A single black point expanded, turning into a large circle. Seconds passed, and a red-haired youth fell from it, bending down as he landed on the floor. It appeared as if he had been dropped from a great height, and the annoyed click of his tongue showed that he hadn’t enjoyed it one bit. As he rose up, he suddenly froze in place. His eyes opened, and he looked around him, the wrinkles on his face becoming deeper by the second. Eventually, his shoulders rose a little as he sighed, and a single word escaped him.

"Fuck..."

Mechanical clicks sounded from all around him as a dozen power-suit-wearing, heavy-arms-using bastards pointed their weapons at him. It was almost as if he was specifically dropped in the center of the encirclement, which is exactly what happened.

"Dante Sokolov."

The circle broke in one section as the goons made way for a sharply dressed woman, long crimson hair trailing behind her. Stopping before him, she looked down with disdain reserved only for the worst of filth to ever walk the earth.

"You’re under arrest for-"

RING RING RING

Her words were interrupted by the sound of a default ringtone. Her mouth was left hanging open until she closed it shut. Turning around, she took out her phone and stared at it for a moment before accepting the call.

"What is it?"

A second passed, then another, then her face went completely pale. Her head snapped toward the red-haired youth, her eyes wide as though she had seen a ghost, which felt all the more eerie considering the report she had just received.

~[ ]~

At the same time, on the other side of the country. A protest that has been ongoing for most of the day was gradually turning into a riot. The center of it was another one of Eidolon’s branches, one that played a minor role compared to those in megacities such as Vetrogard or Neo-Vatra. Despite that, it still became a beacon, drawing all the hatred people felt toward the company.

Ledyanoy, the city where the branch was located, had recently suffered from a very bad EI incident. Adding to that the fears ignited by the attack on the eastern branch in Neo-Vatra, people no longer wanted the megacorporation and its Genomes close by, and so they went out to protest, demanding accountability and the closure of the branch.

The entrance to the premises was barricaded with police in heavy equipment and power suits guarding it. That sent the right message, but the response wasn’t what was expected. Just when it looked like things were about to explode, something odd happened.

Something massive appeared out of nowhere, blinking into existence right in front of the protesters. For many, it appeared to be just another power suit, but one only needed to look at it for a bit to realize it was different from anything law enforcement had. Then there was another detail.

"... what is this?"

A blonde man asked, looking at the gathered crowd with disgust.

[People.] The machine said, letting go of the man’s shoulder. [Those who had been screwed by your company.]

Barely a couple of seconds later, looks of recognition flashed on people’s faces. And of course, they would recognize him. He was one of the richest, most powerful men in the world, and the source of all their problems.

Hearing his name spread among the crowd, Kaiser’s left eye twitched, and he struggled to stop the disgust on his face from showing.

[You remember what we agreed on?]

Snapping out of it, he whipped his head toward the machine’s glass bowl of a visor.

"Wait, you aren’t going to-"

Before he could say another word, the machine vanished just like it had appeared. Kaiser was left standing there in his underwear, spectated by the people who revelled in his misery and humiliation. It wouldn’t be more than a couple of minutes before his form gets plastered all over social media, and though most news outlets would hesitate to report on it, some couldn’t pass on the chance.

~[ ]~

Caroline was beyond confused. Her trouble started when she heard reports of Kaiser Tigris’s appearance at a location that had been under constant supervision for the past few months. The scion of the Tigris family wasn’t someone who would visit a poor man’s club to entertain himself, so she already guessed the true reason behind it.

On her way there, she was informed about the clash he had with the subject of their supervision, the Cyberpunk, and by the time she made it to the location, the worst came to be. Someone suspected to be Ghost appeared. The villain had been the source of endless headaches for the past couple of months, holding heroes hostage and blackmailing the authorities. Now, he had one of the most important people in the world in his hands.

Just when it felt like she was in for a lot of pain, the call came in, and she was informed that the scion had just appeared in Ledyanoy. The entity suspected to be the Level 6 villain Ghost was there as well. Confusion left her frozen for a while, staring at the red-haired youth.

"The fuck are you looking at?"

The question seemed to snap her back to reality, and disdain returned to her expression.

"What are you planning?"

By "you," she meant whatever organization Ghost belonged to, but it seems that went over the youth’s head.

"A goddamn doctor visit." He replied. "Half my guts are broken, all because you couldn’t keep that piece of shit away." He pulled up his shirt, showing torn flesh and a hole in his stomach. "I was just attacked by one of your freaks. How are you going to pay for this!? Huh!!?"

Caroline opened her mouth to retort, but words betrayed her. A question that had crossed her mind when she first came across this mess was why would the scion to one of the twelve families get involved in this matter personally?