The janitor's closet felt smaller than usual. Or perhaps, Ren felt larger.
He leaned against the cold metal door, listening to the muffled chaos vibrating through the walls of the West Tower. Alarms weren't blaring yet—Minister Vane's death was silent, a heart stopping behind a locked door—but the energy in the building had shifted. The Peacekeepers were patrolling with more aggression, their armor clinking like a countdown.
Ren looked at the translucent blue HUD floating in his vision.
[CURRENT SIN POINTS: 400]
[DETECTION METER: 4%]
The detection meter was low, a steady hum of safety, but he knew it wouldn't stay that way. The moment Vane's body was discovered, the Agency would scrub every frame of surveillance footage. They would analyze the gait, the heart rate, and the biometric signature of every soul in the West Tower. Under normal circumstances, Ren would be a prime suspect simply because of his low status. The City loved to blame the "Zeros" for the failures of the "Leads."
But he wasn't a normal Zero anymore.
"Digital Ghost," Ren whispered, testing the weight of the words.
[PASSIVE ABILITY 'DIGITAL GHOST' IS ACTIVE.]
[STATUS: ALL BIOMETRIC FEEDBACK LOOPED TO HARMONY BASELINE.]
It was a miracle. To the City's all-seeing eyes, Ren was currently experiencing the emotional equivalent of a peaceful nap, even though his mind was racing with the thrill of a killer. He pushed his cleaning cart out of the closet. He had a mission. He had a target. And for the first time in his life, he had the tools to strike back.
The East Wing was the heart of the "Unity Logistics" department. This was where Supervisor Harlen spent his days, sitting in a glass-walled office that overlooked the pits where the Level 1s and 2s processed the City's waste.
Harlen was a man who lived for the "Spread." He took a 5% cut of every worker's efficiency bonus, funnelling it into a private "Ghost Account" to fund his dream of reaching Level 5 status. It was a common secret, the kind of corruption the Agency ignored because Harlen kept the quotas high.
Ren arrived at Harlen's office under the guise of the evening floor-buffing rotation. The sonic-mop hummed, a low-frequency vibration that masked the sound of Ren's footsteps.
"Still here, Zero?" Harlen's voice came through the intercom, sharp and grating. He didn't even look up from his terminal. "I told you to finish the West Tower. If you're here to beg for a credit advance, don't bother. I already filed your penalty report for the coffee spill."
Ren stopped the mop. He stood in front of the glass door, looking at the man who had made his life a living hell for three years. Harlen looked comfortable. He looked safe. He looked like he believed the world would always belong to people like him.
"I'm not here for an advance, Supervisor," Ren said. His voice was calm. Too calm.
Harlen finally looked up, his brow furrowing. "Then why are you standing there like a glitch? Get back to work or I'll have the Peacekeepers escort you to the Deletion Center personally."
Ren tapped his temple, a gesture that looked like an itch to Harlen, but for Ren, it was a command.
"System," Ren thought. "Show me Harlen's digital footprint. Cost?"
[SYSTEM SCAN: SUPERVISOR HARLEN.]
[COST: 50 SIN POINTS.]
[EXECUTE?]
"Execute."
[SCANNING... SUCCESS.]
[TARGET HAS AN UNAUTHORIZED ENCRYPTED FOLDER: 'PROJECT ASCENSION'.]
[CONTENTS: LOGS OF EXTORTED CREDITS, FORGED EFFICIENCY REPORTS, AND ILLEGAL COMMERCE WITH THE UNDER-CITY.]
Ren felt a surge of cold joy. It was better than he had hoped. Harlen wasn't just a bully; he was a traitor to the very Harmony he preached.
"Supervisor," Ren said, stepping closer to the glass. "I think there's a problem with your 'Project Ascension' files. They seem to be... leaking."
Harlen's face went from pale to ghostly white in less than a second. He stood up so quickly his chair slammed against the wall. "How do you... what did you say?"
"I said," Ren repeated, his eyes locking onto Harlen's, "that you've been very busy. Stealing from the Zeros is one thing. But stealing from the Agency? That's a score of zero, Harlen. Permanent Deletion."
"You're bluffing," Harlen hissed, his hands shaking as he reached for his terminal to lock it. "You're a janitor! You can't even read high-level encryption! Guards! Security!"
Harlen slammed his hand onto the emergency alert button on his desk.
Nothing happened.
Ren looked at the HUD.
