"The rich get ready. The smart get quiet."
July 1st, 2049 – 7:45 AM
The morning light filtered through the blinds as Kael sat at his desk, eyes locked onto the trading screen before him. The numbers glowed back, cold and precise.
*DivineTech (DTECH): +412%*
*NeuralForge (NFORG): +283%*
His account balance: $79,500.
A sum grown from a gamble only he had known would succeed. The kind of gamble that would have seemed insane to anyone else—anyone who hadn't already seen how the future played out.
A faint smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
He checked the timer again.
29 days, 16 hours, and 12 minutes until Eidolon launched.
8:00 AM – Priority One: Pay the Devil First
The transfer was quick. A wire of $25,000 sent to the burner account Sloan had provided the night before. No message. No confirmation.
A single checkmark appeared beside the transaction.
Debt cleared. No interest. No broken knees.
Kael exhaled, long and slow, feeling the weight lift from his shoulders.
Now, he could move freely.
Now, the real work began.
July 2nd to July 30th – Slow, Silent, Steady
He didn't rush.
Every move was calculated, every purchase deliberate. No credit cards. No flashy spending. No digital footprint left behind.
He bought a small house in the hills—just far enough from the city to avoid notice, but close enough to stay connected. Quiet. Secure. Isolated, but not entirely off the grid. The perfect place to disappear while still keeping a hand in the game.
The basement became his workshop. A NeuralForge capsule was installed, calibrated, and tested. He stockpiled supplies—dry food, water, medical kits, batteries, solar backups—enough to last a year if necessary.
(And it would be necessary.)
He made his purchases in small, scattered transactions—different stores, different delivery dates, different fake identities. No patterns. No red flags.
To the outside world, he was a ghost.
But beneath the surface, he was preparing for war.
By the third week, the capsule was ready.
By the fourth, he had memorized every scrap of intel he had archived—patch notes, data leaks, beta test logs, NPC behavior patterns. The world buzzed with speculation about Eidolon, but Kael didn't speculate.
He knew.
And while others laughed and theorized, he sharpened his blade and waited.
July 31st, 2049 – 11:30 PM
Rain tapped against the windows, a quiet rhythm in the dark.
Kael sat in the chair beside his full-dive capsule, a half-finished cup of coffee cooling beside him. His notebook lay open on the desk, the final page now complete.
Launch gear: Ready.
VR Capsule: Synced.
Emergency protocols: Secured.
Starting Server: Random.
(A lie. Nothing about this would be random.)
His gaze drifted to the black key resting beside the console.
It pulsed faintly, warm to the touch, as if alive with anticipation.
"This time," he murmured, "I'm already inside the walls before they even build them."
11:59:59 PM
The clock ticked its final second.
A soft chime echoed through the room.
The capsule's interface flared to life, bathing him in pale blue light.
A voice, smooth and synthetic, spoke into the silence.
"Welcome to Eidolon."