The bounty appeared twelve minutes later.
Not immediately.
The System never acted in anger. It waited until fear fermented into something usable.
Piter Hall felt it before he saw it. A subtle shift in how Interfaces pulsed around him. The glow was sharper now. Hungrier.
They moved fast through side streets, avoiding main roads. Sirens echoed from every direction, but none of them were for ordinary emergencies anymore.
Lena kept pace beside him, breathing uneven but controlled. She hadn't asked questions. That worried Piter more than panic would have.
Her silence meant she was processing.
And processing led to decisions.
They ducked into the shadow of an abandoned parking structure just as the sky flickered.
Text unfolded across the air like a banner.
[System Directive: Active]
[Hostile Variable Containment Order Issued]
Piter stopped.
"Here it comes," he said quietly.
Lena's voice was barely a whisper. "What does that mean?"
"It means they're outsourcing," Piter replied.
The next line confirmed it.
[Bounty Protocol Initiated]
[Target: Piter Hall]
[Reward: Scenario Priority Access + Protection Credit]
The city reacted instantly.
Interfaces flared like sparks in dry grass.
People stopped running.
Stopped hiding.
Stopped thinking.
A man nearby gasped as his Interface chimed.
"Did you see that?" he said to no one in particular. "If we help them, we get priority access."
A woman clutched her phone, eyes wide. "Protection credit… that means we're safe next Scenario."
Piter felt the air turn.
This was worse than hunters.
This was incentive.
"They're buying people," Lena whispered.
Piter nodded. "Cheaply."
The System knew exactly what to offer.
Not money.
Not power.
Survival preference.
"Move," Piter said. "Now."
They took the ramp down into the parking structure. The concrete walls swallowed the noise of the city, but not the pressure.
Even underground, the bounty followed.
Piter's Interface pulsed again.
[Bounty Tier: Open]
[Capture Status: Alive Preferred]
Alive preferred.
That would change soon.
They reached the lower level and ducked behind a row of abandoned cars. Piter crouched, scanning the structure's entrances.
Footsteps echoed above.
Multiple.
"Piter," Lena said quietly. "They're going to keep coming."
"Yes," he said. "That's the point."
He closed his eyes for half a second, forcing his breathing to slow.
Think.
Bounties created chaos. Chaos created data. The System would be watching reactions closely.
Which meant—
A scream echoed from the upper level.
Then another.
Not fear.
Pain.
Piter's eyes snapped open.
"That was fast," he muttered.
They moved toward the sound carefully.
Two civilians stood near a stairwell. One was on the ground, clutching his leg, blood pooling beneath him. The other stood over him, trembling, a broken pipe in his hands.
"I'm sorry," the standing man kept repeating. "I'm sorry. I just—my Interface said—"
The injured man screamed again as the pipe came down.
Piter moved.
He grabbed the attacker's wrist mid-swing and twisted sharply. The pipe clattered to the ground.
The man recoiled, eyes wild.
"Don't touch me!" he shouted. "You're the target! If I turn you in—"
Piter slammed him into the wall.
Hard.
Concrete cracked.
The man slid down, unconscious.
The injured man stared up at Piter in terror.
"I didn't do anything," he sobbed. "He just—he said the bounty—"
"I know," Piter said.
He looked around.
Too quiet.
Too still.
Lena's Interface flickered violently.
She gasped, clutching her chest.
"Piter," she whispered. "Something's wrong. I can feel… pressure. Everywhere."
Piter felt it too.
The bounty wasn't just a message.
It was a signal.
[Bounty Tier Update Pending…]
The words hovered, unfinished.
"They're testing thresholds," Piter said. "Seeing how much violence it takes before escalation."
He knelt beside the injured man.
"What's your name?" he asked.
"R-Ryan," the man stammered.
Piter met his eyes.
"Ryan, listen to me carefully," he said. "They're using you."
Ryan shook his head desperately. "No. No, they said if I help—"
"They say a lot of things," Piter replied. "Did they promise your family safety? Or just you?"
Ryan froze.
His Interface pulsed.
No answer came.
Piter stood.
"That's what I thought."
Footsteps echoed again.
This time, heavier.
Organized.
Hunters.
"Get behind me," Piter said to Lena.
She didn't argue.
The parking structure lights flickered.
A squad of five emerged from the shadows, armor shimmering with suppression fields.
Their leader raised a hand.
"Piter Hall," she said calmly. "By System directive, you are to be detained."
Piter didn't move.
"Before you do this," he said, "ask yourself one thing."
The leader frowned. "This isn't a negotiation."
"Good," Piter replied. "Then listen."
He gestured to the injured man.
"That's what your bounty does," Piter continued. "It turns desperation into weapons. How long before someone kills the wrong person because their Interface glitched?"
The leader hesitated.
Just for a moment.
The System didn't like that.
[Bounty Tier: Escalated]
[Lethal Force Authorized]
The hunters stiffened.
Lena cried out softly.
Piter exhaled.
"There it is."
The leader's expression hardened.
"Engage."
They moved.
This time, Piter didn't retreat.
He stepped forward.
The suppression fields slammed into him, crushing, suffocating. His knees buckled.
But he stayed upright.
Pain roared through his body.
He grinned through blood.
"You want a hunt?" he rasped. "Then hunt."
He reached inward.
Not for strength.
For memory.
For the moment last loop when he learned the System's greatest weakness.
It needed participation.
Piter screamed.
Not in pain.
In defiance.
The sound tore through the structure, raw and unfiltered.
Every Interface nearby flared violently.
[Warning: Emotional Spike Detected.]
[Bounty Protocol Instability Rising.]
Lena screamed too.
Not fear.
Power.
The concrete floor cracked beneath her feet.
A wave rippled outward, slamming into the hunters and throwing them back like dolls.
The suppression fields shattered.
The lights exploded.
Silence crashed down.
Dust settled.
Piter fell to one knee, gasping.
Lena stood frozen, eyes glowing faintly.
"I didn't mean to," she whispered. "I just—felt it again."
Piter looked up at her.
And understood.
Her power wasn't force.
It was amplification.
She didn't create instability.
She reflected it.
The System recalculated instantly.
[Bounty Protocol: Suspended]
[Cause: Unacceptable Volatility]
The hunters lay unconscious.
The parking structure groaned but held.
Piter stood slowly, body screaming.
He laughed softly.
"They backed off," Lena said. "Did we win?"
Piter shook his head.
"No," he said. "We taught them something."
"What?"
"That hunting me publicly costs more than it gains."
His Interface pulsed one final time.
A new line appeared.
[Bounty Status: Deferred]
[Containment Strategy Updating…]
Piter's smile faded.
"That means the next move won't involve crowds."
Lena swallowed.
"What will it involve?"
Piter looked toward the city above.
"Isolation," he said. "And something far worse than hunters."
Because when incentives failed—
The System always returned to monsters.