[SYSTEM BREACH ACTIVE. COST: 50 SIN POINTS per 60 SECONDS.]
[ALL OUTGOING SIGNALS FROM OFFICE 402B ARE JAMMED.]
"The guards aren't coming, Harlen," Ren said, walking through the door. The electronic lock didn't even recognize he was there. "The cameras see a vacant office. The sensors see a perfect baseline. In the eyes of the City, this room is empty."
Harlen scrambled back, tripping over his own feet. "What are you? You're not Ren. You're... you're an insurgent! A Terrorist!"
"I'm a janitor," Ren corrected, picking up a heavy glass paperweight from Harlen's desk. It was shaped like the City's emblem—a circle of unity. "And I'm just here to clean up the trash."
"Wait! Wait!" Harlen screamed, his voice cracking. "I have credits! I have thousands! I can transfer them to you! I can make you a Level 3! Just tell me how you're doing this! We can work together!"
Ren paused. The offer of credits was tempting. With 5,000 credits, he could move to the Mid-Tier districts. He could eat real meat. He could buy a life of comfort.
[NOTIFICATION: HOST TEMPTED BY STATUS QUO.]
[KARMA ADVISORY: MERCY TO THE OPPRESSOR IS A SIN AGAINST THE PROTOCOL.]
[REWARD FOR KILLING HARLEN: 1,000 SIN POINTS + WEAPONRY UNLOCK.]
[REWARD FOR TAKING THE BRIBE: 0 SIN POINTS + SYSTEM DEACTIVATION.]
Ren's eyes narrowed. The System was testing him. It didn't want him to be rich; it wanted him to be dangerous. It wanted him to be the hand of Karma.
"I don't want your credits, Harlen," Ren said, his voice dropping an octave. "I want your 'Harmony'."
Ren lunged.
Harlen was soft. He spent his days behind a desk, eating refined calories while Ren spent his days hauling heavy machinery and scrubbing floors. The Agility boost Ren had received from the previous mission kicked in. To Ren, Harlen moved like he was underwater.
Ren grabbed Harlen by the collar and slammed him onto the desk. The glass groaned but didn't break.
"System," Ren thought, his pulse steady even as he pinned a screaming man to a table. "Override Harlen's terminal. Upload 'Project Ascension' directly to the Agency's Internal Affairs. Set the sender as 'Harlen's Personal ID'."
[COMMAND RECEIVED. OVERRIDING ENCRYPTION... 10%... 40%...]
"What are you doing?!" Harlen shrieked, struggling beneath Ren's grip. "Stop it! You'll kill us both!"
"No," Ren said, leaning into Harlen's ear. "I'm just doing my job. Productivity, remember?"
[OVERRIDE COMPLETE. UPLOADING FILES... SENT.]
Ren let go of Harlen and stepped back. He picked up his sonic-mop and turned it back on. The low hum returned, a soothing sound in the now silent office.
Harlen scrambled to his terminal, his fingers flying across the keys. He saw the 'Sent' folder. He saw the recipient: The Office of Synchronization—Enforcement Division.
"No..." Harlen whispered. "No, no, no... I can delete it! I can—"
The door to the office hissed open. It wasn't Ren's doing this time. The jamming had ended because Ren had stopped paying the point cost.
Three Peacekeepers stood in the doorway. Their visors were glowing a deep, predatory red—the color of a Deletion Order.
"Supervisor Harlen," the lead officer said, his voice a synthesized growl. "Your biometrics have been flagged for extreme treason. Internal Affairs has received your confession."
"It wasn't me!" Harlen screamed, pointing a shaking finger at Ren. "It was him! The janitor! He's a hacker! He has a device! Check him!"
The Peacekeeper turned his head toward Ren. A red scanning beam swept over Ren's body.
[SCANNING... REN, ID #9921.]
[SOCIAL CREDIT: 12.3.]
[PULSE: 72 BPM. ADRENALINE: BASELINE.]
[VERACITY CHECK: SUBJECT IS PERFORMING STANDARD MAINTENANCE DUTIES.]
The Peacekeeper looked back at Harlen. "The janitor's score is too low to even access your terminal, Harlen. Your attempt to shift blame onto a compliant citizen has been recorded as an additional 'Malicious Intent' penalty."
"But he—!"
The Peacekeeper didn't let him finish. He stepped forward and pressed a small, silver disc against Harlen's neck. A "Neural Lock."
