The air burned every time Ruby breathed. Nine per cent oxygen—just enough to keep her alive, but not without pain.
She held her breath for a second, shoved the trolley forwards, and forced herself to inhale again. The waste in front of her glowed like a warning. One step too close, and her skin would melt.
A hollow cough echoed behind her.
Kyle.
The blood staining his lips looked almost black in the dim light. She knew he wouldn't last much longer.
They called it work.
Ruby called it survival.
Officially, it was known as the Aurora Foundation—
a humanitarian programme for society's most vulnerable.
But deep within the darkest part of the mountain, Orren's people called it the Grave of Light.
No one had ever left the Aurora Foundation.
Not alive.
When your body finally gave out, they threw you into the sea. Occasionally, the tide washed the corpses ashore somewhere in Orren. They were impossible to miss. Most glowed an eerie radioactive green.

Ruby forced herself back to work. The air hung heavy with chemical fumes and radioactive dust that settled on her skin and scraped at her throat. Around her, the machines rumbled and hissed like exhausted beasts.
The slaves had no names.
Only numbers, branded into the backs of their shaved heads. Ruby brushed her fingers over the scar. She was No. 662.
Their eyes were what gave them away. The mutants. Ruby was one of them. With her vivid crimson irises, there was nowhere to hide.
They lived inside the mountain of Aurelion—the last bastion after the war that had burned the world to ash. Beyond its walls, there was only silence. Within the mountain, humanity had built a new order.
At the summit lay Aetherion, a city of glass. Its domes shimmered like stars trapped beneath the mountain's crown. Up there, the air was pure, flowers never withered, and no one knew the sting of radiation.
Below Aetherion lay Veyras, where everything moved in perfect rhythm—light, people, and machines.
Then came Nevelorn, where the mist swallowed every outline and the condensation carried the taste of metal. And finally, Orren. Here, the light never quite reached the shadows.
Beneath it all lay Sector 9.
The mutants worked themselves to death in its factories while the weight of the mountain crushed them into the earth. Everything they produced was sent upwards like offerings to a heaven they would never see.

Walking beside Ruby was No. 661. Kyle. He was her opposite. Beautiful, like a hero from an ancient tale. But his cough told the truth. Every day, it grew worse. The blood staining his lips was proof that his body could no longer withstand the fumes and the dust. The strength that had once made him fearless was crumbling away, hour by hour.
Ruby watched him as they shovelled the glowing waste into the trolley. She loved him—not like a girl dreaming of a prince, but like a shadow yearning for the sun.
He caught the worry in her eyes and answered with a faint shrug and a weary smile. "It's just a cough."
Ruby opened her mouth to reply, but a spark leapt from the glowing waste. She flinched back with a yelp.
"At least we can see in here," Kyle laughed.
Ruby would rather have stumbled around in complete darkness than work beneath the eerie glow cast by the radioactive waste.
Her mutant body could withstand high levels of radiation, but not forever. She had entered the programme at the age of twelve. Five years had passed, and she was still alive.
Ruby had watched mutants drop like flies almost every day, but she had never known any of them.
How long had they worked in the factory before their bodies finally gave out? One thing she did know: Kyle had been here for little more than a year. So why was he already dying?
Another violent coughing fit shattered Ruby's thoughts. Panic surged through her as she glanced around, making sure none of the Guards had taken particular notice of Kyle.

