The Zero Kelvin Audit
Time: 15 Minutes after Weaver's Message.
Location: Neutral Dorm Block 4 -- General Education Sector.
Night in Zero Point City was never truly dark. Light from the Neon Harbor in the east and spotlights from the Iron Bastion in the north created purple and orange glows in the sky. However, in the General Education Sector, streetlights were deliberately dimmed to save budget.
Dormitory Building Block 4 stood like a concrete tombstone in the shadows. Silent. Gloomy.
I stood in front of the building's main entrance. No guards. No active CCTV outside—likely already sabotaged by the Valdor execution team.
I took a deep breath. The cold night air felt refreshing to my strange lungs.
"You think you're hunters," I whispered to the locked iron door. "But you just walked into an oven, and I'm the one holding the thermostat."
I raised my left hand. The Smart-ID holographic screen lit up, connected directly to the City Defense Grid.
I pressed one virtual button.
COMMAND:SANITATIONPROTOCOL−−LEVEL5(TOTALLOCKDOWN)COMMAND:SANITATIONPROTOCOL−−LEVEL5(TOTALLOCKDOWN)
CLACK. CLACK. CLACK.
The sound of heavy magnetic locks was heard in succession from all corners of the building. The front door, back door, first-floor windows, even roof vents—all locked mechanically. Emergency iron grilles descended covering the windows with noisy sounds.
The building was now a prison.
I didn't break in. I used the Praetor's Master Key code to open the front door only for me, then locked it again once I stepped into the dark lobby.
"Welcome to the night audit," I murmured.
I looked at my tablet screen again. The red dot (Rian) was on the third floor, moving panicked. Two yellow dots (Valdor) chasing him. They must be confused why doors suddenly locked, but they hadn't realized they were trapped with a monster.
I slid the slider on my tablet screen down.
The lobby lights blinked once, then went completely dark. The soft hum of the central heating stopped. Oppressive silence descended upon the building. Temperature began dropping rapidly.
I stepped into the darkness. My red eyes adapted quickly, seeing enemies' body heat through walls like a predator seeing blood.
3rd Floor -- Northern Corridor
Rian gasped for breath. He ran in pitch-dark corridors, his hands groping the cold walls. His thick glasses fogged up.
Behind him, heavy footsteps were heard. TAP. TAP. TAP.
"Come out, Bookworm," a heavy voice echoed in the corridor. The voice of one of the Valdor executioners. "Doors are locked. No way out. Surrender, and we'll make it quick."
Rian stumbled, fell to his knees near the emergency stairs. He tried to open the door. Locked.
"Damn," he sobbed softly.
The footsteps got closer. A small firelight appeared at the end of the corridor—one of the pursuers lit a flame in his palm for lighting.
"Got you," the pursuer growled, grinning. His companion behind him drew a command knife with a blade glowing red (Heat Infusion).
Rian retreated until his back hit the cold wall.
"Help..." he whispered.
Suddenly, a loud static sound broke the silence from the intercom speaker on the corridor ceiling.
CRACKLE...
"Attention, unauthorized students."
The voice was cold, flat, and echoed throughout the building. The Grand Praetor's voice.
The two Valdor executioners stopped, looking up in shock.
"In the name of the Senate, your extracurricular activities are declared illegal. This building is now under sanitation quarantine. Reason: Pests."
The flame in the executioner's hand flickered, as if oxygen in the corridor was thinning.
"And I am the exterminator."
The speaker went dead.
"Who is that?!" the first executioner shouted, panicked. He directed his flame around. "Come out!"
No answer. Only the temperature dropping drastically. Their breaths started emitting thick white vapor. The floor beneath their feet started making soft crack sounds—the sound of freezing tiles.
From the darkness behind them, a pair of red eyes glowed.
I didn't walk. I glided.
The second executioner (knife holder) turned sharply. "There!"
He lunged forward, stabbing his flaming knife towards my chest. His movement was fast, militarily trained.
But I didn't dodge. I didn't parry.
I caught his wrist.
"Hot," I whispered. "Thank you."
My skin touched his directly. And physics took over.
I didn't use an ice spell. I used Thermal Vacuum.
My hungry Aqua circuits sucked the heat from the knife, from the muscles in his arm, from the blood flowing in his veins.
The fire on the knife died instantly, PHHHHT, as if doused with liquid nitrogen.
The executioner opened his mouth to scream, but no sound came out. His eyes widened in horror as he saw his right arm change color. From flesh red, to pale, to bruised blue, and finally... white crystal.
