Kael didn't move at first.
He let the silence settle... let the burn cool just enough to keep from cracking his skin open.
Vex was gone.
Not dead. Just… gone. Carried off by Ashveil's retrieval unit, packed into a burn-stabilized crate like a failed investment.
But Kael could still feel it, the impact, the weight of the strike, the coinflow recoil that hadn't faded yet.
---
> [Balance: 1,100C]
Burn Reserve: 300C
Black Coin Saturation: 38%
Warning: Corruption Drift Accelerating
---
His right hand wouldn't unclench.
Not fully.
The gauntlet had melted against his palm during the final burn surge... fused along the knuckles, heat-locked in place.
He didn't try to force it.
Instead, he just stared at the fractured sector feed screen nearby, glitching between bounty alerts and Ashveil trade reroutes.
---
> [Sector 9 Coinflow – OFFLINE]
All trade feeds suspended.
Vault Control: None.
Local economy: Collapsed.
---
Jace came through the comm, voice sharp.
"You know you just broke Sector 9, right?"
Kael didn't answer.
Jace pressed on.
"They're calling it a freezeout. Trade's dead. Balance can't circulate. That zone's gone dark."
Kael: "Good."
"Not good, Kael. Now you can't spend here. No one can. You think burn feeds you forever?"
Kael's eyes narrowed.
"I don't need to feed. I need to break."
---
Silence crackled between them.
Kael started walking.
Not fast. He couldn't. Not with the burn slowing him, every step pulling heat from the soles of his boots, coin residue smoking faintly in his wake.
People watched from doorways... not brave enough to approach, not dumb enough to try.
Some of them had bounty pings already.
None of them wanted to pay the price.
---
He passed a broken mod stall, its shelves stripped bare.
No traders. Just coin-scorched ground and a faint echo of what used to be balance.
Kael's HUD flashed.
> [Burn Residue Detected]
Source: Coinforged Vault Feed (Ruined)
Recovery Potential: Minimal
---
His balance ticked again.
He didn't flinch, but the flicker of his hand said enough.
The burn was lingering, not fading.
Not this time.
---
Jace came back.
"You're leaking coin."
Kael: "Not leaking. Shedding."
"That's not funny. You're running low. If you don't hit another vault soon..."
Kael stopped.
"Serin's moved the coinflow, hasn't she?"
Jace hesitated.
"Yeah. Sector 10. She locked it down. No public access. No bounty contracts. She's locking you out."
---
Kael looked up.
Ahead, a rusted coin transport line led into the city's heart... dead.
The lights were out. The rails were cold. Even the air felt stale, like the system didn't want to waste power on a zone with no value.
---
"She abandoned Sector 9," Kael said.
Jace: "She priced it too high to save. Cut her losses."
Kael's hand tightened.
"She'll do it again."
---
Kael kept walking.
His balance was ticking lower than he liked, but he wasn't worried.
Not about coin.
He was worried about what the burn was starting to do.
---
> [Corruption Drift: 38% → 41%]
Effect: Burn Surge Threshold Decreased
Result: Instability Predicted in 2 hrs
---
Kael exhaled slowly.
Jace didn't need to see his HUD to know.
"You can't hold it much longer."
Kael didn't answer.
---
Then the ping hit.
Sharp. Fast. Wrong.
Not a bounty alert.
Not a trade signal.
Something else.
---
> [Black Coin Market Signal Detected]
Source: Unregistered / Prohibited Zone
Offer: Burn Clearance / Skill Mod (Tier Unknown)
Cost: 1 Black Coin (Direct Transfer)
---
Kael froze.
Jace's voice spiked.
"Don't. It's not worth it."
Kael: "I didn't say anything."
"You're thinking it."
Kael turned down an alley, eyes sharp.
"I need burn stability. That market's offering."
Jace: "Or it's bait. That's Black Coin tech. Illegal. Dangerous."
Kael stepped deeper into the dark.
"So am I."
---
Behind him, the feed screens blinked out... one by one.
Ahead?
