to care for him. He grew up on the streets, learning to survive with whatever he could find. He managed to get into school on his own, and that’s where he met Gabriel—his first and only friend. Together, they stole a car and slowly built their own clan: HIGHWAY STARS.
However, now Andreas was alone again.
He had come to Psilo with the intention of finding answers about his family, overcoming his fears, and starting a new life. With the money he had earned from illegal races and a few minor heists, he bought a building. In this ever-changing city, where a skyscraper could be built on top of another without anyone caring, property ownership was never an issue. His new home was a massive complex of metal and concrete, but when he stepped inside, it felt… empty.
The hallways were cold, without decoration. There was no furniture, no trace of life—just an absolute silence that reminded him of what he feared most. He climbed to the top floor and dropped his belongings onto the ground.
“Okay…” he sighed, trying to convince himself that everything was fine.
But it wasn’t.
After a few hours, he decided to go out. He headed down to the storage area where his car was parked—a modified vehicle built for agility in aerial traffic. He started the engine and maneuvered through the towering buildings until he reached a place called “PINK STAR,” a nightclub known as the epicenter of the city’s nightlife. Neon lights flickered to the beat of house, techno, and trance music that flooded the venue. The atmosphere was electric: people dancing, drinking, and losing themselves in the euphoria of the moment.
Andreas moved through the crowd until he reached the bar, feeling somewhat uncomfortable.
“What can I get you?” the bartender asked, cleaning a glass.
“A Pinktonic,” Andreas replied, trying to sound relaxed.
Minutes later, he was handed a glass filled with pink liquid, strawberries, and blackberries floating on top. He downed it in one gulp, ignoring the burn of the alcohol in his throat.
He looked around, observing people enjoying themselves, dancing, and laughing. That was when his eyes met a man sitting alone at the bar—a man with gray hair. He had a serious expression, a shot glass in hand. His gaze was cold, so cold that Andreas instinctively looked away.
But he didn’t have time to dwell on that. He had another objective in mind.
Stealthily, he slid his hand into the pocket of a distracted man and pulled out a digital money card. He repeated the action several times, stealing cards from people who didn’t even notice they had been robbed.
When he finally sat back down at the bar, he felt a pang of shame. Not for stealing—but because this was his only way of making money.
But then, something caught his attention. The gray-haired man had also stood up, and to Andreas’s surprise, he was doing the same thing. He moved through the crowd with the same skill, stealing seamlessly.
So I’m not the only one stealing out of necessity… Andreas thought, intrigued.
A few minutes later, he decided to leave. He walked out onto a narrow bridge, an aerial alley where he had parked his car.
Then, someone shoved him against the wall.
“Well, well… what’s a kid like you doing in a place like that?” a man sneered, his grin disgusting.
Andreas immediately recognized one of his victims. He had stolen his card just minutes ago. Two other men stood beside him. He tried to move to escape, but a strong punch to his stomach knocked him down. The stolen cards slipped from his hands.
“Agh… n-no…” he groaned, clutching his abdomen from the pain.
One of the men picked up the cards with a mocking smile.
“You’ve got yourself a nice little haul here.”
Andreas struggled to get up, trying to reclaim what was his, but they surrounded him.
“We’re not just here to rob you…” one of them chuckled sadistically.
The three men closed in on him. One of them yanked his shirt off, exposing his bare torso.
Panic rose in Andreas’s throat. No… not again…
“NO! NOT AGAIN!” he screamed, his voice breaking with fear.
Just as the worst was about to happen, a gunshot echoed through the alley.
The attackers froze.
Standing at the entrance of the bridge, the gray-haired man held a smoking pistol.
“Leave him alone.”
One of the men lunged at him, but another shot took him down instantly. In a matter of seconds, the man eliminated the remaining attackers with lethal precision.
Andreas collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily, still in shock.
The gray-haired man shot him a cold glance before turning to leave.
“T-Thanks…” Andreas murmured, feeling humiliated.
“Don’t mention it,” the man replied, holstering his weapon as he walked away.
“Wait!” Andreas called out, driven by a strange impulse.
The man stopped.
“You steal cards too, don’t you?” Andreas asked, noticing the bulging pockets in his jacket. Swallowing hard, he continued, “I do it too… and I thought maybe we could work together.”
The man scoffed, exasperated.
“No.”
“Come on! I’m good at this, and I saw that you are too. We’d make a great team.”
“No.”
“We could—”
“No.”
The man shot him a stern look.
“I wouldn’t work with you, kid. Stop saying nonsense.”
And with that, he disappeared into the alley, leaving Andreas alone.
Andreas remained on the ground, feeling miserable.
He sighed, picked up the remaining cards, and got back into his car.
The next day, Andreas stood on an aerial bridge, using an ATM. He inserted the stolen cards one by one, transferring the money into his account. When he was done, he had $100,000.
Immediately, he headed to a weapons store.
With his hood covering his face, he browsed the inventory.
“I want two Inferno Arc-7s and a Parasite Rifle,” he said coldly.
“License?”
Andreas handed him a fake ID. The vendor verified it and gave him the weapons in metal cases.
Everything was ready.
He couldn’t afford to fail.
When he received the weapons, he examined them.
The Inferno ARC-7 fired incendiary projectiles that heated up inside the target's body until they burst into flames. The longer it was used, the more devastating its shots became, until it reached a limit where it released smoke to cool down. Along with it, he received the Parasite Rifle, a precision weapon with pure neon green details, loaded with nano-robot projectiles that molecularly disintegrated any material in their path.
There was no turning back now.
That night, Andreas climbed onto the bank’s roof, moving silently. He knew the guards had specific patrol schedules, so he waited. At the right moment, he stole an access card from one of them and entered the building.
