[Internal Ledger: YUTO_KUROSAWA (Admin)] [Status: Asset Migration Initiated.] [Vault Pressure: 52%. Warning: Localized gravity causing tectonic tremors in Sector 4.]
The apartment was a wreck. Smoldering pieces of a billion-dollar kinetic dampener littered the floor, and the wall in the hallway was missing a six-foot section of cinderblock.
Yuto stood by the shattered window, looking out at the neon skyline of the Inner City. The massive, gold-plated towers of the Omni-Corp Financial District loomed in the distance, protected by anti-aircraft turrets and private military drones.
"Yuto," Rin said, stepping over a piece of melted carpet. "They're just going to keep coming, aren't they? They won't stop until they get the Ledger back."
"They won't stop as long as they think I'm a liability they can write off," Yuto replied, his voice a low, vibrating rumble that made the remaining windowpanes rattle. "If you want a bank to stop bothering you, you don't hide. You walk into the lobby and demand to speak to the manager."
Isabella wiped the blood of a corporate assassin off her water-blade. "The 'lobby' in this world is the Global Stock Exchange, isn't it? The place where they track the value of every soul in the city?"
"Exactly," Yuto said. He turned to Shion, who was currently trying to lick the copper wiring out of a broken lamp. "Shion. Stop eating the infrastructure. I need you to ghost-code us a transport. We're going to the Central District."
"But Master!" Shion whined, sparks flying from her mouth. "The Central District has Level 100 firewalls! If I try to hack their transit system, they'll fry my pigtails!"
"You aren't hacking them," Yuto said, reaching into his Vault and pulling out a single, glowing [Dev-String] he'd been hoarding since Floor 10. "You're going to physically tether my offline mass to the city's mag-lev rail. We aren't riding the train. We're hijacking the momentum."
Ayase sheathed her sword with a sharp click. "A forced merger. Truly, the Alpha's tactical greed is a sight to behold."