The sky over Neo-Tokyo wasn't just purple anymore; it was flickering. With the Platinum Bull vaulted in Yuto's chest, the physical world's connection to the "Value System" was tethered only by the Omni-Corp Lunar Colony—the high-security backup server where the elite stored their true consciousness.
As the remaining four Directors retreated into their orbital escape pods, the Lead Director's shattered mechanical corpse began to self-destruct, leaking corrosive "Debt-Cloud" gas into the Stock Exchange.
"Master, the air is becoming expensive!" Shion coughed, her wings sparking. "The Bank is trying to 'Tax' our existence! If we stay here, we'll be breathing at a rate of 5,000 Fragments per minute!"
Yuto didn't flinch. He looked at Rin, who was standing in the center of the chaos. She wasn't scared anymore. In fact, she looked… focused.
"Yuto," Rin said, her voice sounding layered, as if a thousand voices were speaking in unison. "I can see the lines. The loans, the interest, the hidden fees… they're all just golden threads connecting this city to the moon. They're trying to pull the world's 'Data' up there to reboot the market."
"Can you cut them?" Yuto asked.
"No," Rin smiled, and for a second, her eyes turned into pure, shimmering silver. "I can reinvest them."
Rin reached out and grabbed a handful of the corrosive red gas. Instead of dissolving her, the gas turned a brilliant, peaceful white.
[System Notification: RIN_KUROSAWA has activated [Passive: Universal Basic Dividend].]
The "Debt-Cloud" that was supposed to kill the survivors suddenly became a healing mist. The injured traders and citizens outside the Exchange felt their physical exhaustion vanish. Rin wasn't a hoarder like Yuto; she was a Distributor.
"If I'm the Bank," Yuto realized, feeling the pressure in his chest stabilize for the first time, "then you're the Currency."
"Vanguard!" Yuto roared, pointing his glowing right hand toward the massive Omni-Corp Moon-Base visible in the daylight sky. "We're going to the moon. We have a hostile takeover to finish, and I'm not paying for a shuttle."