CHAPTER 13: THE FRICTION POINT

  [EMPLOYEE MORALE: VOLATILE]

  [INCIDENT REPORT: SECTOR 2]

  [DEBT RECOVERY: 2%]

  The sound of a bone breaking has a specific frequency. It’s a dry, sharp snap that cuts through the ambient hum of the Core. I didn't see the punch land, but I saw the aftermath on the Sector 2 feed. One of Lito's veterans—a man with a scar running across his throat—had Sammy pinned against a wall. The veteran had a mining pick in his hand, and he didn't look like he was interested in excavation anymore.

  "I don't care what the paper says!" the veteran roared. "I'm a warrior! I don't dig holes for a man who hides behind a desk!"

  "When I told you to dig my point wasn't to insult you," Sammy said, his voice strained. He was trying to use his shield to create space, but he was outnumbered five to one in that specific corridor. "I told you to dig so you’d have a place to sit. Put the pick down."

  I didn't call for Lilo. I didn't send the golems. I tapped the intercom for that specific hallway.

  "I didn't authorize a work stoppage," I said. My voice was calm, projected through the stone itself. "And I didn't provide that pick for it to be used as a weapon. Every second you spend holding that pick against my staff is a second I am charging to your collective 'Security Deposit.'"

  The veteran looked up at the ceiling, his eyes wild. "Come down here and say that, clerk! Show us your face!"

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  "I didn't build a surveillance system so I’d have to walk to work," I replied. "Lito. Report to Sector 2. Your men are wasting my time. If this isn't resolved in sixty seconds, I will vent the oxygen from this corridor. It’s a very simple binary choice: Productivity or Extinction."

  I watched the countdown on my display. Forty seconds. The veteran didn't move. He pressed the pick closer to Sammy’s throat. Sammy didn't move either. He looked at the camera, and for a second, I saw the old Sammy—the one who had stood by while I was fired. He looked like he was waiting for me to save him. Or maybe he was waiting for me to kill them all.

  At twenty seconds, Lito arrived. He didn't use a weapon. He simply grabbed the veteran by the back of the neck and slammed him into the stone floor.

  "You're making us look like amateurs!" Lito barked. He looked at the camera, then back at his men. "He isn't joking about the air! I’ve seen what he does to people who don't follow the numbers. Get back to the wall. Now!"

  The tension broke. The soldiers returned to their work, their movements sluggish and resentful. Sammy stood up, dusting off his leather armor. He didn't thank Lito. He didn't look at the camera. He just walked to the next group and started the next shift.

  I didn't feel a sense of relief. I felt a sense of inevitability. Friction was a natural byproduct of growth.

  "Ami," I said, switching to the scout’s frequency. She was currently stationed at the Three-Road Junction, overseeing the new checkpoint.

  "I'm here, Gray," she said. She sounded like she hadn't slept in days. "The first Imperial merchant arrived an hour ago. He saw the Warlord’s banners replaced by the Oasis sigil. He tried to turn his wagon around, but Mito’s men blocked the road."

  "I didn't ask for a blockade, Ami. I asked for a transaction. Did he pay?"

  "He paid," she said. "But he told me something. He said the Guild has put out a 'Black-Contract' on the Oasis. They aren't sending paladins this time. They’re hiring freelancers. High-tier assassins who don't care about contracts or laws."

  "I didn't expect the Guild to play fair once I started hitting their pockets," I said. I looked at the ledger. The Junction was already generating forty gold an hour. "Let them send their freelancers. I have four hundred soldiers who need to prove their value. And I have a Core that is starting to learn how to defend itself."

  "Gray, you're looking forward to it," Ami said. It wasn't a question.

  "I didn't say that," I replied. "I said I was prepared. There’s a difference."

  I cut the feed. I looked at the empty space on my desk. I didn't have any flowers there anymore. I didn't have any mementos of the Sun-Walkers. I just had the ledger and the Core.

  I was becoming a part of the machine. And for the first time in my life, I didn't have to worry about who was carrying my bags.