Location: Sector 1, The Gilded Vault (Aurum's Private Spire).
Time: Simultaneous to Poker Night (23:00).
Aurum, the Gold Sovereign, did not sleep. Sleep was a biological inefficiency. Sleep was time spent not compounding interest.
He sat in his office, a floating sphere of gold-tinted glass suspended in the center of the Financial District, overlooking the glittering skyline of New Babel. The walls were not walls; they were ticker-tape screens displaying the real-time economic pulse of the city. Grain prices in Sector 4, mana crystal futures in Sector 9, mercenary casualty rates in Sector 2—everything was data, and data was profit.
Aurum was not a construct, though he often wished he were. He was a human man, withered by the stress of holding the world's economy on his back. He wore a suit woven from spun gold thread that cost more than the GDP of a small nation. His skin was pale, almost translucent, and tubes of alchemical longevity serum ran from a golden backpack into his neck, keeping his aging heart beating with a rhythmic hiss-thump.
But tonight, Aurum wasn't watching the market trends. He was watching a singular, anomalous data point on a piece of parchment.
"The Axiom Shift," Aurum whispered, his voice dry and rattling like coins in a tin can.
His spy stood nervously by the desk. It was not a man. It was Ledger, a Paper Homunculus. Folded from thousands of pages of financial reports, ink running through its veins like blood, it rustled softly as it shifted weight.
"Confirm the reading," Aurum ordered, rolling a heavy gold coin across his knuckles. Clink. Clink. Clink.
"Confirmed, My Lord," Ledger rustled, his voice sounding like tearing paper. "At 16:00 yesterday, a metaphysical spike occurred in Sector 7. The signature matched the resonant frequency of the First Axiom. The Library."
Aurum stopped rolling the coin. He slammed it onto the desk.
"The Library," Aurum mused, his eyes narrowing. "The most dangerous of the Seven. Not because it has firepower, but because it has the manual. Information is the ultimate leverage."
He looked at the holographic map of the city projected on his desk.
Lady Vespera was dead. Her territory (Sector 1 High Spire) was in chaos, her assets being liquidated by the vultures.
The Red Baron (Sector 2) had just conquered Sector 7, consolidating a massive military power block.
But the Baron was a hammer. He saw every problem as a nail. He couldn't open an Axiom. He lacked the finesse.
"It's him," Aurum realized, a greedy smile touching his thin lips. "The Scavenger. Dante Silvergrin."
"He is working for the Baron, Sir," Ledger noted, flipping through the pages of his own arm to find the report. "He has been promoted. Captain of the Vanguard. He is currently embedding himself in the Iron Legion."
"He is hiding in the Iron Legion," Aurum corrected. "The Baron thinks he bought a guard dog. In reality, he let a fox into the henhouse."
Aurum stood up, his golden suit shimmering under the office lights. He walked to the window, looking down at the city he practically owned.
"I have been neutral for too long, Ledger. The market is volatile. The 'Return to Origins' is accelerating. If Silvergrin holds the First Axiom, he has access to the Origin Tech. He can rewrite the laws of alchemy. That is... a significant competitive advantage."
"Shall I send an envoy?" Ledger asked.
"I tried," Aurum growled. "I sent him Uranium. A gesture of goodwill. But now? The Baron has locked down Sector 2. No transmission in or out. He's paranoid. He knows he has a prize, even if he doesn't understand its value."
Aurum turned back to his desk. He tapped a rune on the surface.
The display changed. It showed a list: "Vespera Estate Liquidation: Phase 2."
The auction that Dante had crashed had been halted after the violence. Now, the Auction House was resuming the sale of the remaining assets to cover the damages.
"If we can't reach him directly," Aurum said, his eyes gleaming with calculation, "we force a meeting. We create a demand."
He pointed to an item near the bottom of the list.
Item #894: The Key to the Celestial Observatory.
"The Observatory," Aurum whispered. "It doesn't control the stars. It maps the Ley Lines. It gives an approximation of where the other Axioms are hiding."
"The Baron will want this," Ledger observed. "It is a strategic vantage point for defense."
"Exactly," Aurum snapped. "The Baron is a paranoid hoarder. He will want it to spot incoming attacks. He will send someone to bid on it. And since he doesn't trust his own men with money, and he can't leave his fortress unguarded..."
"...he will send the Scavenger," Ledger finished.
"Buy the Auction House," Aurum ordered, sitting back down. "The whole building. The staff. The security. Rig the bidding. Make sure the reserve price is astronomical."
"But Sir," Ledger hesitated, his paper face crinkling. "Silvergrin eats people. He ate Vespera. He is a high-risk asset."
Aurum smiled. It was a terrifying expression—a mouth full of diamond implants that caught the light.
"I am a banker, little paper man. I deal with sharks every day. Sharks are predictable. They just want to eat."
Aurum picked up his quill.
"Prepare the contract. We are going to make the Pale King an offer he can't refuse. I'm not going to fight him. I'm going to buy him."