The air in the Unity Center was filtered to a sterile, odorless perfection. It was the kind of air that only the High-Credits deserved to breathe. For Ren, a Level 1 Janitor with a Social Credit Score of 12.4, the air felt like a borrowed luxury he could never afford to pay back.
Ren gripped the handle of his sonic-mop, his knuckles white. The floor of the Executive Wing was a sheet of black obsidian, polished so brightly it reflected the flickering fluorescent light of his own low-level existence. He moved with a practiced, invisible grace. In this city, the goal of a janitor was to be a ghost—seen but never noticed.
"Watch it, Zero," a voice sneered.
A pair of high-gloss white boots stepped directly into the path of Ren's mop. Ren didn't look up. He didn't need to. The voice belonged to Supervisor Harlen, a man whose Credit Score was comfortably in the 400s, granting him the right to treat anyone below 50 like trash.
Harlen tilted his cup. A stream of hot, synthetic coffee splashed onto the obsidian floor, right over the area Ren had just finished cleaning.
"You missed a spot," Harlen said, a cruel grin spreading across his face. He leaned in closer, his biometric scanner—a sleek silver ring on his finger—glowing green as it recorded his 'satisfaction' levels. "If your productivity rating drops another point today, you'll hit 11. You know what happens at 10, don't you, Ren?"
Ren's jaw tightened. "Re-education, sir."
"Deletion," Harlen corrected with a whisper. "The city doesn't waste oxygen on the unproductive. Get to work."
Harlen stepped over the mess and walked away, his laughter echoing down the hall. Ren stared at the coffee. His heart hammered against his ribs—a dangerous, frantic rhythm. Under his shirt, his ID chip pulsed a dull red. His heart rate was too high. He was getting a "negative emotional variance" penalty.
[WARNING: PULSE RATE EXCEEDS HARMONY STANDARDS. -0.1 CREDIT POINTS.]
Ren closed his eyes and forced himself to breathe. He couldn't afford a tenth of a point. Not today. He bent down, his hands trembling as he began to mop up the coffee.
An hour later, Ren was assigned to the restricted Executive Lavatories in the West Tower. This was a place few were allowed to enter. It was where the Council members—the "High-Leads"—spent their time. As he pushed his cart through the silent, gold-veined corridors, he heard it.
A wet, hacking sound.
Ren stopped. It was coming from the private lounge at the end of the hall. Normally, Ren would turn and run. Low-credits were executed for witnessing High-Leads in moments of weakness. But the sound was desperate. It was the sound of someone dying.
He crept toward the open door. Inside, a man in a tailored silk suit was slumped over a glass desk. It was Minister Vane, one of the primary architects of the Social Credit Law. His face was a terrifying shade of purple, his hands clawing at his throat. On the desk sat a small vial of blue powder—unauthorized neuro-stimulants.
Minister Vane was overdosing on the very "vice" he had banned for everyone else.
Ren froze. If he called for help, he would be credited with a massive "Good Samaritan" bonus. His score might jump to 100 instantly. He would be safe. He would be a hero.
But then, he looked at the Minister's eyes. Even in his dying moments, Vane looked at Ren with nothing but disgust. Even while choking to death, he saw Ren as a cockroach.
Ren remembered Harlen's coffee. He remembered his mother's "Deletion" three years ago because her arthritis made her too slow to work the assembly lines. He remembered the cold, mechanical nature of the world Vane had built.
Ren didn't call for help. He didn't move. He simply stood there and watched.
He watched for sixty seconds as the Minister's movements grew weaker. He watched as the light faded from Vane's eyes. He watched until the Minister's head hit the glass table with a dull thud.
The silence that followed was heavy. Ren expected the alarms to go off. He expected the Peacekeepers to burst through the door and vaporize him for his inaction.
Instead, a sound rang out—not from the hallway, but from inside his own head.
[DING!]
[SUBVERSIVE ACT DETECTED: INACTION LEADING TO THE DEATH OF A HIGH-CREDIT OFFICIAL.]
Ren gasped, stumbling back against the wall. "Who's there?"
[INITIALIZING KARMA PROTOCOL...]
[ANALYZING HOST SOUL... COMPATIBILITY: 99.9%.]
[WELCOME, REN. YOU ARE THE FIRST PLAYER IN THE END-GAME.]
