The huge billboard made Lunessa's legs stop moving. Not because she was tired from the long walk, but because of the man on it.
Julian Hale — CEO of Helios Pharmaceutical.
'He should rename the company to Hell-Expensive-To-Get-Medicine,' she cursed silently.
Staring up at the screen, she tilted her head, looking at his flawless and emotionless face as he signed some glowing contract that probably decided the life and death of people she would never meet. She didn't need the announcer's speech to understand the whole thing.
When people in suits shook hands, someone at the bottom always paid the price.
And today, that someone was her.
She tightened her grip on the plastic bag in her hand. She held two boxes of cheap fever medicine and a loaf of bread. Everything she could afford after arriving in the city yesterday morning. Back in the village, they could survive with little. But survival meant nothing when her sister needed real treatment.
Dinner or medicine?
Pick one. But honestly, sometimes even choices were a luxury.
Lunessa looked back up at the billboard. Julian Hale probably didn't even know what "expensive" felt like. To him, it was a number. To her, it was a death sentence.
A laugh slipped out of her small lips, thin and humorless. Easier to laugh than to scream at a man who would never hear her.
"What am I even supposed to do?" she muttered to the sky, as if the clouds might answer.
One week.
That was all the doctor gave her. A week to come up with the money for Laura's operation. A week before things became irreversible.
She dragged a hand down her face. If this were one of those old books she used to read in the village, this would be the scene where a miracle appeared. A stranger would offer help. A path would open. Something or anything that would change their fate.
But this was real life.
Real life didn't hand out miracles to girls like her, it delivered cruel reality.
The city wind cut through her thin jacket as she started walking again, back into the noise and bright lights that made her feel even smaller.
"Miss!"
Someone stopped her by shoving a flyer into her hand, wearing a smile that was far too bright and far too energetic.
"Wishing you good luck!" the woman chirped before skipping off to ambush another victim.
Lunessa blinked down at the paper.
If this turned out to be another flyer advertising wife recruitment for some rich, dying old man, she swore she would burn this entire city down.
The paper was blank.
Completely blank.
"What the hell?" she muttered. "Did scams get an upgrade?"
She crushed the flyer in her fist.
Instead of crumpling, it cracked.
A sharp sting shot through her palm.
She gasped and opened her hand just in time to watch the "paper" fracture into glowing shards, dissolving into the air like broken glass.
Cold light crawled up her arm, flooding her vision with static.
[SYSTEM ACTIVATING…]
[HOST MATCH CONFIRMED]
[WELCOME, TEST SUBJECT]
Her heart slammed against her ribs.
"What is this…?"
A hologram screen suddenly appeared before her, flickering.
[GOLD DIGGER SYSTEM v1.0]
Survival Mode: ON
Poverty Level: CRITICAL
Emergency Event Detected
She stumbled back in shock.
"Gold… Digger? Seriously?"
The system ignored her disbelief, as if it expected nothing less from her.
She closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose.
'Of course. One day in this city and I'm already hallucinating. Perfect.'
"Great," she whispered, letting out a weak laugh. "Now I'm going insane."
She turned away and forced herself to walk. "Get a grip, Lunessa. You're just tired. Hungry. Stressed. You're not seeing—"
Then the voice returned, clear and mechanical.
[TARGET LOCKED:JULIAN HALE]
"Sorry?" Her head snapped back toward the flickering light.
The hologram hovered there, steady and unbothered.
[HOST, PLEASE SELECT A SYSTEM PERSONALITY]
[OPTION 1: FRIENDLY]
[OPTION 2: ROBOTIC]
She stared at it.
"What?"
[SELECTION REQUIRED]
She glared at the floating hologram, "I'm not selecting anything. I'm going home."
She turned away again and marched down the sidewalk. She didn't have time for floating screens and imaginary software asking for personality settings. Her sister was in a hospital bed. Her wallet was crying. Her sanity was hanging by a thread.
So no, she was not entertaining this.
She had barely taken a few steps when the hologram reappeared and this time directly in front of her face.
She yelped and stumbled back. "Can you not?!"
[HOST DETECTED. RUNNING INTRODUCTION SEQUENCE.]
The light brightened.
[LET ME INTRODUCE MYSELF, MISS LUNESSA.]
She stiffened. Something about the way it said her name felt… too intentional.
[I AM THE GOLD DIGGER SYSTEM v1.0.]
The voice was calm. Precise. Not friendly. Not robotic. Something in between.
[YOU ARE MY FIRST HOST.]
Her breath caught. "First? As in… no one before me?"
[CORRECT. THERE HAS NEVER BEEN ANOTHER HOST. YOU WERE SELECTED UPON ACTIVATION.]
'Selected. By what? Why me?'
The hologram continued before she could ask.
[MY PURPOSE IS TO ENSURE YOUR SURVIVAL IN THIS WORLD'S CURRENT SOCIOECONOMIC CONDITIONS.]
[I PROVIDE MISSIONS.]
[YOU COMPLETE THEM.]
[YOU RECEIVE MONEY, MEDICAL ACCESS, AND SOCIAL ADVANTAGES.]
She swallowed. "Why me?"
[YOUR SITUATION MATCHES ALL EMERGENCY CRITERIA.]
[FINANCIAL RISK: EXTREME]
[MEDICAL URGENCY: HIGH]
[FAMILY DEPENDENCY: CRITICAL]
[SURVIVAL PROBABILITY WITHOUT ASSISTANCE: 6%]
Her stomach tightened. Hearing her life summarized like a failing report card felt worse than she expected.
"Okay, enough," she muttered. "I get it. I'm pathetic, you didn't need to announce it loudly."
[NEGATIVE. YOU ARE THE OPTIMAL HOST.]
She froze. "That sounds worse."
The system ignored her.
[AS THE FIRST HOST, YOU WILL RECEIVE A PRIMARY TARGET CHOSEN BY THE SYSTEM.]
Her pulse spiked. "Chosen… for what?"
[MAIN OBJECTIVE: ACQUIRE RESOURCES NECESSARY FOR SURVIVAL.]
[PRIMARY TARGET: JULIAN HALE.]
The name hit her harder than the glowing screen.
Julian Hale — The billboard man.
The man who controlled the medicine Laura needed.
[PREPARATION IS RECOMMENDED. MISSION BRIEFING WILL BEGIN SHORTLY.]
She took a shaky step back. "No. Wait. I didn't agree to anything."
The screen flickered, steady and unbothered.
[AGREEMENT IS NOT REQUIRED. ACTIVATION HAS BEEN COMPLETED.]
Her heart thudded painfully.
"Excuse me?"
[FIRST MISSION: MAKE JULIAN HALE NOTICE YOU.]
[REWARD: $5000]