The black tent of the "Eye of Fortune" doesn't look like the rest of the Market. It isn't made of rusted metal or dirty plastic. It is made of thick, heavy velvet that is so black it seems to swallow the light around it. At the entrance, two large men with silver masks stand perfectly still. They don't have spears; they have short, humming batons that look like they could snap a man's arm in half.
I take a deep breath. The air inside my hood is getting hot.
[STAMINA: 15/100]
[WARNING: ILLUSION PULSING. STABILITY AT 60%]
I can't afford to wait. Every minute I stand here, I am burning my life away. I walk straight toward the silver-masked guards. I don't slow down. I don't look at them. I act like they are just part of the furniture.
One of the guards moves his baton to block my path. "Invite only," he grunts. His voice sounds like a machine.
I stop. I slowly turn my head toward him. Behind my green visor, my eyes are cold. I let the "Gilded" glow of my cloak flare up for a split second, making the brown fabric look like it is woven with starlight.
"Do I look like a man who carries a piece of paper?" I ask. I make my voice drop to a dangerous whisper. "Tell Vex that a 'Trillion-Credit Shadow' has come to settle a debt. If he makes me wait one more second, I will take my business—and my Fate—to the High-Spires."
The guard hesitates. He looks at his partner. They have seen many rich people, but they haven't seen anyone talk like me. In the Sump, everyone is a beggar. A man who treats a King like a servant is either very powerful or very insane.
The guard presses a button on his ear. He whispers something I can't hear. A moment later, his baton clicks and he steps aside.
"Enter," he says.
I walk through the velvet flaps. Barlow tries to follow me, but the guards put their batons together, blocking him.
"Stay here, Barlow," I say without looking back. "A shark doesn't need a minnow when he's hunting."
Barlow gulps and nods, stepping back into the yellow fog.
The inside of the tent is silent. The noise of the Market—the screaming signs and the crying people—is gone. The floor is covered in soft, purple rugs. In the center of the room is a single table made of polished black glass.
A man sits behind the table. This must be Vex.
He is thin, with skin as pale as milk. He wears a suit of bright crimson silk that looks real, not an illusion like mine. His fingers are long and covered in rings made of glowing blue "Luck-Shards." On the table in front of him is a machine that looks like a gold-plated skull.
"A 'Trillion-Credit Shadow'?" Vex says. He doesn't look up from a small pile of blue vials he is counting. "That is a very big claim for a man wearing a dirty cloak."
He looks up then. His eyes are yellow, like a cat's. He has a "Luck-Reader" monocle over his left eye. He looks at me, and I see the monocle start to spin.
"My cloak is an 'Environmental Shroud,' Vex," I say, sitting down in the chair across from him. I don't ask for permission. "I don't care about fashion. I care about numbers. And my numbers are bigger than yours."
Vex laughs. It's a cold, dry sound. "Everyone says that. Until they sit at my table. Do you know the game of Debt-Swap, stranger?"
"Tell me your version," I say, leaning back. I need to buy time for my stamina to stop dropping so fast.
Vex taps the gold-plated skull. "Simple. We both put our 'Soul-Accounts' into the machine. We pick a 'Price.' If the skull turns blue, I win your debt. You become a zero. A free man. But I get to own your soul for a hundred years as payment."
He leans forward, his yellow eyes glowing. "But if the skull turns red, you win my 'Luck.' I give you ten vials of High-Grade Fate. Enough to buy a mansion in the Mid-Spires."
"And the catch?" I ask.
"The catch," Vex smiles, showing sharp, white teeth, "is the 'Weight.' The machine measures the size of your debt. The bigger the debt, the harder it is for the skull to turn red. Most people here owe a few thousand credits. They have a 50% chance. But a man with a 'Trillion' debt? The machine would probably explode before it turned red for you."
He thinks he has me. He thinks I am a liar who is pretending to be rich. He doesn't realize that I actually do have a trillion-dollar debt. He thinks the "Trillion" is a bluff.
[STAMINA: 10/100]
I am running out of time. My "Gilded" cloak is starting to feel heavy.
"Let's play," I say. I reach out and put my hand on the cold, metal forehead of the gold skull. "But let's raise the stakes. If I win, I don't want ten vials. I want your 'Master-Key' to the Market's Luck-Vault."
Vex freezes. The smile leaves his face. The Master-Key is what makes him the boss of the Sump.
"And if you lose?" Vex asks.
"If I lose," I say, staring him straight in the eyes, "you don't just own my soul. You own my 'Architect's Memory.' You will know every secret of the High-Spires that I carry in my head."
Vex's tongue licks his lips. He is a greedy man. He can't help himself. He thinks I am a fallen noble with a trillion-credit secret.
"Deal," Vex says. He places his pale, ring-covered hand on the other side of the skull. "Machine! Initiate Debt-Swap!"
The gold skull's eyes snap open. They glow with a blinding white light. I feel a sharp, cold pull at the back of my brain. It's the System. It's the Ledger. It's my trillion-dollar curse being pulled out of my soul and into the machine.
[SCANNING DEBT...]
[100,000,000...]
[500,000,000...]
[1,000,000,000...]
The machine starts to shake. A low humming sound fills the tent. Vex's yellow eyes go wide as the numbers keep climbing. He thought I was joking. He thought I was a small-time con man.
"Stop!" Vex yells, trying to pull his hand away.
"The weight! It's too much! You'll break the—"
CRACK.
The gold skull splits down the middle. Blue and red lightning bolts shoot out, hitting the velvet walls of the tent. The smell of burning ozone fills the air.
[SYSTEM ERROR: DEBT OVERFLOW]
[MARKET LOGIC FAILING...]
[RESULT: FORCE-WIN BY DEFAULT]
The skull stops glowing. It turns a deep, pulsing red.
I pull my hand back. My fingers are burnt, but I don't feel the pain. I look at Vex. He is shaking. He is staring at the broken, red skull like he just saw a ghost.
"The machine..." Vex whispers. "It couldn't measure it. It just... it gave up."
I stand up. I reach across the table and grab a heavy, silver key that is hanging from a chain around the skull's neck.
"I told you, Vex," I say, my voice cold and steady. "My numbers are bigger than yours."
[STAMINA: 5/100]
I turn around and walk toward the exit. I need to get out before I collapse. I have the key. I have the "Luck." Now, I just need to survive the next five minutes.