Enjin drives Rudo to the Cleaners’ headquarters, a huge building with twisted street lamps out front. Inside the lobby, they meet Semiu, the receptionist. She barely says hello before stabbing a fork past Rudo’s head—killing two flies.
Semiu decides to test him herself. She activates her vital instrument—glasses that glow and let her see what someone’s really made of. After a moment, she gasps and tells him he still needs training to control his power. As they leave, Enjin glances back at her, clearly thinking she’s holding something back.
On the way to the boss’s office, Enjin explains there are about a hundred Cleaners, including support staff, and no one knows what the boss’s vital instrument is—Givers rarely share that kind of info. But when they open the door, the office is empty. The boss is away on business. While they wait, Riyo appears and offers to let Rudo watch her work.
No Man’s Lands
Semiu explains the job. A town near a polluted zone asked for a cleanup after spotting small trash beasts near their barricade. The Ground is split into safe zones and polluted zones where trash beasts live. When Rudo fell, he landed in one of the largest polluted zones. Masks are required in these toxic areas, called No Man’s Lands, so it was lucky Enjin found him in time.
Rudo heads to the site with Riyo and Supporters Gris, Follo, and Tomme. Supporters can’t use vital instruments but train to help Givers fight trash beasts. Riyo tells him this job will be easy and winks, which flusters him. He drifts into thoughts about the Ground — to him the trash isn’t ugly, it’s full of things worth fixing.
Gris introduces himself with a crushing handshake. Riyo adds that he’s saved Givers before. Rudo decides to pay attention and learn. A herd of trash beasts rushes from the brambles, ramming the barricade, but Riyo stays calm. Larger beasts appear and she’s still unfazed. Rudo panics, but she just talks about throwing a welcome party and asks his favorite food.
She winks again and says on the Ground you have to keep your cool if you want to survive. A massive trash beast bursts through the barricade.
Riyo and the Ripper
Riyo’s pumped for the challenge. She activates her vital instrument, the Ripper—a massive pair of scissors—and takes down the smaller trash beasts while the Supporters disable and send them her way. A beast lunges at Follo, and Rudo instinctively summons a metal pipe to block it. He still can’t control it, but it’s enough for Riyo to land the killing blow.
Even split in half, the massive beast won’t die. Riyo targets the tubes on its head and spots a strange glowing mark. The beast goes berserk, knocking Rudo into the air, but Gris catches him before he can fall into the chasm it made. Riyo pierces its head with the Ripper, killing it, and recovers the glowing object—a vital instrument, something no one’s ever seen on a trash beast before.
Elsewhere, one of Rudo’s kidnappers wakes in a dark room. A man sits nearby and coldly asks where the Sphereite is.