But as he turned a corner, he crashed into someone.
He hit his head and fell to the ground, but when he looked up to see who it was…
“You?!” they both exclaimed at the same time.
It was the gray-haired man.
“What the hell are you doing here, kid?” the man whispered, surprised.
“I’m robbing the bank.”
“What? This is my plan.”
The man pulled out his gun, but Andreas immediately aimed his Parasite Rifle.
“I don’t think so.”
They stared at each other in silence, ready to shoot, but neither did.
They remained like that for a few seconds until Andreas suggested a truce.
“We can work together. Fifty-fifty,” Andreas proposed.
The man analyzed him for a few moments. Working with a kid he had just met and splitting the loot in half? He thought about it and sighed.
“Fine. But if you betray me, you’ll be the first to go.”
“I like the risk.”
Andreas smirked and holstered his weapon at the same time as the gray-haired man. They both turned their heads to the left and found themselves face-to-face with the vault door.
Without hesitation, Andreas pulled out a card and slid it through the security reader. A beep confirmed access, and the door unlocked with a metallic click.
The man raised an eyebrow.
“Where did you get that?”
“I have my tricks,” Andreas replied with a smug grin as they entered.
Inside, they were both left speechless. Shelves filled with digital money cards.
Each one had $100,000 stored.
“Daaaaaaaaamn…” they both whispered at the same time.
The man reacted first, pulling out a small bag and stuffing it as quickly as possible.
“Take at least a hundred!” he said while shoving handfuls of cards into his pockets.
Andreas didn’t need more instructions. He hurried to do the same, feeling the weight of the money piling up in his pockets. This was more than he had ever imagined.
When they felt they had enough, they left the vault, and Andreas slid the card again to close the door.
But something was wrong.
A message appeared on the security system screen.
“Card verification required. 10 seconds remaining.”
Andreas felt a knot in his stomach.
Shit.
He reached into his pockets, searching for the right card, but with so many, the tight space made it difficult.
“Hey, kid…” the gray-haired man whispered, uneasy.
“5 seconds.”
Andreas searched more desperately.
“Hurry up!” the man urged, looking around.
“Wait, I have it here somewhere!”
“2 seconds.”
And then, the alarm exploded with an ear-piercing metallic sound.
The shrill beep echoed through the bank, followed by the sudden rush of footsteps approaching fast.
From the opposite hallway, a group of security guards appeared, weapons ready to fire.
“SHIT!” Andreas and the man shouted at the same time.
Andreas didn’t hesitate. He raised his Parasite Rifle and fired.
The projectile whistled through the air and pierced the first armored guard in its path. The guard didn’t even have time to react before collapsing with a hole in his chest.
The gray-haired man also opened fire with his pistol, taking down two guards with precise headshots.
The sound of gunfire mixed with the alarm, creating a deafening chaos.
“Not bad for a kid,” the man commented, impressed by Andreas’s accuracy.
“Heh… thanks,” Andreas replied, still shooting.
But the guards kept coming, more and more of them.
Andreas reloaded and continued firing, but the gray-haired man paused for a second.
His weapon was empty.
“Shit…” he muttered, putting it away.
Without wasting another second, he bolted toward the stairs leading to the roof.
Andreas saw this and yelled.
“HEY, YOU CAN’T LEAVE ME BEHIND, ASSHOLE! WE SAID NO BETRAYALS!”
The man didn’t even look back.
But his escape wouldn’t be easy. Two guards intercepted him.
One tried to shoot, but the man reacted with impeccable reflexes, kicking the weapon away and landing a precise punch to the other’s throat. He moved like a deadly shadow.
He took down one with an arm lock and stole his weapon, using it to shoot the next guard. For a moment, it seemed like he would break through.
But then, a third guard appeared behind him and slammed him against the wall.
The man grunted, feeling the barrel of a gun pressed against his temple.
“You’re not getting out of here alive, bastard,” the guard whispered, pulling the trigger.
And then… a gunshot rang out.
But the gray-haired man didn’t fall.
The guard behind him did.
He collapsed with a smoking hole in his forehead.
The man turned his head and saw Andreas standing there, gripping his rifle firmly. Smoke drifted from the barrel.
“Next time you try to ditch me…” Andreas said, frowning, “I’ll put a bullet in your damn head.”
The man let out a short chuckle.
“Whatever you say, kid.”
But the battle wasn’t over. More guards were arriving.
Andreas pulled out one of his INFERNO ARC-7s and tossed it to the man.
“Use this!”
The man caught the weapon in mid-air, quickly examined it, and smirked at its design.
“I like it.”
The two covered each other while firing. Each bullet from the INFERNO ARC-7 left a burning trail in the air before hitting its targets.
The man combined gunfire with melee attacks, using the weapon’s weight to brutally strike down guards. Andreas, on the other hand, moved with agility, dodging and landing precise shots.
But reinforcements kept coming.
Andreas spotted a dead guard nearby and, without hesitation, grabbed one of his explosives.
“TAKE COVER!”
He threw the grenade toward the hallway entrance, and an ear-splitting explosion erupted.
Fire and smoke filled the room, creating a chaotic curtain.
“GO, NOW!” the man shouted.
They both ran up the stairs, rushing to the rooftop.
When they finally reached the top, they slumped against the wall, breathing heavily.
“You’re… pretty good,” the man said, still catching his breath.
“You… aren’t bad either,” Andreas replied with a tired smile.
They stayed silent for a moment, recovering.
“We should team up… you saw what we just did together…” Andreas said, sitting on the ground.
The man pondered. He was just a kid… but together, they had pulled off the impossible.
After a few seconds, he sighed.
“Alright… I’m in.”
Andreas grinned.
“Great.”