Dawn did not break over the Rust District, it was imposed upon it.
Usually, the morning in the slums was a slow crawl of grey light filtered through a ceiling of smog and hanging laundry. But today, the sky was a violent, artificial gold. It was the color of a polished coin, a radiant "Purification Light" that cast no shadows. It didn't feel warm; it felt sterile, like a doctor's office before a painful surgery.
Kai stood at the flap of the storage tent, his rusted breastplate feeling heavier than ever. He adjusted the violet silk cravat tucked into his collar—a habit of the "Hardware" (Vane's body) that his "Software" (Kai's soul) couldn't seem to delete.
[STATUS: ENERGY LEVEL 81%]
[DECAY RATE: -1% PER MINUTE]
[WARNING: AMBIENT PITY DETECTED. ENERGY DISSIPATION ACCELERATING.]
Kai winced. He looked out into the camp. The rebels weren't shouting at him anymore. They were sharpening notched swords and checking the strings on their recurve bows. Some were hugging their families. As they passed the storage tent and saw the "pathetic Baron" standing there, their glares weren't full of the sharp, hot spite he'd felt yesterday.
Instead, their eyes were soft. Sad.
"Poor bastard," he heard a man mutter as he hauled a crate of jagged arrowheads. "He's just a pig for Arthur's slaughter now. He doesn't even know he's already dead."
[WARNING: POSITIVE PITY DETECTED]
[STRENGTH -5%]
[ENERGY LEVEL: 79%]
Stop it, Kai thought, his jaw tightening. Hate me. Tell me I'm a leech. Don't feel sorry for me, you idiots. You're killing me.
"Vane!"
Elara strode toward him, her silhouette sharp against the golden sky. She was fully armored now—boiled leather over chainmail, with two short swords strapped to her thighs. Her face was a mask of cold determination, but there was a tremor in her hands that she couldn't quite hide.
"The Golden Army is on the ridge," she said, her voice tight. "They've cut off the sewer exits. We're boxed in."
"A strategic masterclass," Kai drawled, though his heart was hammering against his ribs. "Arthur really does love a grand entrance, doesn't he? I assume there will be a parade after the massacre? Or perhaps a commemorative tapestry?"
Elara grabbed him by the front of his rusted breastplate, jerking him forward. Her amber eyes were inches from his. "Listen to me, you useless parasite. My people are about to die for a cause they believe in. You? You're just here because you're too clumsy to stay hidden. If you have even a shred of that 'luck' left from yesterday, use it. Prove you're not just a drain on our air. Fight with us, or get out and distract them so the children can get to the lower pipes."
Kai looked at her. He could feel her fear, her desperation. If he told her the truth—that he could shatter a man's skull with a flick of his wrist—she would look at him with hope. She would trust him.
And then his energy would hit 0% in three minutes, and they'd both be executed.
"I think I'll opt for the 'distract them' plan," Kai said, pulling back with a nervous, pitchy laugh. "I'm much better at being a target than a soldier. Besides, I'd hate to get blood on this silk. It's hand-woven."
Elara let go of him as if he were covered in filth. "You're a coward to the marrow, Vane. I don't know why I expected anything else."
[SPITE MULTIPLIER: x1.4]
[ENERGY +2%]
It wasn't enough. The small boost from her disgust was being swallowed by the collective pity of the camp. Kai felt weak, his limbs heavy. He retreated into the shadows of the tent, sliding down a pile of grain sacks.
"What a mess," he whispered, staring at his trembling hands. "If I save them, I die. If I don't, they die. And Arthur gets a massive Legend Score for 'cleansing' the world of us. It's a perfect corporate merger."
"Baron?"
A small voice came from the corner of the tent. Kai jumped, his hand instinctively sparking with a tiny, violet static.
A little girl was standing there. She couldn't have been more than six. She wore a dress made of grey burlap, and her face was smudged with soot. In her hands, she clutched a small, crudely carved wooden horse.
"Who are you?" Kai asked, his voice softening despite himself.
"I'm Mia," she whispered. She stepped forward, her eyes wide and wet. She didn't look at him with hate. She looked at him with the terrifying, soul-crushing sincerity of a child. "My daddy used to talk about you."
