The rain in District 9 tasted like copper and ozone.
Jaxen Vane leaned against a rusted ventilation pipe, his eyes fixed on the neon-blue tower that pierced the smog of Neo-Seoul. That was the Aegis Spire, the physical manifestation of the System's local server. Up there, the "Ascended" drank champagne while their HUDs displayed infinite wealth.
Down here, Jaxen was staring at a flickering red notification in his peripheral vision.
[Warning: Critical Battery.]
[Oxygen Credits: 0.04% Remaining.]
[System Status: Null-Rank Trash.]
"Come on," Jaxen hissed, tapping the side of his neural-link port behind his ear. "Just give me five more minutes."
In this world, if you didn't have "Player" status, you didn't have a right to breathe the filtered air. You had to buy it. And Jaxen was flat broke.
"Well, well. If it isn't the Ghost of District 9."
The heavy stomp of magnetic boots echoed in the alleyway. Brutus Kahl stepped out of the shadows. Brutus was a Level 24 "Enforcer," his body augmented with heavy-duty System-grade hydraulics. A holographic rank floated above his head, glowing a confident, mocking green.
"You're late with the tribute, Jax," Brutus grunted, his cybernetic eye zooming in on Jaxen's trembling hands. "The Syndicate doesn't like it when their pet scavenger goes offline."
"The scrap yards were picked clean by the High-Rankers, Brutus. There's nothing left but ghost-code," Jaxen replied, his voice raspy from the thinning air.
Brutus laughed, a metallic, grating sound. He grabbed Jaxen by the throat, lifting him off the ground. The System's "Force-Feedback" kicked in, making Jaxen feel every ounce of Brutus's Level 24 strength.
"Then I guess we'll just trade your organs for credits. A Null's heart still fetches a decent price on the black market."
Brutus's grip tightened. Jaxen's vision began to swim.
[Oxygen: 0.01%]
[Life Signs: Failing.]
[System Note: Initiating Standard Deletion of Low-Value Asset...]
No, Jaxen thought, a cold, crystalline rage shattering the fear in his mind. If this world is just a simulation, then I'm tired of being a bug.
With his last bit of strength, Jaxen reached into his jacket and pulled out a jagged, glowing shard of obsidian—a "Source Fragment" he'd spent three years digging out of the Spire's trash chutes.
He didn't use it as a weapon. He jammed it directly into his own neural-link port.
"EXECUTE... OVERRIDE!" Jaxen screamed.
The world froze.
The rain stopped in mid-air, hanging like millions of glass needles. The HUD over Brutus's head began to flicker violently, the green light turning a bloody, corrupted red.
Jaxen's mind didn't explode. Instead, it expanded. He felt the city—not as buildings and streets, but as infinite streams of falling green binary. He saw the "Physics Engine" holding the rain. He saw the "Combat Script" controlling Brutus's arm.
And he saw the Source Code.
[CRITICAL ERROR: UNAUTHORIZED SYSTEM ACCESS.]
[LOCAL ADMIN PRIVILEGES GRANTED TO: JAXEN VANE.]
[Current Status: THE ARCHITECT (Level 0)]
Jaxen looked at Brutus, who was frozen in time, his face twisted in a sneer. Above Brutus's head, the data stream for his "Strength Stat" was visible.
[Strength: 240]
Jaxen reached out and "swiped" the number in the air.
[Strength: 0.01]
Time slammed back into motion.
Brutus's arm suddenly buckled, turning as soft as wet paper. He collapsed under the weight of his own armor, screaming as his hydraulics hissed and failed.
"What... what did you do to me?!" Brutus shrieked, crawling in the mud, unable to even lift his head.
Jaxen stood over him, his eyes no longer brown, but a deep, glowing digital teal. He felt the oxygen pumping into his lungs—not because he had credits, but because he had simply deleted the "Need for Credits" in his personal status bar.
"I didn't do anything, Brutus," Jaxen said, his voice echoing with a strange, layered resonance. "I just fixed a bug in the System."
He looked up at the Aegis Spire. For the first time, he didn't see a fortress. He saw a target.
"And I'm just getting started."