(This is a sort of public first draft of the story. Constructive feedback is appreciated.)

The year is 2510, and the world has gone to shit. Thanks to centuries of climate crisis and global instability, Amber is one of billions of people who lives out in the barren and dangerous wastes, struggling to survive day to day. Meanwhile, the elite live in utopian cities. Behind their steel walls, they want for nothing and their lives are that of luxury. For anyone unfortunate enough to be born outside of these paradises, they can undergo the Gilding Trials. A dangerous competition that can earn the winners a better life.

Amber had always considered this a scam at worst, or a pipe dream at best. Fully believing that there would be no way the elite in the city of Aurum would let outsiders join. Despite her worries, her wife’s fatal injuries reveal a grim reality: there is only one place for her to get the care she needs.

Aurum. And the only way to get in is to sign up for the Gilding Trials.