“Thanks Benny.” Kim said, closing the case and sliding it across the counter.

“Anything for you, my friend. Come back when you outgrow that spear!” Benny leaned over the counter.

“I will! I might outgrow it soon.”

“Oh? Finally ranking up, my friend.”

“I’ll find out today.” Kim said, smiling and heading towards the door “Have a good one—“ She turned, nearly running into the next customers coming through the door. A ragtag group wearing mismatched armor swerved out of her way, and then she was back in the alley and moving to the street.

Today she would find out if she had ranked up. She felt like she ranked up.

She stopped by the store — today was Sunday, after all, and their food bank was running out of utensils. They got plenty of donated food from local stores— stuff that ran near the expiry date — but no one donated paper plates or napkins or condiments.

She loaded up, spending almost a hundred dollars on these little necessities before heading to the church.

She rang her hands together waiting for the bus, and when she got on, It finally hit her how real her situation was. There was a doomsday clock, a sword of Damacles hanging over her head.

She spent 600 dollars today.

She checked her bank account on the bus, staring at the numbers inside. They ticked down day by day. Even with weeks of work at iron, it only amounted to a little over a grand, grinding cores.

Time was running against her. She tapped her foot on the ground. The entire bus ride.

“Kim!” Mozz said, popping into the kitchen from behind her. “Whats up! How’s the job search? Or are you just grinding cores now? Is that still profitable at Iron? You joining expeditions to mine?” Mozz asked.

Kim smiled. “I’m running with a group now. Actually, I’m out to get a rank evaluation today, so I can’t stay long.” Kim said, cutting Mozz off. He had a tendency to ramble.

“So cool…” he whispered, stepping past her and tearing into the bags of paper plates.

“Take care of this for me?” She asked, escaping the conversation.

Kim took a lunch to go, saving money by grabbing food.

She ate on the bus, arriving downtown and waiting inside of the Awakened Department. Her day came full circle as she tapped her foot in the lobby, clutching the little armored briefcase holding Rain’s knife to her chest. She ignored the people staring at her for her tapping.

It was another hour before the employee called her number up.

“Kim?”

It took everything she had not to sprint across the room.

“Yes, yes.” She said, getting ready to pass her IDs over. Kim had been holding them in her hand, and had to wipe the cards off on her pants. There was a sheen of sweat. She had been clutching them along with the weapon case.

The woman sat beside a metal detector and locked door, checking Kim’s ID before passing it back. The employee looked up at Kim expectantly. “That will be… 500?” She asked.

“Right, sorry.” Kim replied, counting out the bills and handing them over. The employee checked them, put them in a till, and hit a button.

There was an audible click as the metal door to the next room of the DoAA unlocked.

“Should I…” Kim asked, gesturing at the metal detector.

“Nah, just head through. Head to room 5A. Third on your left.” The employee replied, and Kim pushed the door open, stepping deeper into the building.

There was hardly enough room for the back offices on the bottom floor, resulting in a maze of office beige walls and standard blue, noisy carpet. But the employees’ directions were easy to follow. The backrooms had the sterile scent of bureaucracy, like the smell of stale paperwork.

Kim found and opened the door to her evaluation room.

“Hey!” a man said, clearly waiting for her. He pushed a rotating monitor out of the way with a smile. “Kim Nguyen? Have a seat.”

She sat down. Sensors and technology filled the room, the desk most of all, but only one piece applied to Kim. On the desk was a small metal platform, a square dais on her side of the desk.. Wires were hooked to it leading back to the man’s computer.

“Have you done one of these before?” The man asked. “Just put your hand on the tablet. No pain at all, completely noninvasive. You are just here for a rank check, right? No class or affinity checks?”

“No, no… just rank.” Kim replied, putting her hand down.

The strange tablet, a fusion of Awakened artifacts from the gates and human technology, glowed for a moment. The man pushed a screen over, smiling.

“Congratulations on reaching Bronze, Kim! We will get you a new license made today.”

She stared at the screen. It pulled tons of obscure data and information — for all it was worth to her. Most of the page looked like the scrawling text from the matrix.

All that mattered was that one word at the bottom.

Rank evaluation: Bronze.

Kim felt her whole body relax.

Leaving the DoAA, she stopped just out of sight from the window, pulling the card they had printed on the spot again, reading the text on it over and over, just to prove it was real.

Kim Nguyen, Bronze Vanguard.

She fist pumped outside the office.

‘You free?’

I looked down at the text from Kim with a raised eyebrow. It had only been a day since we exited the gate. She must have been on no sleep and just barely carving through the day, so she couldn’t want to go hunting again so soon.

‘Sup?’ I replied.

Then I stared at my phone ringing. It rang once, and I stared at it.

I picked up on the next ring.

“Congrats on Bronze. So— “

“I already have a great next gate lined up. There’s one I’ve wanted to clear forever. But we can save that for next weekend! I’m celebrating at a bowling alley bar downtown! Come join, it’ll be fun!”

I deliberated on my reply, pausing. “Mortal alcohol has done nothing for me in years…”

“They have alcohol for Awakened!”

“Why don’t we celebrate with a Bronze hunt?”

“Nooo! Everyone else already agreed to hangout. Please?” Kim asked.

I wondered if she was already drunk. She was never so… excitable. She was reminding me of Willow.

“Fine. What’s the address?”