LETMI
His eyes widened slightly.
Letmi wasn't just any company. Everyone knew the name. Infrastructure. Logistics. Tech integration. A corporation so large its projects reshaped entire districts, and its stock was rumored to be untouchable for the averarge investor due to how expensive they were.
Kairo opened the folder.
The documents inside were clean. Professional. Nothing like the messy paperwork of a construction site.
CONFIDENTIAL
PRE-MARKET DEVELOPMENT Project: Urban Grid Optimization (UGO)
Kairo leaned closer.
As he read, his breathing slowed, not from fear, but from growing disbelief.
This site wasn't just another build.
It was a pilot.
A proof of concept for a city-wide system: smart infrastructure, modular buildings, integrated logistics networks. Reduced costs. Faster development. Higher long-term yields.
The numbers made his head spin.
Projected completion dates. Expansion phases. Internal valuation models.
And then
Post-Completion Stock Impact Projection:
Estimated increase: 38–52%
Kairo's eyes nearly popped out of his head.
"…That's insane," he whispered.
"Oh?" Veylor murmured lazily. "Numbers excite you now?"
Kairo ignored him, flipping pages faster.
The project wasn't public yet. Not even hinted at. If this rolled out successfully, Letmi's stock would skyrocket once the announcement hit.
This is insider information, Kairo realized, heart pounding, but not with fear.
With excitement.
"I... I could invest," he whispered. "If I had money. If I could get in early…"
He laughed quietly, almost giddy despite himself.
"Imagine that," he muttered. "Me. Owning Letmi shares."
Veylor chuckled. "Ah. Greed. Ambition. Mortals really are consistent."
"It's not greed," Kairo said defensively. "It's… security. A future."
He stared at the projected charts again.
"If this works," he said softly, "I could become really wealthy. Maybe more."
Veylor was quiet for a moment.
Then: "You realize," the god said calmly, "that knowledge like this has weight. The more you know, the more the world can push back."
Kairo swallowed but he didn't look away from the papers.
"I'll earn it," he said. "The money. The right to invest."
Veylor laughed low and pleased.
"Oh, this is excellent," he said. "A god of trickery bound to a boy who dreams of playing the market."
Kairo closed the folder carefully and slid it back into place.
Outside, voices rose again. Confusion. Arguments. Authority still fractured.
Kairo wiped the sweat from his face and straightened.
three hours, he reminded himself. I just need to survive three hours.
But now
He wasn't just surviving.
He was planning.
Kairo took a slow breath.
Making money takes time, he thought. Way too much time.
He glanced back at the desk. At the neatly stacked folders. At the schedules pinned to the wall.
Then an idea surfaced.
A quiet one.
A dangerous one.
"…If it takes time to make money," Kairo murmured, "then I can just slow this place down."
Veylor perked up immediately. "Oh?"
Kairo's heart beat faster not with panic this time, but with cautious resolve.
"If the pilot drags on," he said, thinking aloud, "the announcement gets delayed. The stock doesn't move yet. That gives me time."
He looked down at the clipboard by the door inspection forms, approval chains, safety checklists.
"So long as it looks normal," Kairo continued, "no one will question it. Construction delays happen all the time."
Veylor laughed softly. "Bureaucratic sabotage. Tedious. Invisible. I approve."
Kairo swallowed and opened the office door.
Kairo stepped out of the supervisor's office.
The moment he did, every argument on-site seemed to pause as if the entire construction yard had been holding its breath.
Dozens of workers turned to look at him.
Radios crackled. Someone dropped a wrench. Two forklifts idled awkwardly in the middle of the access road.
Showtime, he thought weakly.
Veylor's voice purred. "Remember, confidence is just lying loudly."
Kairo inhaled.
Then, before his courage could evaporate, he clapped his hands together.
The sound echoed far louder than he expected.
"Alright!" Kairo barked.
Several workers flinched.
"We are doing a… a full operational reset!"
Silence.
"…A what?" someone called.
"A reset," Kairo repeated, nodding as if this were completely normal. "Temporary halt. Everyone stop what they're doing."
Someone laughed nervously. "Boss, that's… that's the whole site."
"Yes," Kairo said firmly. "That is the idea."
Radios exploded with chatter.
"You heard him stop the lift!"
"Wait, are we actually stopping?"
"What about the concrete pour?!"
A horn blared as a truck screeched to a halt inches from a scaffold.
Chaos bloomed instantly.
A foreman jogged up, face pale. "Boss, we can't just shut everything down. The schedule"
"Is flexible," Kairo interrupted, shocking himself. "Safety comes first."
Veylor chuckled. "Oh, you're learning."
Another worker shouted, "Who's in charge right now?!"
Kairo pointed randomly. "You!"
The man froze. "Me?"
"No not you," Kairo corrected. "You and him."
"…Together?"
"Yes. Co-leadership."
The two stared at each other like they'd been handed a bomb.
A forklift operator leaned out of his cab. "Boss, I need clearance to move this load!"
Kairo squinted at the load. It looked heavy. Dangerous. Suspicious.
"…Absolutely not."
"What? Why?"
"Because," Kairo said desperately, "if you move it wrong, it might… fall."
"…That's true of everything," the operator said.
"Exactly," Kairo snapped. "Which is why we're not moving anything."
The site devolved.
Workers argued. Foremen shouted. Radios screamed contradictory orders as Kairo's improvised hierarchy collapsed under its own weight.
Someone yelled, "The east scaffolding is unattended!"
Another shouted back, "Because YOU told us to stop!"
A loud CRASH rang out as a stack of pipes tipped over harmlessly but dramatically.
Kairo's heart leapt into his throat.
"I did not authorize that crash!" he yelled.
No one listened.
Veylor was howling now. "This is better than the fall of empires."
Then, a siren.
Short. Sharp.
Everyone froze.
Kairo turned slowly.
A sleek black car had pulled up at the edge of the site. Its doors opened in perfect unison.
Two men in crisp suits stepped out.
Letmi logo. Subtle. Expensive.
The workers went silent.
"Oh," Veylor whispered, delighted. "You've drawn attention."
One of the men adjusted his glasses, scanning the site the halted machinery, the confused workers, the complete operational breakdown.
His gaze settled on Kairo.
"…Supervisor," the man said coolly. "Care to explain why a Letmi pilot site looks like a riot zone?"
Kairo swallowed.
Every instinct screamed run.
Instead, he straightened his back.
"Of course," he said.
Veylor leaned in, voice slick with anticipation."Lie well, little investor."
Behind them