The silence was absolute.
It was not the silence of a quiet room or a deserted city.
It was the silence of a world that had been physically deleted from the flow of time.
Outside the windows of the golden IRS ship the 12,450 mercenaries were frozen in mid-leap.
Executor Zariel's solar wings were locked in a static explosion of white fire.
The Gear City beneath them was a motionless painting of rust and steam.
EARTH 01 COUNTDOWN: 00:00:00
Kaelen Thorne stood on the bridge his hand still in the iron grip of Plutus.
The golden coins in the man's eye sockets did not reflect the light.
They seemed to pull the light from the room and convert it into a cold numerical static.
You look confused Kaelen Plutus said his voice sounding like the rhythmic clinking of silver coins in a velvet bag.
Did you think the System gave you a second chance because of your potential?
Did you think a machine of pure logic would care about your tragedy?
Plutus let go of Kaelen's wrist and walked toward the center of the bridge.
He moved with an unsettling grace his white suit remaining perfectly pristine despite the temporal freeze.
The System is a marketplace Kaelen Plutus continued.
And every market requires an initial investment.
Ten years ago I saw a soul that was worth absolutely nothing.
You were a Rank F logistics officer dying in a gutter.
To the Gods you were trash.
But to me you were a Tax Write Off.
Kaelen rubbed his wrist where the skin was still cold from Plutus's touch.
His heart seal was pulsing a deep dark red.
A tax write-off? Kaelen asked his voice a low rasp.
Exactly Plutus said turning to face him.
I paid Saturn for your regression.
I funded your Ledger.
I even seeded the initial Influence Points that allowed you to survive the first day.
I needed a 'Dirty Auditor' Kaelen.
Someone who could bypass the Divine Laws and liquidate the bad debts of the High Council.
I wanted you to do the work that the IRS couldn't legally perform.
Kaelen felt a cold realization settle in his gut.
He had been playing the role of the master strategist while he was nothing more than an Outsourced Collection Agent.
Everything I've built Kaelen whispered.
The Academy. The Shadow Scholarship. The Void Swarm.
You let it happen because it was cleaning up your balance sheet.
Plutus nodded once and the coins in his eyes spun with a greedy metallic sound.
Precisely.
You've done a magnificent job Kaelen.
You've bankrupted the Abyss and humbled the Heavens.
But now that the world is 'Clean' the loan has reached its maturity date.
I am here to collect the Principal.
[SYSTEM MESSAGE]
[DEBT RECALL INITIATED: PLUTUS VS KAELEN THORNE]
[PRINCIPAL AMOUNT: ONE REBORN SOUL]
[COLLATERAL: EVERY ASSET HELD BY THE LEDGER]
Kaelen looked at the countdown on his screen.
00:00:00
Wait Kaelen said his mind calculating at a speed that blurred his vision.
If the world is at zero why hasn't it been deleted yet?
Plutus smiled and it was the most terrifying thing Kaelen had ever seen.
Because I've just placed Earth 01 on a Negative Interest Plan.
Every second the world stays at zero it is borrowing time from the Abyss.
And since the Abyss is currently bankrupted because of you they are charging a rate that will eventually consume the history of your world.
You're not saving Earth 01 Kaelen.
You're drowning it in a debt that can never be repaid.
[WARNING: NEGATIVE TIME ACCUMULATING]
[CURRENT DEFICIT: -00:05:12]
Kaelen looked at the white light of the bridge.
He looked at the [HEAVENLY REVENUE CORE] sitting in the center of the room.
He realized that Plutus wasn't just here for his soul.
He was here to take the Core and leave Kaelen with the bill for the entire apocalypse.
It's a classic Bust-Out Kaelen said his eyes glowing with a sharp gold light.
You used me to liquidate your rivals and now you're going to burn the evidence by letting the world default in negative time.
You're a good student Kaelen Plutus said reaching for the Revenue Core.
Now give me the Ledger.
Kaelen didn't give him the book.
Instead he walked toward the CRT monitor of the bridge and began to type.
His fingers were a blur of obsidian light.
If you are the lender Plutus Kaelen said then you are also the one responsible for the Credit Risk.
Plutus paused his hand inches from the starlight chest. Credit risk?
According to the Multiversal Banking Code Kaelen said his voice echoing with the authority of a man who had nothing left to lose.
If a lender provides capital to a 'Sub-Prime' borrower without performing a proper audit the lender is liable for the resulting loss.
I was a Rank F dying in the mud Plutus.
You knew I was an insolvent soul.
By funding my regression you committed Predatory Lending.
Kaelen slammed his hand onto the 'Enter' key.
[SKILL ACTIVATED: THE TOXIC ASSET DEFENSE]
[EFFECT: DECLARING THE LEDGER AS A 'TOTAL LOSS' FOR THE INVESTOR]
[TARGET: PLUTUS]
Plutus's white suit began to stain with a dark grey liquid.
The golden coins in his eyes stopped spinning.
What... what have you done? Plutus hissed.
I've just reclassified the Ledger as a Toxic Asset Kaelen said.
And since you are the one who funded it the entire debt of the one million students and the three million years of Gear City is now being transferred to Your Personal Account.
[SYSTEM MESSAGE]
[DEBT TRANSFER SUCCESSFUL]
[PLUTUS HAS INHERITED THE LIABILITIES OF EARTH 01]
The golden IRS ship began to groan.
The white light turned a sickly shade of grey.
You fool! Plutus roared as his skin began to crack and turn into brass.
If I go down the IRS goes down! The entire Divine Market will crash!
I'm not a market maker anymore Plutus Kaelen said stepping closer to the man.
I'm a Liquidator.
And a liquidator's job is to make sure the debts are settled before the doors are locked.
Kaelen grabbed the [HEAVENLY REVENUE CORE] and held it over the edge of the bridge.
If you want your capital back Plutus you have to pay the Negative Interest yourself.
Plutus looked at the glowing starlight chest and then at Kaelen.
He realized the trap.
To save his own standing in the IRS he had to use his personal mana to stop the countdown.
Plutus let out a scream of pure financial agony.
He raised his hands and a torrent of golden light flowed from his body into the Earth 01 timer.
-00:10:00... 00:00:01... 01:00:00...
EARTH 01 COUNTDOWN: +24 HOURS
The world outside began to move again.
The mercenaries finished their leaps and the gears of the city began to grind.
Plutus fell to his knees his white suit now a tattered grey rag.
He was no longer a CFO.
He was an investor who had just lost his entire fortune on a single bad bet.
You... you've ruined me Kaelen Plutus wheezed.
I've just balanced the books Kaelen replied.
Kaelen turned to Lia and Silas who had just burst into the bridge.
Lia. Eat the Revenue Core.
Lia Sinclair didn't ask questions.
She lunged at the starlight chest and consumed it in a single violet flash.
[SYSTEM MESSAGE]
[LIA SINCLAIR HAS EVOLVED: THE DIVINE REVENUE EATER]
[YOU HAVE ACQUIRED THE POWER TO TAX THE GODS]
Kaelen looked at the broken man on the floor.
Get off my ship Plutus Kaelen said.
And tell Saturn that I'm no longer an employee.
I'm a Direct Competitor.