Oakland was a dying city beneath a lead-colored sky, where the rain was not water but black ink—staining souls long before it touched flesh.In this concrete labyrinth, humans did not even own their own breaths; every inhale was logged in the Ledgers of Cosmic Debt managed by the Agency.
On the thirtieth floor, behind a rotting wooden door bearing a faded brass plaque that read"Alistair — Mediator of Existential Disputes,"silence weighed so heavily it was almost audible.
Alistair sat slumped in his leather chair. Twenty-three years old, yet carved with an unnatural severity—handsome in a cold, sharpened way. His jet-black hair fell in deliberately careless strands over thin-framed glasses. Behind the lenses, his eyes were not merely gray; a faint blue digital glimmer pulsed within them whenever contract data scrolled across his vision.
Suddenly, the room shuddered.Not the building—reality itself.
[SYSTEM WARNING: Spatial Tear Detected — 10 meters][STATUS: Illegal Property Overlap][ALERT: "Bullet" Pulse Unstable]
The door exploded inward.
A man stumbled in, dragging his small son behind him. The child wasn't crying—he emitted a sound like static from an old radio. His right hand was gone entirely, replaced by a black void that devoured the light around it.
"Mr. Alistair—please!" the father screamed, his voice frayed, his eyes hollow from sleeplessness."I paid! I swear I gave up my wedding memories and my singing voice to renew the contract. Why is my son disappearing?!"
Alistair rose slowly. Every movement felt taxed, as though his young body carried tons of accumulated debt. He removed his black leather glove, revealing a pale hand veined with liquid gold, the lines intertwining into forbidden legal sigils.
"Mr. Miller," Alistair said, his voice calm as a graveyard."You paid the wrong owner. The land beneath your home was mortgaged on the Shadow Market last night. You are now living in a dead zone."
"What does that mean?! Save him—do anything!"
Alistair stepped closer. The child's head had begun to turn translucent. He placed his hand atop it—and gasped.The scar at his temple, where the Source-Code Bullet rested, ignited with a deep crimson glow.
[SYSTEM: Initiating Forced Acquisition of Territory][REQUIRED TAX: 5 Years of Broker's Lifespan][CONFIRM 'PARTIAL SUICIDE CLAUSE'?]
"I accept," Alistair whispered through clenched teeth.
Golden light surged from his hand into the child's body. The black void recoiled, unraveling, and the small hand reformed—but the cost struck immediately.A lock of Alistair's black hair turned snow-white. A new tattoo crawled up his neck, forming a collar of barbed wire.
"He's restored," Alistair said, swaying as he braced himself against the desk."But now you owe me something no Landlord can claim. Leave. And don't look back."
The man fled, clutching his son.
Darkness thickened inside the office.
"Pathetic altruism," a voice hissed from behind the curtains—like knives grinding together."You sell years of your youth to save an insect that will die in the next eviction anyway."
The Debt Collector emerged.
It had no face—only a melting wax mask. Threads of darkness spilled from its sleeves, coiling around the furniture legs.
"Redback, the Great Landlord, has lost patience," the entity whispered, leaning close enough for its breath to frost Alistair's skin."He has begun demolishing the Harbor Sector. He wants the bullet your father stole and hid in your skull.If you do not present yourself and sign the Final Relinquishment Contract… Oakland will be reduced to existential ash."
Alistair touched the scar at his temple. The bullet pulsed violently—like a second, bloodthirsty heart.
He smiled. Pale. Defiant.
"Tell Redback I'm coming," he said, pulling a heavy brass revolver from his coat and loading it with bullets engraved with the words VOID OF CONTRACT."But I won't be coming to sign.I'm coming to declare his bankruptcy."
Alistair stepped into the black rain.
With every step, the blue screen flickered before his eyes:
[MISSION: Confront Landlord 'Redback'][THREAT LEVEL: LETHAL][SURVIVAL PROBABILITY: 12%… DECREASING]