You want to know about this city? Sure, it looks slick—neon glam and steel bones, polished like they’re trying to sell you something. But the closer you get, the more you see the cracks. It’s all painted over with glitz to make you believe in something, something they control. Me? I know the truth that lurks under the lights and the billboards. I don’t buy into their shine.

I’m not here to be some hero, either. I’m here to take what’s mine, to scrape out my piece of this place. Because if I don’t, they will. That’s how it goes here: you take your stand, or you get swallowed whole. I’ve learned that the hard way, in alleys and dead ends they’d rather you didn’t see. They’d wipe us off the map if they could, make us just another glitch in the system.

But I’m not going anywhere. They think they can scrub us out like we’re nothing but graffiti on their pristine walls. I’ve got news for them—I’m the ink they can’t erase. I’m the noise that makes them uncomfortable, the static that doesn’t fit into their broadcast. And I don’t care if it pisses them off.

This city doesn’t just hand out respect. You earn it, usually by taking it from someone who thought it was theirs. Every street, every flickering sign, every shadow—these are my reminders that they don’t own everything. Not yet.

And you? You’re here now. You’re part of this, whether you want to be or not. So buckle up. Chapter one: welcome to the edge, where the rules don’t apply, and the only way forward is to fight.