Digital Reverie

How far would you go to gain knowledge?

This short story was written for the Writing Battle winter pro challenge of 2025.

Rules: Create a 1000 word story in the genre, using the character and the object.

From left to right: genre, character, object

---

New Cortec had lost its luster from the days it was considered “new.” Rain trickled in eddies between old and fresh cracks in the pavement, taking with it a variety of oils that would eventually coagulate in corners and coat the stones with a fresh patina of rot. No one came to these alleys anymore. At least, not for anything legal.

Jack Renn’s hood concealed his identity as he ventured through the area under the cover of dark. His job landed him in the alleys of New Cortec often, but he’d pissed off one too many dealers that showing his face could mean the difference between a stern tongue lashing or a shiv in the spine. The risk, however, came with a hundred thousand credit bounty.