The word MONOPOLY struck the air like a trademarked thunderclap.
Even the motivational pie chart on the ceiling paused… then rotated ninety degrees in reverence.
Aria sat bolt upright.
"Ohhh… ohhhhhh no. It's not going to compete anymore…"
Laxin whispered like a man trapped in a patent lawsuit.
"It's going to own everything."
The arena shuddered.
Not violently—inevitably.
The white tiles rippled outward like spreadsheets replicating on command, devouring the void beyond the gates.
New walls surged from nothing, identical and seamless, snapping into place with contractual finality.
Branding appeared.
Cold, immaculate.
Vex's flaming skull rose above it all, now wreathed in luminous platinum fire.
Its clipboard dissolved into a glowing corporate logo shaped like a bone wrapped in infinity symbols.
Letters ignited around the dome in towering serif font:
"PROPERTY OF VEXCORP."
Aria clapped her hands to her mouth.
"It incorporated itself."
