The Grand Refectory of Saint Jude's was not merely a dining hall; it was a theater of status. Built from white synth-marble and accented with gold leaf, the room was divided into tiers. The higher your Social Credit, the higher you sat.
Ren stood at the threshold of the "Dregs" entrance—the service door used by low-credits and janitors. Usually, this was where he would slink toward the nutrient dispensers, keeping his head down to avoid becoming a target for Julian Vane's midday "entertainment."
But as Ren stepped onto the marble floor, he felt the Aura of the Forbidden pulsing in his chest like a second heartbeat. It was a cold, rhythmic thrum that demanded he walk taller.
He didn't head for the grey sludge machines. He turned toward the Golden Path—the velvet-roped ramp leading to the luxury buffet.
"Hey, look! The 1.2 is lost," a voice jeered. It was Marcus Reed, Julian's right-hand dog, sitting at a mid-tier table. A few girls nearby giggled, their eyes full of a cruel, casual pity. "The trash-chute is the other way, Thorne! Or did the rain rot your brain last night?"
Ren didn't flinch. He didn't even acknowledge Marcus's existence. He reached the automated kiosk at the entrance of the Golden Path. This was the moment of truth. If the System's "Ghost Funds" failed, he would be flagged for fraud and likely beaten by the security droids within seconds.
He pressed his palm to the glass.
[System: Synchronizing with Aetheria Central Node...] [Status: Spoofing 5.0 Credit Signature.] [Warning: High-Level detection risk if used for more than 30 minutes.]
The kiosk's ring, usually a mocking red for Ren, swirled with a deep, authoritative Emerald Green.
"Welcome, Citizen Ren Thorne," the AI's voice chimed, resonant and polite. "Current Balance: 50,000 Credits. Access to Tier-2 Dining: Granted."
The silence that swept through the Refectory was so sudden it was as if someone had sucked the oxygen out of the room. A 1.2 jumping to a 5.0 was a statistical impossibility. It was the equivalent of a beggar suddenly being named a Duke.
Ren stepped through the opening gates. He could feel the stares—hundreds of them—stinging his back like needles. He walked to the buffet, picking up a plate of obsidian porcelain. He ignored the synthetic meats and went for the real fruit—strawberries that cost more than a month of his previous life's "allowance."
"You."
The word was spat like a curse. Julian Vane stood at the top of the Golden Circle, his face contorted in a mask of pure disbelief. Behind him, his entourage looked equally stunned.
"What kind of pathetic hack is this?" Julian demanded, his voice echoing. "I watched your credit hit the floor yesterday. I did it myself. You're a 1.2. You're a Zero-in-waiting."
Ren turned slowly, a single strawberry in his hand. He looked at Julian, but more importantly, he activated the Eye of Avarice.
The world dimmed. Everyone in the room became a shadow, except for the threads of light connecting them to their darkest desires. Julian's thread was a thick, oily black, vibrating with a frantic, desperate energy.
[Target: Julian Vane] [Secret Debt: 'The Shadow of the Father'.] [Detail: Julian has been embezzling from his father's research funds to pay off a blackmailing hacker who has proof of Julian's involvement in the 'Blackwood Bridge' accident—the one that crippled the Dean's daughter.]
Ren smiled. It wasn't a friendly smile; it was the baring of teeth.
"The numbers on the screen don't define reality anymore, Julian," Ren said, his voice carrying a weight that made the nearby students instinctively lean away. "You think you're at the top because your father built a mountain of money. But a mountain of money is very easy to set on fire."
Julian stepped down the stairs, his fists clenched. "I'll kill you. I'll have your biometric chip ripped out of your neck for this."
Ren leaned in closer, dropping his voice to a whisper that only Julian's high-fidelity earpiece would catch. "How is the 'Blackwood' project coming along, Julian? I hear the Dean's daughter is still in a wheelchair. I wonder... if the police found the dashcam footage you thought you deleted, would your father still call you 'Heir'?"
Julian froze. The blood didn't just leave his face; it seemed to vanish from his entire body. He looked like a man who had just seen his own ghost.
"How... how do you..."
"I'm the Auditor of your sins, Julian," Ren said, patting him on the shoulder. The Aura of the Forbidden flared at the point of contact, sending a jolt of pure, primal terror through Julian's nervous system. "And right now, your account is deeply in the red."
Ren walked past him, heading toward a vacant table in the very center of the Golden Circle. He sat down, looked at the crowd of elites who had mocked him for years, and took a bite of the strawberry.
[Ding!] [Mission Progress: 50% Complete.] [Note: You have successfully induced 'Status Shock'. Collect the remaining debt to finalize the Bond.]
Across the room, at the Student Council table, Ren locked eyes with Seraphina. She was watching him, her hand gripping her glass so hard the knuckles were white. She saw what he was doing. She saw the "Ice Queen's" fear reflected in the "King of Vane's" eyes.
Ren raised his glass of sparkling water toward her in a mock toast. He was no longer a ghost. He was the owner of the house.