Kai went still. "Did he?"
"He said your family came every month for the 'Golden Tithe,'" she said, holding out the wooden horse. "He was a carpenter and also the head of the village. He made this for me, but he had to sell his tools to pay the tax. Then he got sick... and we didn't have any money for the temple-light. He died last winter."
Kai felt a cold pit form in his stomach. This was the "Hardware's" history. Baron Vane hadn't just been a loser; he'd been the face of a slow, grinding cruelty.
"He said you were a bad man," Mia continued, her voice trembling. "But you look... you look like you're about to cry. You look scared, just like me. Do you want my horse? Daddy said it protects you from the bad things."
She held the horse out.
[CRITICAL WARNING: GENUINE SINCERITY DETECTED]
[POSITIVE EMOTION DEBUFF: EXTREME]
[ENERGY DRAINING: -5% PER MINUTE]
[ENERGY LEVEL: 68%]
Kai looked at the horse. He should have laughed. He should have told her to get lost. He should have stayed the Joker. But the "Software"—the soul of the man from Earth—cracked.
He reached out and took the horse with a shaking hand. It was rough, unfinished, and smelled of cedar and old dust.
"Thank you, Mia," he whispered.
The child nodded, wiped her nose, and ran back toward the tents. Kai looked down at the toy. Something shifted inside him. It wasn't "heroism"—it was a cold, calculated rage.
The ACA had set this up. They had made Vane a villain and Arthur a hero so they could harvest the energy of the "Purge." They had killed this girl's father for a Legend Score.
Kai tucked the horse into a hidden pouch beneath his breastplate. "Serene," he muttered, his voice dropping to a low, dangerous growl. "How much energy does Arthur have right now?"
[ANNOUNCING: PRINCE ARTHUR'S CURRENT RADIANCE IS SUSTAINED BY 50,000 LEGEND POINTS. HIS PHYSICAL OUTPUT IS RATED AT 'TITANIC.' HIS MORAL NARRATIVE IS 'THE RIGHTEOUS CLEANSER.']
"Righteous," Kai spat. "He's about to kill a thousand people to boost his stats."
Suddenly, the golden sky didn't just glow—it screamed.
A massive, amplified voice boomed across the Rust District, vibrating the very floorboards of the camp. It was a voice of pure authority, polished and perfect, lacking even a hint of doubt.
"PEOPLE OF THE RUST DISTRICT," the voice of Prince Arthur echoed. "YOU HARBOR AN ANOMALY. YOU PROTECT A FALSE BARON WHOSE VERY EXISTENCE IS A BLIGHT UPON THE ADULATION ENGINE."
Kai stood up. He walked to the edge of the platform and looked toward the ridge.
A sea of gold armor was lined up on the cliffs above. In the center, mounted on a white charger that seemed to be made of pure light, was Arthur. Even from this distance, he looked like a god. His cape billowed in a wind that didn't exist for anyone else.
"SURRENDER THE FALSE BARON VANE," Arthur's voice thundered. "SURRENDER THE GLITCH, OR I SHALL PURIFY EVERY SOUL IN THIS SECTOR. YOU HAVE ONE HOUR TO DELIVER HIM TO THE GATE. IF YOU DO NOT, THE LIGHT SHALL CONSUME YOU ALL."
The silence that followed was more deafening than the voice.
Kai felt the shift in the camp immediately. The pity was gone. It had been replaced by something much more useful for his power, but much more dangerous for his life.
The rebels began to turn toward the storage tent. They didn't see a "poor bastard" anymore. They saw the price of their lives.
[SPITE MULTIPLIER: x2.5 AND RISING]
[ENERGY LEVEL: 75%]
"One hour," Kai whispered, a dark, jagged smile touching his lips. He adjusted his violet silk cravat and checked the weight of the wooden horse in his pouch. "Well, Arthur... you wanted a 'Hero's Journey' climax. I think it's time we gave the audience something they've never seen before."
He looked at the System UI, which was now flashing red with the "Narrative Collision" warning.
"Let's see if your Legend Score can survive a massive rewrite."