It was becoming impossible to hide how quickly his health was failing.
A Guard approached on his usual patrol through the lower sectors. The Guards were human, which meant they couldn't venture this deep into the mountain without respirators. Every inch of his body was concealed beneath a black uniform that gleamed dully like hardened steel. Each movement was slow and deliberate, as though the armor possessed a will of its own rather than the man inside it. His face was hidden behind an respirator, its expressionless visor punctuated by the harsh, mechanical rhythm of his breathing. The mask made him seem like something more than human. The Guards were creatures born of the mountain itself.
Ruby had seen them dispose of mutants before—swiftly, mercilessly, and without hesitation—whenever someone consumed more resources than they produced.
If it hadn't been for Ruby's tireless hands, the Guards would have realised by now that Kyle could no longer keep up with the work. It took every ounce of his willpower to suppress his cough as the Guard passed. Only when the rasping hiss of the respirator had faded did he double over, coughing up blood.
"You're dying, Kyle. They're going to kill you." Ruby could no longer ignore the truth. If the Guards didn't kill him, the radioactive waste would do it for them.
"What do you expect me to do?" His voice carried a trace of bitterness—perhaps even resignation. It was a tone she'd never heard from him before. Maybe he'd finally stopped lying to himself. "I'm doing everything I can just to stay alive."
She lowered her voice. "Run away with me."
Kyle's vivid crimson irises widened. "It's impossible. You know that."
Neither of them had ever known a mutant to attempt an escape. No one beyond the walls had ever heard of anyone making it out alive. That was why the Aurora Foundation remained shrouded in mystery. No one knew what life inside the so-called humanitarian programme was really like. Even so, few people believed the propaganda the elite fed the people of Orren about the benefits of volunteering.
In Orren, distrust was what kept you alive. The glowing corpses washed up along the shoreline did little to support the Foundation's promises.
It wasn't until you became part of the programme that you discovered why it was a life sentence. Every mutant in the camp was given a specially developed pill that kept them alive for exactly twenty-four hours. It had most likely been created in the biotechnology laboratories of Veyras. Once the pill had been taken, they no longer needed food or water, allowing them to work without stopping.
It also made escape impossible. Even if you somehow managed to get beyond the walls, where would you find food and water before the twenty-four hours were up? Orren was too far away. You would die climbing the mountain long before you ever tasted freedom. And then there were the walls themselves—solid, electrified barriers separating them from the mountain above. Not to mention the Guards, swarming everywhere like black, armed ants.