The Black Coin signal pulsed.
Kael didn't stop.
The further Kael walked, the more the city felt wrong.
Not ruined... not like Sector 7's vault husk or the scorched-out plazas of Sector 9. This place was just… empty.
Too quiet.
The kind of quiet that came from abandonment, not failure.
No foot traffic. No cointraders calling bids. No coinfeed chimes. Just wind threading through steel corridors that should've been full of motion.
---
Every few steps, Kael's boots clinked against something loose.
Coins.
Not valuable ones... just the leftovers. Bent, scorched, melted bits of vault currency. The kind that no one would pick up, because they weren't worth the risk of burn contamination.
Kael kicked one aside. Watched it spin and land in a drain.
---
> [Black Coin Signal Strength: Rising]
Distance: 200m
Risk Assessment: Unavailable
Burn Interference: Active
---
The system couldn't track the source.
Figures.
Kael moved faster.
---
Jace hadn't said anything for a few minutes. That wasn't a good sign.
When the comm finally cracked, his voice was low.
"I know where you're headed. There's only one zone broadcasting that frequency."
Kael didn't answer. He already knew.
---
Jace sighed. "The Undermarket."
---
Kael stepped around a collapsed coin vendor, stalls ripped apart, trade scanners fried.
Everything here had been used up and tossed out.
Even the city stopped claiming this place.
---
The Undermarket wasn't on maps.
Wasn't in feeds.
Didn't belong to Ashveil or any other vault power.
It was where players went when their balance hit zero.
And sometimes where they stayed after.
---
Kael dropped into a side stairwell... rusted, scorched. The railing gave way under his hand, but he didn't need support.
He just needed coin.
---
> [Balance: 1,100C → 980C]
Passive Burn Decay Active
Burn Saturation: 41% → 44%
---
His fingers twitched.
Not pain. Not weakness.
The burn was crawling... shifting under his skin, leaking pressure with every movement.
He had time.
Not much.
---
He hit ground level... narrow corridor, walls lined with old vault graffiti, most of it scorched off.
Ahead, a door. Heavy. Reinforced.
Unmarked.
But Kael didn't need signs.
The Black Coin signal was pouring out of the seams.
---
> [Signal Lock: Complete]
Entry Cost: 1 Black Coin (Transfer Required)
---
Kael pulled the coin from his pouch, the one from Vex, still cool, still wrong in his hand.
He pressed it to the door.
The metal burned black.
The door opened.
---
Inside: dim light, no sound.
Just rows of terminals, some active, some sparking. Mod chips scattered across counters. Coinfeed wires coiled like veins across the ceiling.
And one figure.
---
Tall. Masked. Balance unreadable.
Kael didn't flinch.
---
The figure gestured once.
To the terminal.
No words.
Kael stepped forward.
The screen flickered... not system-grade. This was Black Coin tech, raw and dangerous.
---
> [Burn Clearance – Mod Available]
Effect: Stabilize burn for 72 hrs
Side Effect: +10% Corruption Surge on Expiry
Cost: 1 Black Coin
Transfer? [Y/N]
---
Kael stared.
A fix... temporary. But just enough to buy time.
And time was valuable.
---
He hit [Y].
---
The screen flared... pain spiked in his arm.
Not clean pain.
Burn rewriting itself.
---
> [Burn Stabilized]
Corruption Delay Engaged
Current Level: 44% – Locked for 72 hrs
Warning: Surge Expected on Timer Expiry
---
Kael staggered back.
The masked figure nodded once.
Transaction over.
No refund. No talk.
Kael left.
---
Back in the corridor, the burn settled.
Still there.
Still dangerous.
But for now, controlled.
---
Jace's voice returned.
"You alive?"
Kael exhaled.
"For now."
---
> [New Bounty Alert]
Target: Null-13
Reward: 500,000 SimC
Condition: Live Capture Preferred
Sponsor: Ashveil Prime
---
Kael stared.
He smiled.
"They doubled it."
Jace: "Yeah."
Kael: "Let them try."