After a couple more missions, Erica began to get used to her life as a mercenary. In a short time she earned enough money to live well and the confidence to manage among nonis. Every day she searched, researched and pondered some way to get to the Core, but came up empty handed; no one knew what she was talking about, they just took her for a young girl obsessed with nonsense. nor was there any book to point the way, besides dying. The lack of progress was beginning to make her impatient.

One day she left the bounty office with her payment for a particularly tedious mission; she had had to hunt some kind of giant slippery spider, it had taken her a whole day.

It was a beautiful morning in Nudo: the sky was purple, the earth was purple, the sun was shining big and blue and people were walking around, busy going about their lives. There were many people, there was no doubt about it. That was because a few meters down the street was the commercial district.

—This is the last one— said Erica to herself, looking at the envelope with conviction— the only thing left to do is to go to the inn to get my things ready to leave. I'll find you anyway, Dad.

She was so deep in thought that a knock from behind startled her. As she turned around, she noticed that a young human boy had tripped and pushed her by accident.

—Sorry— the boy apologized.

Erica was about to say that it didn't matter, when she noticed that she no longer had the envelope in her hand: she had dropped it. Alert, she looked at the floor in front of her feet. The envelope with her pay slipped through the air between people's legs. Erica pushed a lady to grab it, but the legs of a handful of people blocked her view for moments. When she crossed the distance, the envelope was no longer there. She looked around, but it was nowhere to be found, it was lost.

—No! I spent a whole boring day to win that money— she thought, dumbfounded.

Then she heard someone growling, not far away.

—Watch where you're going— exclaimed a man.

Erica looked up. The grumpy noni had his head turned to one side of the street. Erica followed the line of his eyes and noticed a small, darkly clad figure running with all his might away from her. He acted like a thief who had just robbed her. She realized too late what had happened.

—They stole my reward!— she said to herself.

She immediately ran after the thief. She pushed the nonis out of her way and sped through the few segments of free space along the avenue until she reached the crossroads. The thief continued down a narrow corridor between two dirty and neglected workshops. Erica took off after him. In a couple of jumps she climbed up to the roof of one of the workshops and followed him from above.

Watching him run as fast as he could, Erica noticed their curved waist and their panting feminine voice. She was a human being like her, a woman. She followed her through ugly and dangerous alleys, hidden in the middle of the city. No matter how much the thief ran, Erica had no trouble keeping up with her.

Soon they headed for the slum, then to the outskirts, to a large, solid-walled dump, more than two kilometers away from the last inhabited land in the city. There, the thief broke through the wall through a hole in a neglected area and entered the dump.

—Why is she going there— Erica wondered.

Then Papel emerged from her clothes, sniffed the air, lowered himself to the roof and left. Erica wanted to go and chase him, but if she did, she would lose her pay. She couldn't risk it.

—Damn Papel, why do you have to go now?...— she cursed— Argh! Whatever!

After saying goodbye, she went out into the street. From there she quickly jumped over the wall that delimited the garbage dump, landed on the purple ground and looked for her thief everywhere. There were piles upon piles of garbage, all different sizes, but all with the same horrendous smell.

—Don't tell me I lost her.

She ventured into the grounds, jumping over piles of garbage and running between the aisles quickly. For a moment she feared she had been too lazy in her pursuit, but then the crackling of a chain made her head turn.

For a moment she was alarmed, for the chain reminded her of the Chainer and she had no way of dealing with him at the moment. However, the source of the sound was not the strange knight in white armor, but the very thief she had been chasing. She had trouble spotting her at first, as the piles of garbage helped her blend in, but after a few seconds she noticed her at ground level, removing garbage with her hands. She wondered what she wanted to achieve with that. Suddenly the thief grabbed a trap door and climbed completely inside. Then, through an ingenious mechanism involving ropes and pieces of brooms, she hid the trapdoor again with some garbage and dirt from the other side.

—A secret lair!— observed Erica, forgetting her anger for a moment. No, she couldn't stay angry; this was a secret lair, it was awesome.

She quickly went to the trapdoor and opened it with so much force that she unintentionally tore it off its hinges. She was surprised, but didn't think anything of it. Then she jumped over the hole and fell straight down to the bottom.

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The thief went down the entrance to the secret base and found herself next to the steel door under the floor. In it was a slit, covered with a mesh so that it could not be seen inward. Being a short girl, she stood on her tiptoes, put her mouth close to the slit and said the password.

Then the door opened, just enough for her to pass through, and closed behind her back. The girl came into a large, multi-level room that housed a bunch of people, all outcast humans like herself. They were a small community, barely fifty or so people, but each one contributed something.

The girl took off her hood, her ears already hot from running. She released her long black hair into the air, oily and dirty from lack of care. She crossed the large room and headed through one of the doors to a clumsily carved stone staircase to the office. She knocked on the door, opened it and found herself facing a group of humans like herself examining an old, disheveled map of the city. The people stared at her for a while, attentive. She, undaunted by the stares, advanced to the counter and deposited the envelope she had stolen from the blonde girl next to the bounty office.

—It's done— she said.

A tall man with broad back and square jaw stood at the end of the counter. His curly hair was tied in a bun. He was breathing loudly, like a predator on the prowl, though it was only a problem of birth.

The man reached down to pick up the envelope, opened it and examined its contents, somewhat surprised.

—Wow, you did it, Lili— he said— How did you get so much?

Liliana looked at her feet, not very proud.

—Luck, I guess.

