The public post by 'Vex' hung in Rajendra's mind like a tolling bell. "Biologically lush... dripping with potential... tracking his trade patterns." He was no longer obscure. He was a marked node in a vast, hungry network.
He immediately set the System to filter all public network chatter for the terms "Earth-Prime," "Tier-0," and "biological." The results were a trickle of comments, mostly dismissive. "Another mud-ball with screaming monkeys." "Vex is always chasing the next exotic fix." But the damage was done. The attention was real.
He needed to understand the threat. "System, who or what is Host 'Vex'? Can I access profiles?"
[Access Denied. Host profiles are Level 7+ functionality.]
[Basic Threat Assessment (Based on Public Data): Host 'Vex' is a known entity. Specialization: Psycho-reactive materials & emotional essence harvesting. Civilization Tier: 3 (Early Stellar). Trade Reputation: Aggressive. 14 prior sanctions for 'coercive procurement' from lower-tier hosts.]
A predator. Tier 3. He was Tier 0. This was not a negotiation like with the Mad Scientist; this was a shark catching a scent.
His first move was defensive. He sent a carefully worded private message to his only two contacts.
To Pixel-Lord: I note increased network chatter regarding my world. As your exclusive supplier of Earth-Prime cultural artifacts, any disruption to my operations would terminate your access to this unique data-stream. You may wish to publicly affirm our exclusive contract to discourage... poachers.
To Mad Scientist: *Host 'Vex' has expressed interest in Earth-Prime's biological resources. My ability to fulfill Contract MS-02, which supplies unique palliative compounds for your plague, is contingent on my operational security. Interference from Vex constitutes a breach of our exclusivity clause by a third party.*
It was a merchant's move: making his problems their problems. Pixel-Lord valued his quaint films. The Mad Scientist needed his spices for her cure. Their self-interest was his shield.
Responses were swift.
Pixel-Lord: Annoying. Your artifacts are mine. I have posted a cease-and-desist on the public board. It will do little, but it signals ownership to the smaller pests.
Mad Scientist: Vex is a contaminant. My work cannot be interrupted. I am deploying a passive informational barrier around your host-signature. It will not stop a direct assault, but it will blur your trade-route data, making 'tracking' more difficult. Do not thank me. Ensure delivery.
A moment later, a System notification flashed.
[Passive Cryptographic Shroud Applied to Host Identity & Trade Channels. Source: Mad Scientist. Effect: Host 'Vex' and other Tier 3- entities will experience increased data-noise when analyzing your transactions. Duration: Permanent until revoked.]
It was a start. A digital cloak. But a determined hunter would push through static.
Earthly business was now a refuge and a necessity. The launch of the "MANO Amrit" water purifier was imminent. The ceramic device from the Mad Scientist was reverse-engineered by Ganesh's cousin and a small team of trusted craftsmen. They couldn't replicate the core, but they could build the outer shell. Rajendra would "import" the cores via the MAKA ring, disguised as proprietary Japanese components. The business plan was solid.
He met Shanti at a café to finalize the marketing. She had blossoms of data on dealer networks and pricing. As they talked business, a comfortable silence fell between them after settling on a radio campaign.
"You move very fast, Rajendra," she said, not looking at him, stirring her tea. "The mill, the cooker, now a water filter. It's like you're chasing something no one else can see."
"I see a closing window," he said truthfully. "India is changing. If you're not ahead of the curve, you're buried under it."
She nodded, accepting it. "My father's company, Sharma Industrials… they move slowly. Like a great ship. Sometimes I envy the speed of a raft."
This was a crack in her professional facade, a glimpse of frustration. He filed it away.
That night, the MAKA ring glowed with a new, scheduled delivery—the first monthly shipment for the Mad Scientist: 50kg of powdered turmeric, 20kg of fresh tulsi leaves, 10 litres of neem oil, 30kg of ginger. Sourcing it wholesale had been easy through the Annakshetra Trust. Packing it in the godown, he performed the now-familiar ritual, the red smoke swallowing the piles of spices. The System confirmed the transfer. 40 VC received. Plus the 20 VC advance. His balance was healthy again.
The System pinged with a new, direct message. Not from Pixel-Lord or the Mad Scientist.
It was from Host 'Vex'.
The message had no text. It contained a single file. An Unsolicited Trade Offer.
He opened it with trepidation.
