Lexi Sindel | Juliette Stray

They burst out onto the dock’s open deck just as the tide began to rise, the water lapping hungrily at the concrete. A sleek corporate hovercraft roared into view, its searchlights sweeping the area. Lexi, ever the mechanic, slipped a stolen magnetic grappling hook onto the hull, yanking the craft’s side panel open. She shoved the core into the craft’s cargo hold, securing it with a bolt of industrial strength.

She tapped the pad, and a holographic map blossomed in the air, outlining a lattice of shipping lanes, security checkpoints, and a blinking red dot: , the clandestine cargo vessel that was supposed to be carrying the prototype—an energy core capable of powering an entire district for a year. Juliette Stray The third figure was neither as battle‑hardened as Lexi nor as cryptic as Sindel. Juliette Stray was a former corporate enforcer who had walked away from the gilded towers of Vortek Industries after discovering the true purpose of their “energy cores”: a weaponized grid that could shut down entire sectors at a command. She’d earned the nickname “Stray” after she vanished from the corporate ledger and re‑emerged on the streets, helping the undercity resist the corporation’s grip. lexi sindel juliette stray

Sindel hacked the hovercraft’s navigation, rerouting it toward the outer districts. Juliette took the pilot’s seat, her hands steady on the controls despite the tremor in her fingers. They burst out onto the dock’s open deck