The Spice Grinder
By @Sahiba Akmal
On the metallic, soot-choked continent of Aethelgard, survival is processed in assembly lines. Silas lives by a single rule: never touch the raw product. But as loaded carts rattle into the factory receiving area, workers gently unloading baskets of glowing pepper berries onto stainless-steel conveyors, Silas makes a fatal mistake. A stray berry slips from the washing machine, staining his skin and unlocking a forbidden alchemical interface in his mind. Now, he can trace the life-force of every spice processed. But this power is a death sentence; the iron-fisted Alchemist Guild executes anyone who can manipulate the raw elements without their approved machinery. As the gears of the factory begin moving smoothly, grinding down the resources of the poor to feed the elite, Silas must use his secret interface to sabotage the production line from within, risking his life to free his indentured family before the next harvest cycle ends.
16
