Asteroid of the Damned

On the shadowy trading post of asteroid Pallas, a lone gambler named MacCauley sits nursing a synthetic cocktail while the locals—tiny, mute “Kiddies” who live on metallic currents—buzz around the dim bar. The bartender, a grizzled humorist, explains that these strange children harvest copper, silver and even junk metal to feed an internal electric charge, turning each metal into a kind of high‑octane thrill. As MacCauley sifts through his own agenda, the relentless hum of illegal games and the promise of a hidden crime king linger in the recycled air.

Beyond the bar, the underground gambling hall throbs with artificial light and the promise of lawless freedom that draws fugitives from the larger worlds. Here, nothing is natural—no soil, no history, just a synthetic landscape where every transaction is a gamble on a metal‑driven obsession. MacCauley’s business may depend on learning the Kiddies’ secrets, but the asteroid’s emptiness threatens to swallow more than just his patience.