OFFER FROM VEX
I will purchase 80% of your planet's annual production of Cannabis sativa, Papaver somniferum, and Psilocybe cubensis. I will provide Tier-2 agricultural drones to maximize yield. Payment: 500 Void-Coins upfront, 100 VC per month.
Refusal is not advised. My needs are particular. My methods are efficient.
It was an offer wrapped in a threat. He wanted drugs. Not for medicine, but likely for their psychoactive essence—the "emotional potential" he'd mentioned. He was offering a king's ransom to turn Earth into his personal narcotics plantation. And the "methods are efficient" suggested he would take it by force if refused.
Rajendra's reply was instant and blunt.
Rajendra (Earth-Prime): Offer declined. Earth-Prime is not a resource colony. Do not contact me again.
The response was faster than light.
Vex: You misunderstand. This was not a request. It was a courtesy. I have analyzed the energy signature of your matter-transfers. The 'Cryptographic Shroud' is crude. I have pinpointed your planetary locus to within three star systems. I will find your little blue world. And when I do, I will harvest what I need. With or without your cooperation. You have 30 of your planetary rotations to reconsider.
The message dissolved. A countdown timer appeared in the corner of Rajendra's vision, etched in faint, ominous crimson.
[External Communication Lock Detected: Host 'Vex'.]
[Threat Timer: 29 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes…]
A month. Vex had given him a month to surrender, or he would come hunting. Not through the System's trade channels, but physically? Dimensionally? The threat was vague, and therefore limitless.
Rajendra stood in the middle of his room, the MAKA ring cold on his finger, the MANO bead warm against his chest. He had built a shadow syndicate and a light-facing business. He had allies in a plague-stricken scientist and a film-obsessed curator.
But none of that was an army. None of that could stop a Tier-3 civilization with stellar technology from "harvesting" his world.
He had thirty days.
He needed a weapon. Not a tool for illusions or influence. A real, system-authorized deterrent. He plunged into the Procurement Menu, filtering for "defense," "planetary," "deterrent." The costs were astronomical. Planetary Shield Generators: 10,000+ VC. He scrolled past them, despair creeping in.
Then he saw it, tucked in a sub-category: Strategic Deterrence (Tier-0 Compliance).
[Item: Q-Phase Anomaly Projector (Single Deployment).]
[Function: Creates a localized, persistent quantum-physics anomaly in a designated solar orbit. Effect: Renders all forms of FTL travel, dimensional folding, and long-range spatial scanning within 1 AU utterly impossible and fatally hazardous. Duration: 100 years.]
[Note: This is a SYSTEM-SANCTIONED defensive measure for Tier-0 worlds. It does not harm the planet or its inhabitants. It simply makes the star system a 'no-go' zone for advanced travel, isolating it. A quarantine shield.]
[Cost: 1,000 Void-Coins.]
A quarantine shield. It wouldn't stop a fleet already in the system, but it would make approaching Earth via any advanced means a suicide mission. It was a "Keep Out" sign sanctioned by the multiversal system itself.
The price was impossible. One thousand VC.
He had 162 VC.
He had thirty days to make 838 Void-Coins.
He looked at the countdown in his vision. Then he looked at the System's Auction interface. He thought of the Pixel-Lord's love for Bollywood. He thought of the Mad Scientist's desperate, endless need.
A cold, ruthless calculus took over. He was the Universe's Only Merchant for Earth. It was time to stop selling samples.
It was time to sell the archive.
He went to his shelf and pulled out his father's most prized possession: a complete, mint-condition box set of Lata Mangeshkar's greatest hits, on 12 original LP records.
He placed his hand on it. The red smoke took it.
He listed it on the Auction, not as a single item, but as a "Tier-0 Cultural Heritage Collection." He set a reserve price of 50 VC. He then sent a direct, urgent offer to Pixel-Lord.
Rajendra (Earth-Prime): Offering exclusive, lifetime access to the digitized archive of Earth-Prime's primary 20th-century audiovisual culture. One-time fee. Includes all major cinematic and musical works from 1950-1990. Price: 800 Void-Coins. This is a limited-time offer. Another host is making aggressive moves. If I am compromised, the archive is lost forever.
He was leveraging Vex's threat into a sale. He was selling Pixel-Lord the keys to the Bollywood kingdom, and the future of his own world, in one desperate bundle.
He sent the offer.
Then he waited, the crimson timer ticking down in the corner of his sight, each second the beat of a closing heart.