The silence in The Pit was heavy. It weighed more than the gravity Kaelen was manipulating.
Thirty gang members—bruised, bleeding, or just terrified—looked up at the balcony. The Viper Boss, a man named Drax who had ruled this sector for five years, was groaning at the bottom of the stairs, clutching his shattered ribs.
Kaelen leaned forward on the velvet railing. He looked bored.
"The Red Vipers are dissolved," Kaelen announced. His voice wasn't loud, but it carried to every corner of the room. "From now on, this is... under new management."
"You can't do this!" Drax wheezed, spitting blood. " The Syndicate... they'll skin you alive. I pay them 20%!"
Kaelen tilted his head. "20%? That sounds inefficient."
He looked at Zeph. "Zeph, the ledger."
Zeph blinked. He was still standing on the dance floor, holding a half-empty bottle of expensive vodka he'd swiped during the fight.
"Uh, right," Zeph said.
"Interface connection established," the AI said. "Hacking local network... Access granted. Financial records downloaded."
Zeph's eyes flashed blue for a second. "Whoa. Okay, Drax is holding out. He's actually making fifty grand a month, but he's cooking the books to look like he's making ten."
A ripple of murmurs went through the gang members. They had been paid scraps while their boss hoarded millions.
Kaelen smiled. It was a cold, predatory smile.
"You see?" Kaelen addressed the crowd. "He lied to you. He stole from you. And he lost to two men in under three minutes."
Kaelen walked down the stairs. The crowd parted like the Red Sea. He stopped in front of Drax.
"I don't need liars," Kaelen said.
He raised his boot and stomped.
CRACK.
Drax screamed as his leg snapped. The sound echoed off the metal walls. Zeph winced, looking away.
"Get him out of here," Kaelen ordered two of the nearest gangers. "Dump him in the gutter. If he comes back, kill him."
The gangers didn't hesitate. They grabbed their former boss by the arms and dragged him toward the exit. Loyalty, it turned out, was very flexible when gravity was crushing your lungs.
Kaelen turned to the remaining twenty-eight men and women.
"You have two choices," Kaelen said. "Walk out that door and never come back. Or stay, swear loyalty to me, and get paid double what Drax gave you."
"Calculated cost," the AI noted in Zeph's ear. "Payroll increase: 100%. Projected loyalty increase: 400%. Smart move."
One by one, the gangers dropped to one knee.
"We're with you, Boss," a woman with a cybernetic eye said.
"Good," Kaelen said. He didn't look surprised. He looked like he expected it.
He turned to Zeph. "Come on. Office."
The office was lavish. Leather sofas, a wall of monitors, and a safe the size of a fridge.
Zeph fell onto the sofa. "Okay. That was... intense. You broke his leg, Kae. Was that necessary?"
Kaelen was already pouring himself a drink from Drax's private bar. "He needed to be broken. Weakness invites challenge. Cruelty invites obedience."
"You sound like a movie villain," Zeph said, rubbing his temples. "Since when do you know about ruling gangs?"
"I read," Kaelen said simply. "And I observe. People are simple, Zeph. They want security and money. I gave them both."
He tossed a heavy keycard onto the desk. "Open the safe."
Zeph walked over to the safe. "Electronic lock detected. Brute force algorithm running... 3... 2... 1..."
Click. The safe swung open.
Zeph whistled.
Stacks of credit chips. Gold bars. Weapons parts. And a small, glowing blue cube.
"Jackpot," Zeph whispered. "There's gotta be... two hundred thousand credits here."
Kaelen didn't look at the money. He looked at the monitors on the wall. They showed camera feeds of the entire district. Street corners, alleys, shops.
"We have eyes," Kaelen murmured. "We have soldiers. We have money."
"And we have a five million credit bounty on our heads," Zeph reminded him, stuffing chips into his pockets. "This little gang isn't going to stop a Hunter Guild."
"No," Kaelen agreed. He turned around, his eyes locking onto Zeph. "But you can."
"Me?"
"Your AI," Kaelen said. "It can hack the bounty network, can't it? Erase our faces? Change the data?"
Zeph paused.
"Query," the AI asked. "Can I? Yes. Should I? Risk of detection by Global Net is 88%. This action is dangerous."
"It's risky, Kae," Zeph said. "If I hack the Global Net, they might trace the signal back to my brain. Then we won't just have hunters. We'll have the military."
Kaelen walked over and put his hands on Zeph's shoulders. His grip was heavy.
"Do it," Kaelen ordered.
"Did you hear me? I said it could bring the army down on us!"
"I trust you," Kaelen said. But his eyes weren't trusting. They were demanding. "You're the genius. Make it happen. Or we lose everything we just took."
Zeph looked at the monitors. He looked at the money. He looked at his best friend, who was starting to look more like a stranger every hour.
"Recommendation," the AI whispered. "Comply. Subject Kaelen is exhibiting signs of aggression. Conflict is inadvisable."
"Fine," Zeph sighed. He sat down at the desk and closed his eyes. "But if my brain melts, I'm haunting you."
Zeph dove into the digital sea.
Kaelen turned back to the window, watching the rain fall on his city. He took a sip of whiskey.
"Haunt me all you want," Kaelen whispered to the glass. "As long as you obey."