FROM "ELIXIA", genesis artwork from 10 x Dynamic 1/1 (RELM #2)

The holographic glow of Luthringen pulsed like a heartbeat beneath the eternal night. Here, where the express highway cut through the city’s underbelly, life flickered between shadow and spectacle. Towering structures loomed overhead, their screens whispering promises of wealth and warning of unseen dangers. Beyond the skyline, beyond the extension, the highway express stretched like a ribbon of steel into the void—the only path to the Outer Worlds.

Under the glow of a 3 Suns sign, a marketplace thrived in the after-hours—a labyrinth of traders, drifters, and those who made a living underneath the Verdant Corporation’s shadow. And here, at the edge of it all, stood Zyrexin. She was a vision in silk and smoke, framed by the luminescence of her alchemical stall. Glass vials filled with liquid light lined the shelves behind her, their contents shifting with energy; potions, elixers and all things wonderful. Her fans snapped open and shut in rhythmic grace, the silent metronome of a woman who never wasted a motion.

She eyed the newcomers—Amani, and Apollo—with a knowing smile. “I hear you’re looking for Orinite,” she said, her voice smooth as running water. “Perhaps I have what you need.” “Orin, actually.” Replied Amani, with his hand inside of his red bomber jacket. Zyrexin’s smile sharpened. “Orin is not something one simply finds. It is stolen, traded, fought for. And those who seek it rarely walk away unscathed.” She traced a finger along the counter, her lacquered nails tapping against the surface. “However… I may know where you can obtain pure Orin.”

Apollo the tiger, himself a survivor from the secretive Orin experimentation of 2020 grumbled back. “And the cost?”

Zyrexin let out a soft laugh, stepping forward into the neon half-light. “A small favor.” The air between them tightened. She reached into her robe and pulled out a data shard, placing it on the counter beside an untouched elixir bottle. “There are… loose ends that need tying,” she said. “Competitors who have forgotten their place. Debts left unpaid. You handle this for me, and in return, I will tell you where the Orin flows pure—untainted, untouched by corporate hands.”

Apollo exhaled, rubbing the back of his neck.

“You’re talking about the Don’s goons aren’t you?” Amani, peering into the bottle of elixir, “We saw them go the other direction on the way here, they’re long gone by now…”

Zyrexin’s fan snapped shut. “Luthringen seldomly offers a second chance. If you want to track them you better head for the expressway now.” Silence fell. Beyond them, the city thrummed—a relentless pulse of electric life, of deals made in whispers and fates rewritten by the choices of men.

“We’ll handle it.” Amani said assertively.

Zyrexin’s smile returned, this time softer, as if she had known their answer all along.