Then the boss put the envelope in a drawer and stretched out his hand to shake the girl's.

—Congrats, newby. No one has ever gotten so much before.

The girl received the compliment unreservedly, first from her boss, the leader of that gang of thieves, and then from the rest of the team in the office. They patted her and ruffled her hair.

She was pleased to be recognized for her efforts, but she couldn't help but feel bad about the life she was leading. Since joining that group of outcast humans her days had consisted of stealing from careless nonis to survive. Those people were used to it, for them it was normal, but for Liliana it was wrong, it was depressing. That day she had stolen for the first time from a human like her. She wondered if she was a Mother's girl.

—No, impossible— she said to herself —if she were a Mother's girl like me, she wouldn't walk around Vergherel with such confidence. She must come from another world.

—This is something to celebrate— the boss announced —Do we have any ham left?

—I brought it— announced an elderly woman —And it's only three days past its expiration date!

Everyone else exclaimed with approval, thrilled by a slice of bad ham. Liliana loved their encouragement. They seemed like such nice people to her, when they were down in the den.

—Haha, I'd like to see the face of the stupid noni you stole from— exclaimed a skinny, bearded man.

—He must be taking a beating right now!— the boss blurted out.

Liliana sighed, not feeling like confessing that she had not stolen the money from any noni, but from a human girl like all of them.

At that moment, she felt the boss's big hand on her back.

—What's the matter, Lili? Are you tired? Take the day off, you earned it.

But Liliana shook her head.

—It's just... I was wondering if...— she mumbled.

She paused. She was going to say that she missed her way of life, she was going to ask if there was hope for them to return to that pleasant and easy world of before. But no, she didn't feel like sharing her longings, not with that guy. She liked him, she just didn't feel she could open up to him, to any of the people there; despite their good treatment of each other, they were all rotten when they talked about nonis. Their hatred was acidic, sickening.

Liliana looked at the chief's waist, where he kept his laser pistol that he had stolen from a noni soldier.

—How do you like this one?— he patted his pistol —would you like to shoot it some day? It feels great. I told you the story of how I stole it, didn't I?

—I told her— commented a young boy, a few years older than Liliana.

—You always cut off important details— said the boss —All right, I'll tell it again.

He took his pistol and showed it to Liliana.

—One day, some soldiers caught me stealing. They grabbed me and took me to the police station. But before they locked me up, I took one of their pistols and shot them both in the head. They died in no time!

The others around them burst out laughing and exclaiming in celebratory tones. For them, the death of a noni was a cause for joy and catharsis. Liliana wanted to harm many nonis, but she had never thought of killing any, much less celebrating the death of two strangers. It was because of this fanaticism that she did not feel she could trust these people. Sometimes, however, she wondered how much more mistreatment she would have to endure until she began to think like one of them. Her hatred of nonis only increased as time went on. It frightened her.

Suddenly, the door behind her opened to reveal the woman who had gone to get the ham. Her hands were empty and her face was pale with fear.

—We are under attack!— she shouted into the office.

For half a second everyone inside froze in their seats.

—Who?— asked Alberto, the boss, while the others ran out the door. Liliana stood still, thinking about what she should do.

—A girl— said the woman —She must be with the police, she's very strong. She is destroying everything.

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Erica first encountered a metal door. She took some time to examine it, surprised that there was one right after the trapdoor. There was a slit at the level of her nose, it seemed to her that someone was peeking out from the other side to see her, but she wasn't sure.

—Hello?— she greeted, curious.

She heard nothing. It took her a couple of minutes thinking about the right way to open that door, but in the end she gave up and smashed it with a timitio-coated punch.

On the other side she found a large hall, or what had been a large hall, at that time occupied by outcasts and vagabonds, people hidden from society. How could they not be, if they were all human like her. She wanted to ask them if they knew the thief who had taken her pay, but the moment she took a step inside, people erupted in panic and ran in all directions. Some men and women even attacked her, to which she replied with her imposing strength and sent them flying against the walls.

In the end, she had to grab a boy by the neck and lift him up to ask him where the thief had gone. The boy pointed to one of the doors on the other side of the room.

—Ah, thank you— she said as she dropped him to the floor.

Without wasting any time, she headed for the door indicated by the boy, but before she entered, a handful of men emerged from it and formed a circle around her.

—What happened here?— exclaimed one of them, with long curls tied in a bun. He looked at the mess Erica had left behind and the terrified people in the common room.

—I'm looking for a...

—Did you do this?— the boss interrupted her.

—Yes, because I'm looking for a...

—Why?! —We're humans like you! Where did your sense of belonging go?!

Erica sighed, irritated. She opened her mouth to explain, but another of the men beat her to the punch.

—I'm sure she's on the side of those nonis— he mumbled, frustrated —She's a traitor!

—Traitor?— she remarked, quizzical.

—Damn traitor— exclaimed Alberto —I don't know how you did it, but you're out of luck, I'm going to....

But before he could finish speaking, Erica sent one of them flying with a surprise punch. The guy crashed so hard into the wall that he embedded himself in it. The others watched in silence, paralyzed with fear.

—Don't fuck with me, I'm busy.

The men remained silent, not knowing what to say. Finally Alberto raised his hands to the level of his head.

—We surrender.

Erica advanced towards him, as she was blocking his way to the door. Alberto stepped back, thinking she was going to do something to them anyway, but Erica reached out a hand and gently pushed him through. Alberto stepped aside, the girl walked through the door. A collective sigh of relief was felt in the great hall.