Chapter 47: Fifty
Rone grabs Leon by collar and said "You little fuck.. who gave you permission to do that"
The band processed it without drama. One notification, then the deduction began running.
The 47 available CPP went first, ticking down in increments on the screen. Leon watched it go. It took about four seconds. When it reached zero the band paused briefly, then a new notification appeared.
Available CPP depleted. Remaining penalty: 3 CPP. Calculating consequence for locked CPP usage.
Rone had released his collar at some point during the deduction. He was reading the screen over Leon's shoulder, his expression unreadable.
The band ran its calculation. A small progress indicator moved across the screen, unhurried.
Then:
Locked CPP consequence determined.For 3 CPP drawn from locked reserve: one fingernail to be removed from the penalized participant's hand. Action to be performed by the registered leader of the catching Seeker team. Team leader will receive 10 CPP upon completion.
Leon stared at it.
Rone stared at it.
Then Rone started laughing. Not the short genuine laugh from earlier — this one went on longer, the kind that comes out when something is so absurd the only available response is to find it funny.
Leon thought about the number. Three CPP. One nail for three CPP. He didn't want to think about what a larger shortfall would have produced but the thought arrived anyway and he let it pass through without settling.
Staying in this tournament carried consequences he hadn't fully mapped.
"Alright," Leon said to the band. "I want to forfeit."
Rone stopped laughing.
Forfeit request received.Forfeit fee: 200 CPP.This amount will be drawn from total CPP including locked reserves. Consequence calculations will apply to any amount exceeding available locked CPP.Confirm forfeit?
Nobody spoke for a moment.
One of Rone's team members let out a short sound that wasn't quite a word. Another one was reading his own band, presumably checking whether the same applied to him.
"Two hundred," Rone said. He said it the way you repeat something back when you're making sure you heard correctly. Then he looked at the team members around him. "No one mentioned that anywhere."
"There was nothing in the rules document about a forfeit fee," the member to his left said.
"Because everyone assumed you could just leave if it got bad enough." Rone looked almost impressed despite himself. "Every D4 student crying about not wanting to be here — they assumed they could just tap out if things went wrong." He shook his head. "Figures."
Leon looked at the band screen. "What happens if I refuse to have the action performed."
The band's response came back flat and immediate.
Refusal is not a recognized input. If the penalized participant does not comply within the designated timeframe, academy enforcement personnel will be dispatched to the participant's current location to ensure completion of the assigned consequence.
The member who had made the Grovin call looked up from his own band. "Is that — can they actually do that? There's no legal framework that allows—"
"Legal," Rone said, with the tone of someone explaining something obvious to someone who should already know it. "You think the people who built this tournament are worried about legal? The academy operates under companies like Amigos & Vael group who are part of Remeria Foundation's framework. The Foundation just got handed security authority over six countries." He looked at the member. "Who exactly is going to tell them they can't do something. The police?" He let that sit for a second. "The police report to them now."
Nobody had an immediate answer to that.
Rone looked back at Leon. "Grab him. We're taking him to Grovin."
Two of the team members moved toward Leon. One of them grabbed him by the wrist. He didn't resist. There wasn't a calculation that made resistance useful right now — four of them, no CPP, Emma and Fred somewhere northeast hopefully still moving.
He looked down at his wrist briefly. The dark beaded bracelet still sat there, unremarkable in the dim light.
He let them take his other arm also and started walking.