A blue translucent screen flickered into existence before his eyes. It looked like a HUD from an ancient video game, glowing with an eerie, forbidden light.
[USER: REN]
[ROLE: THE ANOMALY]
[SOCIAL CREDIT: 12.3]
[KARMA LEVEL: 1]
[SIN POINTS: 500]
"Sin Points?" Ren whispered, his voice trembling.
[SIN POINTS ARE EARNED BY SUBVERTING THE SYSTEM,] the voice replied. It wasn't the warm, motherly voice of the City AI. It was cold, sharp, and cynical. [THE GREATER THE SUBVERSION, THE GREATER THE REWARD. YOU HAVE JUST ASSISTED IN THE DELETION OF A TYRANT. WOULD YOU LIKE TO SPEND YOUR POINTS?]
"What can I buy?"
A menu expanded, showing a list of abilities that made Ren's blood run cold.
[Digital Ghost (Passive)]: Your biometrics will remain "Synchronized" even when you are angry or lying. (Cost: 200 SP)
[Credit Spoof]: Temporarily display any Credit Score to scanners. (Cost: 100 SP per 10 minutes)
[System Breach]: Disable any camera or sensor within 5 meters. (Cost: 50 SP)
Ren looked at the dead Minister. He looked at the blue powder on the table. If he was caught here, no amount of "Sin Points" would save him. But if he had the power to lie to the machines... if he could finally stop the constant fear of his heart rate being too high...
"I'll take Digital Ghost," Ren whispered.
Instantly, the heavy pressure in Ren's chest seemed to vanish. He felt his heart racing—110 beats per minute—but the ID chip on his arm didn't pulse red. It stayed a calm, steady blue. He checked his reflection in the glass table. He looked terrified, but according to the City's sensors, he was the picture of "Harmony."
He was a glitch in the matrix.
[MISSION TRIGGERED: LEAVE NO TRACE.]
[OBJECTIVE: WIPE THE FINGERPRINTS FROM THE DOOR AND EXIT THE WEST TOWER WITHIN 120 SECONDS.]
[REWARD: 100 SIN POINTS. +0.5 AGILITY.]
Ren didn't hesitate. He grabbed his sonic-mop. With a flick of a switch, he set it to "Deep Clean." He wiped the handle of the door, the floor where he had stood, and the edges of the table. He moved with a speed he didn't know he possessed.
As he stepped out into the hallway and closed the door behind him, he saw the Peacekeepers rounding the corner. They were late.
"You! Janitor!" the lead Peacekeeper shouted, his hand resting on his pulse-rifle. "Did you see Minister Vane enter this wing?"
Ren bowed his head, performing the submissive posture of a low-credit perfectly. "No, sir. I've only been cleaning the secondary vents. I haven't seen anyone."
The Peacekeeper stepped forward, his helmet's scanner scanning Ren's ID chip. Ren held his breath. Before, he would have been shaking. Now, he felt a strange, cold calm.
[SCANNING... REN, ID #9921. CREDIT SCORE: 12.3. EMOTIONAL STATUS: HARMONIOUS. VERACITY: 100%.]
The Peacekeeper grunted. "Move along, Zero. Stay out of the way."
"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir."
Ren pushed his cart away, his heart thumping against his ribs like a drum. He had lied to a Peacekeeper. He had stood over a dead Minister. And the System had thanked him for it.
As he reached the safety of the janitor's closet, the blue screen appeared again.
[MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.]
[REWARD GRANTED: 100 SIN POINTS. AGILITY INCREASED.]
[CURRENT SIN POINTS: 400.]
Ren looked at his hands. They weren't shaking anymore. For the first time in his life, he didn't feel like a bug waiting to be stepped on. He felt like a predator.
[NEW MISSION: THE REVENGE.]
[TARGET: SUPERVISOR HARLEN.]
[DESCRIPTION: HARLEN HAS EXTORTED 5,000 CREDIT POINTS FROM LOW-LEVEL WORKERS. EXPOSE HIS CORRUPTION AND TRIGGER HIS DELETION.]
[REWARD: 1,000 SIN POINTS. UNLOCK SHOP CATEGORY: WEAPONRY.]
Ren leaned back against the cold metal of the closet door. A dark, jagged smile formed on his lips. Harlen wanted to talk about efficiency? Ren would show him the most efficient way to die.
The Karma Protocol was just beginning. And Ren was going to break every single rule until the City burned.