The blood inside his vessels underwent Flash Freeze. Sharp ice crystals formed inside his veins, tearing cell walls from within.
CRACK.
The bone in his arm cracked from brittleness.
I released his hand. He fell to his knees, clutching his frozen, numb arm, his mouth gaping in a soundless scream from hypothermic shock.
"One," I counted.
The first executioner (fire user) stepped back in fear. He saw his companion crippled in one second without visible ice flying. He looked at me—standing upright, thin hot steam coming from my body because I just "ate".
"Monster..." he hissed. He gathered a large fireball in both hands, Desperate Cast. "DIE!"
He threw the fireball at me.
The distance was only three meters. Too close to dodge.
But I didn't need to dodge.
I stretched out my left hand, palm wide open.
"Gale."
I activated my Wind circuits. But not to blow. I used the heat I just absorbed from his friend as fuel to create an Air Pressure Explosion.
BOOM!
A shockwave exploded from my palm. The fireball shattered in the air before touching me, breaking into harmless sparks. The wind wave continued, hitting the executioner's chest like a giant hammer.
He was thrown backward, floating five meters in the air, then slammed into the concrete wall with a terrifying THUD sound. He slumped to the floor, knocked out instantly.
Silence.
Only the sound of Rian's ragged breath at the end of the corridor.
I stood between the two crippled bodies. The cold in my body completely vanished. I felt warm. Strong. A strange euphoria spread through my nerves. It felt... blissful.
I stared at my own hands. No blood. Only residual heat glowing faintly.
"I'm a predator," I realized with horror mixed with awe. "I don't need a fireplace. I need enemies."
I walked towards Rian.
The kid was curled up in the corner, hugging his knees. He stared at me with wide eyes behind his cracked glasses. He didn't see a savior. He saw a red-eyed devil who just froze and blew up two elite soldiers.
"D-don't kill me..." he squeaked.
I crouched in front of him. I extended my right hand. The hand that froze someone earlier, now warm and normal.
"Get up, Rian," I said softly.
He hesitated, but finally took my hand. I pulled him up. His legs trembled, but he could stand.
"You're not dead yet," I said, patting his shoulder to dust him off. "And as long as you work for me, you are forbidden to die without my written permission. Understood?"
Rian stared at me, confused, scared, but there was a glimmer of hope in his eyes.
"W-work? For you?"
"Executive Secretary," I answered. "Salary three times your scholarship. Your first task: Tidy up the administrative mess on my desk tomorrow morning. But tonight... we have to get out of here."
We walked out of the dormitory's back door.
The cold night air greeted us.
But the problem wasn't over. In the narrow alley behind the building, three figures stood blocking the way.
Aurum students. The pickup team. They wore shiny bomber jackets and green-glowing visor glasses. One of them held a stun baton (Stun Baton).
They saw me and Rian. They saw the two Valdor executioners not coming out.
"Grand Praetor," said their leader, a young man with a neon mohawk. "You took our merchandise."
He pointed at Rian.
"That kid owes us. Step aside, or we will..."
I didn't let him finish the sentence. I was tired. And I was full.
I raised my Smart-ID high.
WHIRRRRR.
The sound of propellers came from above. Three City Patrol Drone units (Sentinel type) descended from the building's ceiling, their red spotlights shining brightly, aiming precisely at the three Aurum students.
Magical machine guns under the drones rotated, ready to fire.
"Or what?" I asked coldly.
The Aurum student's face turned deathly pale under the spotlight. They knew what Sentinels were. Not school toys. Mass-killer weapons belonging to the Oversight Council.
"Ten seconds. Get out of my sight," I said, my voice calm but deadly. "Or I will erase your IDs from the city server right now. Accounts frozen, citizenship void. You'll be dumped into the Dead Zone tonight as identity-less trash."
"One."
"Two."
They didn't wait for the third count. They turned and ran for their lives, disappearing into the city's shadows.
The Sentinel Drones rose back into the sky, patrol completed.
I turned to Rian. He stared at me open-mouthed, amazed.
"Who... who are you really?" he asked softly.
I smiled thinly. A smile that didn't reach my eyes, but warm enough to calm the frightened kid.
"I'm your new boss," I answered.
I pointed towards the glowing The Great Tether tower in the distance.
"Come on. Tomorrow morning, we have a lot of work. And I need good coffee."
We walked away from that dormitory, leaving two frozen bodies on the third floor as a warning to anyone daring to touch my assets.
Tonight, the Grand Praetor had made his first official statement:
In Zero Point City, no one hunts without my permission.