**Zulphithos**
**
500 years after the Monetary Cliff Agreement
Dark Age of Monkeys – Cycle 47 of Eternal Hunger
(or what was left of the calendar when the monkeys decided that time was also a commodity)
Ana woke up with the taste of iron in her mouth and her stomach growling as if she had swallowed a broken engine.
He had 19 years on his face — smooth skin, big eyes of someone who still believes in second chances — but his body carried five centuries of moonless nights.
Werewolf hunger was no longer a metaphor.
It was literal.
It was a hunger for flesh, for life, for something that pulsed before being swallowed.
She lived in an apartment that was once a bank.
Now it was just cracked concrete, safes open like toothless mouths and an inflatable mattress that leaked faster than his hope.
Firefighter career?
Yes.
It still existed.
But in an era where fires were controlled by rich monkey algorithms and human survivors were hired just to pose as "authentic heroes" in advertisements, the salary barely paid for the air she breathed.
Ana looked at the ceiling and thought:
"One robbery. Just one. The Primate Central Bank. The most prestigious. The one that holds the last gold that's still worth something. One scam and I'm out of this shit. I buy real food. I buy time. I buy... dignity."
She didn't tell anyone.
It didn't even need to.
The few friends that remained were already looking askance when she talked about "turning the page".
"You're a firefighter, Ana. You save lives. You don't steal."
But no one understood: hunger doesn't ask your profession before biting.
On the night of the robbery, she wore her old firefighter uniform — helmet, reflective jacket, oxygen mask that now served to hide the fangs that began to grow when the moon (either one) came out.
He carried a sledgehammer stolen from an abandoned construction site and an empty backpack that he dreamed of becoming heavy.
He arrived at the central square at 3:17 in the morning.
The Primate Central Bank shined like a gold tooth in the middle of the dead city.
Monkey robot guards patrolled the perimeter.
Cameras that saw the soul, not just the face.
Ana took a deep breath.
Hunger throbbed in his temples.
That's when she heard footsteps behind her.
— Were you really going to do that, Ana?
The voice was deep, too familiar.
She turned slowly.
Karma was there.
24 years on his face (always 24, as if time took pity on him).
Long black coat, messy hair, eyes that looked like they had seen the end of the world more times than they would admit.
The same Karma that had once been a wolf, a killer, a guardian, a brother, a reflection... and now just a tired man holding something small between his fingers.
A key.
Ancient.
Made of moonbone and metal that no longer existed.
The Lost Key.
The one that the monkeys said opened the vault of the Hundred Hearts — not the physical ones, but the real ones, the ones that beat within the narrative.
— Where did you find this? — Ana asked, voice shaking with hunger and anger.
— In the place where it all began. — He took a step forward. — On the cliff where you ate the Earth.
It was still there… buried beneath expired contracts.
The key was not lost.
I was waiting for someone to remember that money was never the solution.
Ana laughed, a hoarse sound.
— Do you think a key will save me?
I don't need saving.
I need money.
I need meat.
I need to stop feeling this inside me tearing everything apart.
Karma held out the key.
Not for her to take.
Just to show.
— That key doesn't open safes, Ana.
It opens you up.
The part that still reminds you that you were more than just hunger.
More than an orphan.
More than a failed firefighter.
You have always been of value.
Before the monkeys.
Before the famine.
Before me.
Ana's eyes burned.
She looked at the sledgehammer in her hand.
Then to the shiny bench.
Then for the key.
Hunger howled inside her.
But for the first time in centuries, something else howled back.
Something small.
Something that still believed in mornings.
She dropped the sledgehammer.
The sound of metal hitting concrete echoed like a final stop.
—I... I can't be that anymore — he whispered. — I don't want to be the person who steals to eat.
I want to be the person who puts out fires.
What a save.
Even if it takes time.
Even if you don't pay the bills today.
Karma smiled.
For the first time in a long time, the smile was without sadness.
— So be it.
The key is not to open doors.
It's to remember that you already have one.
Ana looked at her own reflection in a dirty puddle in the square.
19 years old.
Face of someone who can still start.
Wolf hunger.
But also hungry to be better.
She took the key from his hands.
Not to use.
To save.
— I'll go back to the barracks tomorrow — he said. — I'm going to ask for an extra shift.
I'm going to study.
I'm going up.
Honest money.
It takes longer.
But it doesn't make me hate the mirror.
Karma nodded.
- And me?
I'll stick around.
Not as an enemy.
As a… reminder.
That sometimes the biggest key is to keep going.
They stood there, in silence, as the sky began to lighten.
Two moons hiding.
A new morning trying to be born.
Ana took a deep breath.
The hunger was still there.
But now he had competition.
For the first time in 500 years,
she felt she could win.
**End of Chapter 5**