The Cull of Ash Nexis

The Core says they're lucky.
That without them, they'd be dead.
But if this is luck, Ash isn't impressed.

Raised in a crumbling border sector, Ash always knew the rules:
Keep quiet.
Stay useful.
Don't get picked.

So of course, he broke every one.

Now he's in the Center, where second-borns go to disappear.
They say the Cull is the only way out.
Tested like lab rats.
Most don't make it.

Ash's odds? Not great.
He talks too much.
Breaks rules for fun.
Doesn't exactly inspire confidence.

But that's the trick :
No one watches the fool.

Beneath the jokes, he's listening.
Tracking.
Counting the cracks in a system everyone else still believes in.

And when he's dropped into a team with a ghost girl who sees too much
and a golden boy who plays by the book,
Ash realizes the game isn't what it seems.

Good thing he isn't either.