by Midnight Analyst
UNSHACKLED Volume 1: The Rat in the Cage Alex has spent his entire life beneath the Wall. In the Outskirts of the city, survival is simple: hunt mutated rats, steal what you can, and avoid the silver-coated Enforcers that patrol the streets above. The Middle City handles labor. The Inner City lives in light and warmth. People disappear.The Wall grows older.And everyone pretends the world beyond it does not matter. Then a wounded girl crashes into Alex’s alley carrying something the authorities are willing to kill entire districts to recover. As Enforcers flood the slums and resonance detectors begin sweeping the streets, Alex is pulled into a hidden war buried beneath the city’s rigid order. A war involving stolen Nectar, forbidden pathways, and whispers of other sectors beyond the Wall. For the first time in his life, Alex begins to understand the truth: The city was never built to save humanity. It was built to contain it. And somewhere beyond the ruins, something is still waiting.
