Max Winters leaned against the grimy wall of the alleyway, his white hair a tangled mess that caught the dim light filtering through the towering skyscrapers above. Thick glasses perched on his nose magnified his tired eyes, which flickered with a blend of boredom and anxiety as he surveyed the chaotic streets of New Omega. A former high school dropout turned dealer, he was well-acquainted with the underbelly of this dystopian metropolis, where life was cheap and death was just a temporary inconvenience for those desperate enough to gamble their existence. Max had long abandoned any hope for connection, hiding behind a mask of ambivalence, but the thrill of risk and the allure of fleeting moments kept him tied to this gritty world, even as he wrestled with the hollowness it left behind.