In Kyber, everyone has a neural implant that allows them to interact with the society around them. These implants are vital to everyday life, especially in Kyber City, where life and tech moves fast. If you can't afford to upgrade, you're left behind, then forced to leave the city that you can no longer interface with. You head to the lower levels, and you do what it takes to survive.
For Rebecca and her friends, all with the previous generations of implants, surviving means entering the technically illegal tournaments held in the lower levels. They use their implants' built-in security, a totally personalized suit of armor synthesized from light and energy, and battle for prize money to hopefully make it another week or two.
Rebecca, Gabrielle, and Elaina are three sisters who live with a class of armor that isn't supposed to exist. As far as the public knows, 'guardian-class' armor was destroyed years ago, or possibly just never existed. To keep themselves hidden they typically stay behind the scenes and avoid 'armoring up' while in public. It's gone well for the past four and a half years.
Then Wesley almost dies, a hacker brings down an 'invincible' tournament network in a few minutes, and suddenly the secret of their armor is out and someone is offering a reward for their armor that just so happens to be exactly what the winner of the tournament would have received.
Suddenly on the run, forced to confront how little they actually know about each other, the team relies on new friends and old connections in a hunt for the truth of what's really going on in Kyber City, why the three girls were created, and what happens next.
*TW* Contains topics and scenes of sexual assault, self-harm, abuse.*
"You know you loved every second of it," I can feel the tears welling up as well as the anger building up within me. I stare at him for a while before I have to turn away from his hungry gaze. "Look I just came here to tell you that I forgive you for what you did back in Cali and I'll take you back,"
"You forgive me?" I yell. "I did nothing to you. You raped me! You fucking raped me! You have no right to come here and tell me that. You. Forgive. Me. You traumatized me. What you did to me tore me up inside and was eating away at me until I tried to kill myself. And when I told people they didn't believe me. I had to listen to so many people talk about how great a guy you were and how I clearly just regretted sleeping with you. You are a monster. You made me hate myself for something that was never my fault. You have caused me so much pain and suffering," I pause to take a deep breath. "So you don't get to come here to my school and tell me you forgive me. You don't get to make me feel bad about coming forward. The only thing I regret is ever thinking you were a good person."
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Logan Young is a 16-year-old girl about to start her senior year in a brand new town. The past year has been tough and her family moved to give her a fresh start. Her life before the move had been hard and she had been spiraling. She quickly makes new friends and even enemies. She builds up walls to protect herself. But what happens when an unlikely person helps her to tear down her walls and heal. Will she be able to survive in this new place and keep her secrets intact?