Kyle gently cupped Ruby’s cheek. He had never touched her like that before. Her whole body came alive beneath his touch, a current seeming to pass from his hand straight through her. A sad yet peaceful expression settled across his face.
"It's okay, Ruby. You're going to make it. You're the strongest person I've ever known."
Had Kyle really accepted that he was going to die here?
"You want me to stay here and die alone?" she whispered, pulling away from his touch. Tears welled in her eyes.
Ruby forced the emotions back down as quickly as they had surfaced. Crying never changed anything. She had learned that a long time ago.
After a moment of silence, he murmured, "Okay. We'll try."
The day didn't end until a small light embedded in each of their wrists flared to life. It was a tracker, implanted when they entered the programme. It also served as a reminder of their approaching death. Unless they returned to their pods for another dose of pills, they would be dead within minutes.
The pods were cylindrical tubes where they were stored overnight. The pills could do everything except replace sleep. To save as much space as possible inside the mountain, the pods were launched out over the open sea on Aurelion's eastern side. It was the only beautiful thing in Ruby's life. Even with the clock ticking towards death, she was often the last to climb into her pod. Simply breathing in the sea air and listening to the waves was enough to quiet her mind.
The mutants formed a long queue that wound through the factory like a living red serpent, stretching across the countless production zones. Step by step, they moved towards the sea, where the pods waited.
"No matter what happens, you have to escape." Kyle said with a smile as he stepped into his pod.
"We're both getting out," Ruby insisted.
Before she could say another word, Kyle's pod shot forward, slicing through the water like a torpedo. Moments later, it was lifted onto a platform far out at sea. Escaping under the cover of night wasn't an option. If they were going to flee, it would have to be first thing in the morning.
Could they really do it?
The thought sent a thrill through Ruby's body. For the first time in years, she felt hope.
Ruby lay down inside her pod. The lid slid shut above her. As always, she fought the claustrophobia threatening to send her into a panic.
Then three pills dropped onto her tongue. She swallowed them with the saliva in her mouth, and within seconds, she sank into a deep, dreamless sleep.
The following morning, Kyle didn't emerge from his pod. A bead of sweat trickled down Ruby's temple as the seconds dragged by. Each one felt like a minute as she heard the familiar hiss of the Guards' respirators drawing closer. Their footsteps were steady and purposeful, as though they already knew exactly which pod they were heading for.
"Kyle," Ruby whispered. No answer. Her heart pounding, she stepped out of the line of mutants. She didn't care whether the Guards saw her.
Kyle tried to push himself upright, but his body was too weak. Ruby seized his hand.
"Get up! Now!" Panic surged through her body. They were too late. The hiss of the respirators grew louder, but she refused to let go of him.
He gave her a faint, exhausted smile before sinking back into the pod. "Ruby... let go of my hand."
"No! I'll never let you go!" A surge of searing electricity tore through her body as a Guard struck her with a Volta Staff. The shock ripped Kyle from her grasp. For a heartbeat, she couldn't move. That was all it took.
One of the Guards drew his weapon and pressed it against Kyle's temple.
"Remember what I told you," he whispered.
Ruby knew he was speaking to her.
Then came the gunshot.
It echoed through her mind long after the sound itself had faded. The Guards hauled Kyle's lifeless body from the pod, fastened heavy blocks to his legs, and hurled him into the sea. He sank like a stone into the darkness below—a new precaution to ensure the glowing corpses would never wash ashore again. Within moments, he was gone. Gone forever.
Ruby barely had time to react. A scream clawed at her throat, so fierce it almost choked her. But screaming wouldn't change anything. She was no longer paralysed by the Volta Staff, but by shock.
A kick between her shoulder blades forced her back onto her feet. She moved like an automaton, putting one foot in front of the other as the line of mutants moved toward the factory floor. It felt as though the ground beneath her had come alive. Her body was weightless, unreal. Yet somehow she reached her workstation, and mechanically, she carried on working as though it were just another day.
The hours turned into days, and the days into months. Slowly, Ruby began to accept that Kyle was gone. Hopelessness settled over her like a heavy, dark cloak. If the days had once felt empty, they now consumed her completely, like black holes.
As her grief became bearable, something else began to grow. Anger burned in her chest, the flames growing hotter with each passing day. It had been murder. To the elite, mutants meant nothing.
Back when she was free, Ruby had seen leaflets handed out by anti-mutant groups. They listed all the ways humans supposedly differed from mutants—proof, they claimed, that humans were the superior race. Ruby had never been much of a reader. Her older foster sister, Seraphine, had taught her a little before Ruby ran away. Still, she had understood a few of the words on the leaflets: unintelligent, violent, helpless as children. Were the leaflets right?
Seraphine, who was half human, had let out a scornful snort and dismissed them as nothing more than propaganda.
"You're not an inferior race, sweetheart. If anything, I think some humans are afraid of you."
"I've never hurt anyone. Why would they be afraid of me?" Ruby had thought the idea was ridiculous. She didn't feel dangerous at all.

"Because mutants are more evolved than humans. You can survive things I never could. History has shown that when one race becomes superior, another often disappears."
"Really? How do you know all that?" Ruby had often wondered whether Seraphine had once belonged to a wealthy, educated family. She had always seemed to know everything.
A Guard slammed a long, narrow metal rod across Ruby's fingers. "Get back to work, mutant!" he hissed through his mask.
She had grown so used to the beatings that they only made her work faster. There was no time to feel the pain.
More than once, Ruby had considered stopping the pills altogether. But she had promised Kyle she would try to escape. She needed time. More pills. The Guards never carried them, so she would have to ration them. Was that even possible? Would it kill her? She had no choice. She had to try.
That evening, she took one pill less. After a full day's work, she was weak, but she made it back to her pod without collapsing. The next day, she did the same. Only when she had saved enough pills to survive an extra day outside the camp did she stop rationing them.
One particular morning, the air felt charged. Nervous energy crackled through the factory. Drums filled with radioactive waste from the Wastelands stood stacked in towering columns along the walls. Water dripped steadily from the ceiling, running down the steel in thin streams.
Then it happened.

