Chapter 8: System Store
The airships of the Annapurna Financial Guild carved lazy circles through Autumnvale’s amber sky like predators marking territory. Vincent watched them from his Sector 3 office, each vessel a reminder of the delicate ecosystem of power he navigated daily. The corporate district sprawled below—spiritlamps casting their ethereal glow between the harsh electric lines that fed the city’s appetite for progress.
His reflection caught his eye in the window’s surface. Composed. Calculating. The face of a man who’d learned to smile while sharpening knives.
The soft rustle of fabric announced Olivia’s presence behind him. She stood with her tablet, fingers dancing across its surface in the particular rhythm of someone managing a dozen crises simultaneously. When she finally spoke, her voice carried the careful neutrality of someone who’d learned not to interrupt Vincent’s contemplations.
"The Annapurna envoy hit turbulence over the Meridian Peaks. They’re requesting accommodation in one of our private vault suites for their finance wardens."
Vincent’s lips curved—barely. "Grant it. Let them feel important."
"Should I prepare talking points for when they inevitably probe about our quarterly projections?"
"Not yet. Let’s test the waters first." He turned from the window, the movement deliberate as a chess piece sliding into position. "But monitor Meridian Enterprises. The moment they catch wind of uncertainty, they won’t sit back."
He planned to give up his corporation’s neutral stance and ally with Annapurna Financial Guild... at least temporarily. This decision hadn’t come to him on a whim. Cornelius Corporation had been stagnant for too long and would start lagging behind if he didn’t act soon. The moment his corporation fell out of the top ten, everything would go down like a landslide.
Olivia nodded and tapped her screen, then lingered. "Anything else?"
Vincent finally looked away from the skyline. "Yes."
"Send a bouquet of white camellias to the headmistress. And a reminder gift to Remo D’Souza—he still owes me a favor."
Her brows lifted just slightly. "That won’t change academy policy."