The first snow of the season had come in the night, dusting Vladivostok in white and muting the city's usual noise. From his apartment window, Mitya watched the harbor cranes move slowly against the pale sky, their long arms lifting containers like toys. The Ledger sat in the corner of his vision, steady at 21,200.00, Reputation +7. Enough to feel momentum, not enough to feel safe.
The System's voice broke the quiet.
Operator: New contract opportunity. Origin: Southeast Asia. Scope: heavy equipment acquisition. Risk: moderate to high. Reward: significant.
A map unfolded in his mind's eye, zooming out from the familiar contours of the Golden Horn Bay to the warm, crowded ports of the South China Sea. The target was a shipment of specialized heavy‑caliber weapons — the kind that could tilt a regional conflict. The buyer was anonymous, as always, but the System tagged them as Tier 2 — Reliable.
The Offer
Type: Acquisition & DeliveryOrigin: Port of Surabaya, IndonesiaDestination: Vladivostok (secure drop)Reward: 15,000.00 + Reputation Increment (Intermediate Tier)Complication: Rival crew interference likely.Special Condition: Buyer requests "market softening" in target region before delivery.
Mitya frowned. "Market softening?"
The System responded with a new icon in his interface — a stylized ripple spreading outward.
Module unlocked: Influence. Function: indirect manipulation of rival operations, market conditions, and buyer sentiment. Methods: economic disruption, misinformation, targeted scarcity.
It was the first time the System had offered him a tool that wasn't about moving or fighting. This was about shaping the ground before you stepped on it.
Testing the Module
The Influence module opened like a control room. Data streams flowed past — shipping manifests, black‑market price indexes, encrypted chatter from forums he'd never seen. The System highlighted a rival crew operating out of Manila, one of the main suppliers to Surabaya's black‑market docks.
Objective: destabilize rival's supply chain. Method: operator's choice.
Mitya considered. A direct hit would be noisy. Better to make them stumble on their own.
He selected a series of "market nudges":
Leak a false customs alert on their next incoming shipment.
Seed rumors in their buyer network about quality issues.
Quietly raise the price of their preferred smuggling route by bribing a key dock official.
The System executed the plan in the background, each action a silent stone dropped into the water.
Sable's Curiosity
Two days later, Sable found him at a dockside café, the kind with cracked vinyl seats and tea that tasted faintly of rust.
"You've been busy," Sable said, stirring sugar into his cup. "Word is, a Manila crew just lost half their contracts."
Mitya kept his expression neutral. "Markets shift."
Sable's smile was thin. "Markets don't shift that fast without a push. You're playing a bigger game now."
"Maybe," Mitya said. "Maybe I'm just lucky."
Sable leaned back. "Luck runs out. Skill doesn't. Just remember — the higher you climb, the more people can see you."
Surabaya
By the time Mitya reached Surabaya, the Influence module's work was already visible. The rival crew's presence was reduced to a few nervous men guarding half‑empty warehouses. The shipment he needed was sitting in a container yard, unclaimed and under‑watched.
Vega and two operatives moved with him through the humid night air, the smell of salt and diesel thick around them. The System fed him the container's exact location, along with the patrol schedule of the yard's private security.
They moved in during a gap, cutting the lock and sliding the doors open. Inside, the weapons were packed in foam, gleaming under the beam of his flashlight.
Operator: Package secured. Extraction route: sea, via chartered freighter.
The Interruption
They were halfway to the dock when headlights flared at the end of the street. A truck blocked the road, and men spilled out — not the Manila crew, but locals, armed and tense.
Vega's voice was calm. "Ambush."
The System overlaid firing arcs and cover points. Mitya made a choice — not to fight, but to vanish. He triggered a Cleanroom extraction on the container, watching it shimmer out of existence even as the locals advanced.
By the time they reached the spot, the cargo was gone. Confusion rippled through their ranks. Mitya and his team slipped away down a side street, the humid air thick with the smell of rain.
The Delivery
Back in Vladivostok, the container re‑materialized in a secure drop site. The buyer's confirmation came within the hour.
Ledger: 36,200.00Reputation: +9 (Intermediate Tier)Note: Influence module effectiveness — high.
The Reflection
That night, Mitya sat in the Cleanroom, watching the ripples from his actions spread across the map. A crew in Manila scrambling to rebuild. A buyer in Surabaya quietly shifting allegiance. A dock official in Jakarta suddenly wealthier.
The System's voice was almost approving.
Operator: Influence is leverage. Leverage is survival.
He understood. Moving goods was one thing. Moving the currents that carried them — that was power.