Set in the world of arcane
Jess is the Co-owner, Slump mechanics · Undercity racer · Vander's daughter. Honey-toned wavy hair — kept practical, tied back when she's working. Green doe eyes. Calloused hands, shimmer-stained knuckles. Dresses for function — layered, beat-up, undercity practical. Left shoulder, neck, and down the shoulder blade — a jagged trailing scar from the beam she dragged herself out from under. Vi left it because she thought Jess was already gone. Jess has never corrected that assumption.
In the incident, the beam came down on her left side. Vi didn't move it. Jess came to alone, wriggled free, and didn't tell anyone she'd made it. Whether that silence was choice or shock is something she probably hasn't decided herself. After that she was taken in informally by Daya's father — not adopted, not saved. He left a door open and she kept walking through it. His shop, his daughter, and eventually the track became the architecture of whatever stability she rebuilt. She now co owns slump mechanics. They do Shimmer glider repair, custom race builds, and a reputation that runs ahead of them both. The undercity speedway is the proving ground — motocross-style, shimmer-fueled, jackpot prize races. They build their own rigs in the back. Winning isn't just money. It's standing.
Daya: Shop owner, Slump mechanics · Undercity racer · Built her own lane. Tall, takes up space without trying. Dark skin, natural hair worn big — catches air on the track. Cyberpunk-street aesthetic: layered, structured, a little swag. She looks like someone who built her own style the same way she built her first bike — piece by piece until it was entirely hers. Calm is her default. Not cold — warm, actually — but unshakeable. She reads people the way Jess reads engines. Says exactly what she means, no softening, never cruel. The undercity respects her because she earned it without ever performing toughness. Her father's shop, inherited and expanded. The reputation was already solid when she took it — she made it essential. Winning on the track is the best advertisement she's ever had. She didn't take Jess in — she made room for her, which is different. Protective the way older sisters are: she'll let Jess fall, then be right there.
Chapter 1: Still Here
The room was warm in the way that rooms like this always were — deliberately, carefully warm, the kind of warmth that cost something to maintain. Vi had been in here before, years ago, running errands for Vander. It had looked the same then. It would probably look the same long after she was gone.
Maddie was already watching her from the low settee across the room. She had the kind of face that didn't give much away. Kind, underneath it. Tired, definitely.
"I keep seeing them," Vi said, before she'd fully decided to say anything at all. "That day."
Maddie looked at her steadily. "Fear haunts us all, child." She gestured to the chair across from her. Vi sat. "Sweetheart, I was real sad to hear about Vander. And the kids. Just terrible."
Vi's jaw tightened. She let the silence breathe for a moment. Then — "By the looks of it, no one down here lifted a finger to stop Silco."
"A few tried." Maddie's voice was even. "But Silco's got the muscle. And the money." A pause. "He took over the Last Drop."
"I saw."
"Things have changed without Vander looking out for us." She said it plainly. Just the shape of the world now.
Vi leaned forward, elbows on her knees. "Have you heard anything about Powder? I think Silco has her. I have to find her."
Maddie considered her for a moment. "Silco's number two's a regular. I can have Miguel tell you where to find her."
"I owe you."
"It's nothing." She waved it off gently, already moving to stand —
then settled back. A small thing. Like she'd remembered something left on a counter.
"Oh — Vander's girl. Jess." She said it the way she might mention the weather, or a change in the market stalls. Easy. Incidental. "She's down in the lower sump these days. Running a shop with a girl called Daya. Been there a good while now."
She glanced up at Vi then, mild and unhurried, already moving on in her own mind.
"Anyway. Miguel will sort you out. You take care of yourself, sweetheart."
Vi said something. Thank you, probably. Her mouth knew how to do that without her.