[Ding!]
[Margin Defenses Upgraded. Current Debt Balance: 999,950,000,000 Merit Points.]
Arthur Sterling stood in the center of the newly renovated Mayor's office. He looked out the massive glass window. He had just spent a fortune of stolen capital outfitting the slums. Brand new anti-air plasma turrets tracked the sky. Heavy reinforced reality-shields hummed over the civilian sectors. Automated defense drones buzzed through the narrow alleyways.
He had turned a garbage dump into a proper corporate subsidiary. It looked clean. It looked profitable.
Then, the sky above the Margin turned a blinding, flashing red.
"WEE-OOO! WEE-OOO!"
High-frequency sirens began to wail across the entire city. The noise was deafening. It rattled the thick glass of the office window. Down in the streets, the citizens who had just started to celebrate their freedom immediately scattered. They scrambled back into their rusted shelters like frightened rats.
