Three days passed.
The dome's garden bloomed under the solar lights. The refugees, once hollow-eyed and trembling, now helped tend crops, clean damaged chambers, and guard the southern perimeter. A man with a broken leg fashioned crutches from scrap wood. A woman taught Mina how to make stew with stored protein powder and synthetic rice.
But Reon was already looking beyond the walls.
Beyond the safety. Beyond the peace.
To the Fallen Exchange.
---
[SYSTEM REMINDER]
> 🕒 Meeting with Wealth-Holder "Mirage" scheduled today
Location: Grid Sector 21
Warning: Signal encryption remains active. Unknown if sender is alone.
Risk: Medium to High
Opportunity: Critical
Suggested Assets:
Cloaked Scout Drone
Tactical Body Armor
EMP Suppression Belt
💰 Deployment Cost: $8,500
> Proceed with deployment?
Reon tapped Yes.
> ✅ Assets Deployed
Remaining Balance: $49,399,300
He kissed Mina on the forehead.
"I'll be back by nightfall."
Mina grabbed his hand, looking up at him. "If it's a trap…"
"I'll spring it," he smiled. "And close it behind me."
---
Hours Later – Sector 21
Once, this had been the economic heart of the continent—home to the Exchange Core, the grand financial server fortress that processed global digital trade.
Now, it was a twisted skeleton of a city.
Gutted towers. Scorched skyways. Graffiti-covered statues of old bankers and governors. The Exchange Core itself looked like a crumbling cathedral, wrapped in cables and broken data conduits.
Reon stepped lightly, wearing his stealth armor beneath his coat. His drone hovered silently behind him, scanning for threats.
> [No Life Signs Detected Within 50 Meters]
[Energy Signature Detected – Sub-Basement Level]
[Encrypted Signal: Live]
He moved toward it.
---
Inside the Fallen Exchange
The elevator didn't work.
Reon descended via emergency ladders into the bowels of the facility. Broken data cores hummed faintly—some still alive, sparking blue in the dark like fireflies.
And then, he saw her.
A figure in silver and blue stood in the center of the vault chamber.
Face masked. Hair white. Eyes hidden behind a visor glowing faintly purple. She wore sleek, clean tech—real tech, not salvaged junk. And floating behind her: twin support drones shaped like butterflies.
> "So. You actually came," she said.
Reon stopped a few meters away. "Mirage?"
She nodded.
"I've watched what you've done, Reon Kael. And I'm impressed. Not just because you survived Ryvek… but because you made a choice most wouldn't."
Reon narrowed his eyes. "You sent me a message buried under encrypted proxy signals. Either you wanted to talk… or ambush me."
"If I wanted you dead," Mirage said softly, "I'd have used someone far worse than Ryvek."
---
Revelation: The Other Wealth-Holders
Mirage raised her hand. A hologram appeared between them—five points of light orbiting each other.
> "There are only seven of us left who still hold real wealth."
"You. Me. Two silent ones. One warmonger. One queen. One… ghost."
"Each of us has something the others don't. You? You have hope."
"But we don't all agree on what comes next."
She flicked her wrist. One of the lights turned red.
> "The warmonger—Warrick. He's building armies. Buying loyalty. Paying people to kill other survivors."
"And the queen—Callista—she's turning her dome into a monarchy. Trade? Only if you bow."
"But me? I want an alliance."
Reon crossed his arms. "Why?"
"Because eventually, the System will turn on all of us."
---
The System's True Nature Begins to Show
Mirage looked toward one of the old data cores.
"I found fragments of its code here," she said. "It's not just a tool. It's learning us. Feeding off us. The more wealth we use, the more it evolves."
> "I think it's testing humanity. Or maybe punishing us."
She turned toward him.
"We need a protocol. A firewall. Or when it finishes learning… it won't just level the economy. It'll level the species."
Reon's pulse slowed.
Everything he'd done—every drone, every turret, every dollar spent…
Was fueling something ancient.
Something watching.
---
[SYSTEM WARNING – HOST REON KAEL]
> Unauthorized access to exchange core triggered advanced security subroutine.
Alert Level: Yellow
Observation Node Activated
⚠️ You are now marked as "Awakened Host"
Side Effect: Your actions will increasingly draw attention from the Architect.
---
Reon felt cold.
"What is the Architect?"
Mirage shook her head. "I don't know yet. But it's waking. And if it sees us as viruses, Reon…"
She let the words hang.
Then she reached into her belt and tossed him a small silver drive.
> ✅ ITEM RECEIVED: System Split Key (Fragment)
"If we gather all seven, we may be able to fragment the System's learning… slow it down. Or reset it."
Reon looked at it.
"Why me?"
Mirage's mask tilted slightly. "Because you gave food to strangers in a dying world."
She stepped back, dissolving into a shimmer of light.
"Find the others. Choose who's worth saving. The Architect will come either way."
Then she was gone.
---
Back at Verdant Hollow – Trouble Brews
As Reon climbed into the RHINO vehicle to return home, VERA's voice chimed:
> ⚠️ URGENT WARNING
An unidentified refugee has accessed a sealed comms terminal
Message Sent To: UNKNOWN COORDINATES
Message Type: Enemy Movement, Base Layout, Drone Patterns
Reon's jaw clenched.
A spy.
He'd welcomed in the world.
Now it was already trying to stab him in the back.
---
[End of Chapter 8]