Harlen's body went rigid. His eyes rolled back into his head as his Social Credit Score, displayed on his office wall, began to plummet.
412... 300... 150... 50... 0.
[NOTIFICATION: CITIZEN HARLEN HAS REACHED ZERO. COMMENCING DELETION.]
Harlen didn't even have time to scream as the Peacekeepers dragged him out of the office. His heels clicked against the obsidian floor—the same floor he had forced Ren to clean a thousand times.
Ren stood in the empty office. He picked up the coffee cup Harlen had used earlier and poured the dregs onto the floor. Then, he moved his mop over it, cleaning it perfectly.
[MISSION ACCOMPLISHED: THE REVENGE.]
[REWARD: 1,000 SIN POINTS.]
[BONUS: +1.0 STRENGTH. +1.0 AGILITY.]
[NEW CATEGORY UNLOCKED: WEAPONRY.]
[CURRENT SIN POINTS: 1,300]
[DETECTION METER: 12%]
The detection meter had jumped. The Agency was alert now. Two high-level incidents in one night was statistically impossible in a city of Harmony. They would be looking for a pattern. They would be looking for a glitch.
Ren walked out of the office, pushing his cart toward the elevator. He felt different. His muscles felt tighter, more responsive. His mind was clear. The fear that had defined his entire life—the fear of a low score, the fear of Harlen, the fear of the dark—was gone. It had been replaced by a hunger.
He wasn't just surviving anymore. He was playing.
As the elevator doors closed, the System's cold voice echoed in his mind.
[SIN POINTS EXCEED 1,000. DO YOU WISH TO ENTER THE SHOP?]
"Yes," Ren thought.
A list of weapons appeared, glowing in shades of neon violet.
[Monofilament Wire]: A garrote that can cut through reinforced steel. (400 SP)
[Pulse Dagger]: A blade that disrupts neural pathways on contact. (600 SP)
[Shadow Jacket]: Light-bending fabric that grants 5 seconds of invisibility. (1,000 SP)
Ren's eyes lingered on the Shadow Jacket. If he was going to dismantle the Agency, he needed to be more than a ghost in the machine. He needed to be a ghost in the world.
"Buy the Shadow Jacket," Ren commanded.
[PURCHASE COMPLETE. ITEM STORED IN SUB-SPACE INVENTORY.]
He reached into the air, and his hand disappeared as it touched a fabric that felt like cold smoke. He pulled it out, draped it over his arm, and felt the power of it.
The elevator reached the ground floor. The doors opened to a lobby swarming with Peacekeepers. A heavy-duty tactical unit was marching toward the elevators, led by a woman in an officer's uniform. Her Credit Score was displayed on her shoulder: 982.
She stopped in front of Ren's elevator. Her eyes were sharp, like a hawk's.
"Janitor," she said. Her voice was like ice. "The West Tower is under lockdown. Why are you still on the clock?"
Ren bowed low, the Shadow Jacket hidden beneath his dirty cleaning rags. "I was told to finish the East Wing, Officer. I didn't know there was a problem."
She stepped into his space, her scanner humming. Ren felt the Digital Ghost ability working overtime, masking the adrenaline that was now pouring through his system.
"There is a problem," she said, leaning in. "Two Leads are dead or deleted. And you were in both sectors."
Ren didn't blink. "I'm a janitor, Officer. I'm everywhere trash is."
She stared at him for a long, agonizing beat. The detection meter in Ren's HUD ticked up.
13%... 14%... 15%...
Finally, she stepped back. "Report to the processing center for a full biometric scrub. If your score drops by even a decimal, you'll be processed with the rest of the waste."
"Yes, Officer. Thank you, Officer."
Ren pushed his cart past her, his heart steady, his mind already calculating his next move. The processing center was a trap, but it was also an opportunity. It was where the City kept its central server for this district.
If he could get inside... if he could use the Karma Protocol on the City's own brain...
Ren smiled to himself. The City wanted Harmony? He was going to give them a symphony of screams.
[NEW MISSION: THE HEART OF THE MACHINE.]
[OBJECTIVE: INFILTRATE THE DISTRICT DATA HUB.]
[REWARD: 5,000 SIN POINTS. RANK UP TO: SINNER GRADE 2.]
Ren turned a corner and vanished into the shadows, the janitor's cart left behind like a discarded shell. The ghost had found his teeth.