The encrypted message came at midnight.
Mr. Chen. The Corporate Council wishes to discuss a private resolution to your situation. We can offer what you've always wanted. Reply to this channel if interested. This offer expires in 48 hours.
No signature. No name. Just a contact code and a timer.
Nico stared at his tablet in the dim safe house.
What you've always wanted.
What had he always wanted?
Once, the answer would have been simple: escape. Level 6 citizenship. Security. A life where he wasn't just another junkie waiting to die.
Now? Now he didn't know.
"You going to respond?" Kade asked from the doorway.
"You saw it?"
"Security protocols flag anything from unknown corporate contacts. What do you think it is?"
"Either a genuine offer or a trap."
"Smart money's on trap."
"Probably."
They sat in silence.
"You going anyway?" Kade asked.
"I don't know. Maybe?" Nico pulled up his financial data. 3.2 million left. Nineteen weeks. "What if they're offering a way out? Real amnesty. Enough money to keep the cooperatives funded."
"They're not offering that. They're offering you specifically a way out. Which means abandoning everyone else."
"You don't know that."
"I know how Corporate operates. They want you gone. Either arrested or bought off. Those are the only two options that make sense for them."
Nico knew Kade was right. Of course he was right.
But the temptation was there anyway.
A way out. A life. Freedom.
All he'd wanted when he was twenty-eight and selling Veil in pod hotels.
"I'm going to reply," Nico said.
"Bad idea."
"Probably. But I need to know what they're offering."
He typed: I'm listening.
The response came instantly: Level 5, Sector 12-B, sublevel maintenance access. Tomorrow, 2200 hours. Come alone. You have my word you won't be arrested.
Kade read over his shoulder. "That's the same location protocol they use for clandestine meetings. This isn't a trap to arrest you—it's a legitimate offer."
"How do you know?"
"Because if they wanted you arrested, they'd just raid wherever you're staying. They don't need to lure you to a specific location. No, this is something else."
"What?"
"A deal. And probably not one in your favor."
The next thirty-six hours were tense. Nico told Maya and Lin about the meeting. Both advised against going.
"It's a setup," Maya said.
"Not to arrest," Lin countered. "But to compromise. They're going to offer you something you want in exchange for something they want. And what they want is you gone."
"Maybe that's not a bad thing," Nico said. "If they're willing to fund the cooperatives, keep people housed and fed, in exchange for me walking away—isn't that a win?"
"For who?" Lin's voice was sharp. "Not for the people who've been following you. Not for the movement. For you, maybe. For Corporate, definitely. But for Level 8? That's surrender dressed up as compromise."
"Or it's pragmatism. My money's running out anyway. If I can negotiate a soft landing instead of total collapse—"
"You negotiate from weakness, you get weakness. They know you're desperate. They know the money's gone in months. So they offer you just enough to make betrayal look like strategy."
"You don't know what they're offering."
"I know you're considering it. That's enough."
The argument went in circles. Eventually, Nico made his decision: he'd go to the meeting. Hear them out. Make no commitments.
Just listen.
Kade insisted on safety protocols: bio-transmitter, real-time monitoring, kill-switch to broadcast everything if Nico didn't check in.
"If they're going to buy you," Kade said, "let's at least make sure we know the price."
By 2200 the next night, Nico was entering the maintenance access in Level 5.
A corporate envoy met him. Professional. Cold. Efficient.
"Mr. Chen. Thank you for coming. Follow me."
She led him up. Always up. Through levels he'd never accessed. Past security that waved them through.
To Level 3.
To an apartment that cost more than his entire operation.
Where Marcus Volkov waited with an offer that would destroy everything.
And Nico listened.
Because he'd always wanted to know what his price was.
Now he'd find out.
[Chapter continues directly into Ch. 40, which has already been written]