A deafening crash shattered the silence. One of the drums slipped from the stack, toppled over, and slammed into the floor with a bone-rattling impact. Its lid shifted. A long, hissing sigh escaped—and then the dust poured out.
As if obeying the relentless laws of entropy, the particles spread through the air.
Grey-green. Fine as ash. Deadly enough to kill anything.
One mutant nearby dropped to his knees at once. Blood spilled from his mouth as he coughed, and the skin on his neck flared bright red while he tried to scream. More bodies crumpled to the ground.
Chaos erupted.
Ruby ran. She didn't think. She simply followed the tide of bodies surging towards the gates. The air scorched her lungs, as though a thousand needles were tearing her apart from the inside. Every step felt like a choice between life and death.
The alarms wailed. Their shrill cry drilled into her skull. Guards came flooding in, their respirators hissing as they barked orders and herded the mutants together like cattle.
Ruby stumbled out into the yard with the others. Gasping for air, she coughed up the dust as tears streamed from her eyes. Her body fought desperately to purge the poison. She should have joined the line like everyone else.
Waited. Survived. Then a single thought struck her harder than any blow.
Escape.
This might be her only chance. Ruby glanced at the electrified fence. She had to get over it. Upwards.

There was no other way. Her body felt foreign. She was gaunt, her muscles all but wasted away. The dust from the accident made it almost impossible to draw what little oxygen the air still held. But Ruby refused to die here. Not before she'd tried. Shielded by the chaos that still gripped the factory, she made her way to the hall. If she climbed the wall, she might be able to make it over the fence.
So she climbed. Her fingers searched out every crack in the wall, while the hot pipes running from the factory gave her something to cling to as she pulled herself higher.
She glanced over her shoulder, even though she knew she shouldn't. A handful of mutants who had recovered from the coughing were staring up at her, their eyes shining with hope. Fear gripped her. One glance from a Guard and everything would be over. She made a sharp motion with her arm.
Look away!
To her relief, they lowered their eyes at once. Their silence was their support. Ruby kept climbing. The pipes were scorching hot, burning her palms until blisters formed. Her red uniform clung to her skin like a second layer. The dust still scorched her throat. Sweat made every surface slippery. She forced herself upwards, faster and higher, her heart pounding wildly.
Then came a gunshot.
Something hissed past her ear and slammed into the wall beside her. She risked a quick glance down. A Guard stood below with his weapon raised. His respirator hissed. He fired again. Her grip slipped. She fell.

The scream caught in her throat. Ruby crashed hard against one of the pipes and clung to it before she even registered the pain. If she fell all the way down, she would die. She couldn't make out the Guard's words, but she knew he was calling for reinforcements. Ruby started climbing again. Another shot rang out. The Guards missed once more. They weren't used to anyone trying to escape. The only way anyone ever left the factories was downwards, into the dark depths of the sea with weights chained to their feet.
She was almost there now. She no longer cared about staying quiet. She climbed for her life. More Guards poured into the yard below. Their weapons flashed beneath the lights. A new alarm shrieked through the air, sharp and unfamiliar. They had raised the alert. Higher up, one of the pipes jutted farther out from the wall. If she could just reach it, she could hide behind it. Bullets tore past her, but she managed to slip behind the pipe just in time. A burning pain shot through her arm. She looked down and saw that her uniform had been ripped open. Blood seeped from the wound, disappearing into the red fabric. The gunfire below stopped. Instead, some of the Guards began climbing after her. Ruby kept climbing, her hands slick with sweat and blood. When she finally reached the edge of the roof, she gasped for breath. The thick, dust-filled air felt like freedom.
Then she heard it. Not gunfire.
Applause.
Down in the yard, the mutants were clapping. Shouts of encouragement rose towards her—brief, desperate cries. She looked down. The Guards began striking the mutants with their Volta Staffs. Gunshots rang out. Screams replaced the applause.
No!
Ruby shook her head. She had never imagined her escape would affect the other mutants so deeply. She had no desire to be a hero or a martyr. Deep down, she prayed they would stop before more of them were killed. But there was no time to dwell on what was happening below. Ruby ran across the rooftop, her gaze darting between the sea to the east and the sheer mountain wall to the west. Guards surrounded one side of the roof. On the other, there was only a deadly drop. There was no way out. She fumbled for her pills. Nothing. She'd lost them. Tears stung her eyes. Even if she escaped, she would die. A hatch slammed open behind her. Guards spilled onto the roof, their respirators hissing like enraged predators. Ruby froze. No one fired. One of the Guards was already closing in. She looked at the edge. Then at the sky. They would not take her alive. Ruby didn't think.
She jumped.