1-STAR TRASH: Bad Review System

8. Operation Queen

Dane didn’t sleep for 36 hours.

In front of him, Liora’s chip hologram spun: data on 127 5-Star names. Photos, addresses, schedules, weaknesses. And at the very top, golden letters:

QueenAdora

Adoration Score: 5.00 – PERFECT! Address: Adora Tower, Floor 99, Sector 1.

Weakness: ?

Three question marks. Even Liora didn’t know QueenAdora’s weakness.

“Perfect 5.00,” Dane muttered. “Means she’s never made a mistake. Never made anyone hate her.”

“Or she’s just too good at hiding it,” Rara said from behind. She carried two bowls of synthetic soup. Smelled like wet cardboard.

Dane didn’t eat. “If she’s perfect, then we make her imperfect.”

Jax entered, carrying a strategy board. On the board was a blueprint of Adora Tower. 99 floors. Guards on every floor. Patrol drones every 3 minutes. Lasers at the entrance.

“Damn,” Kimo said. “392 of us want to raid the strongest 5-Star base in Neo-Jakarta? We’ll all die.”

“Yes,” Dane answered flatly. “That’s why we’re not raiding.”

Everyone turned to him.

“Explain,” Rina said.

Dane pointed at RatuAdora’s hologram. “She’s perfect because everyone loves her. Because she never looks evil. If we attack directly, she becomes a victim. Her score goes up.”

“Then what?” Jax asked.

“Then we make her look evil.”

Dane’s plan was simple. And insane.

- Infiltrate Adora Tower undetected. Use fake IDs from Liora’s chip. Liora gave access code level 4.9. Enough to enter floors 1-50.

- Find proof. QueenAdora must have secrets. All 5-Stars do. Hidden violence, illegal taxes, secret children, anything.

-Leak it to the public. If that proof gets out, people will hate her. 5.00 score will drop.

- Drop it to 4.9. Just 0.1 points. If RatuAdora drops, effect is like a bomb. All 5-Stars will panic. System starts cracking.

“Risks?” Rina asked.

“If we get caught, we’re all deleted,” Dane said. “If we fail, QueenAdora’s score goes up to 5.01, and she becomes a real god.”

Silence.

Then Jax raised his hand. “I’m in.”

“Me too,” Kimo said.

One by one, 392 people raised hands. No one backed out.

Rara stared at Dane. “You sure?”

Dane looked at Mira’s hologram. Old photo, when Mira was still healthy. Score 45. Smiling.

“I have no choice,” he answered.

Two days later, small team departed. Dane, Jax, Rina, Rara, Kimo. Five people. The rest waited at the station, ready to spread proof if they succeeded.

They wore maintenance uniforms. Liora’s 4.9 access code opened Adora Tower’s back door.

Inside, cold. Clean. Smell of synthetic flowers.

Floor 1: lobby. Floor 2-10: fan club offices. Floor 11-30: streaming studios. Floor 31-50: employee apartments.

Their target: floor 99. QueenAdora’s penthouse.

Problem: elevator required 5.00 biometric to go above floor 90.

“So what now?” Jax whispered.

Dane looked at Rara.

Rara shrugged. “I can pretend to be Reputation Police agent. Say there’s a bomb threat. They’ll open emergency elevator manually.”

“And if they check your ID?” Rina asked.

“Then I die,” Rara answered casually.

Dane grabbed Rara’s hand. Tight.

“Don’t,” he said quietly.

Rara was shocked. “You?”

“I said don’t,” Dane cut her off. “If you die, my score drops.”

Rara went silent. Then smiled faintly. “Yeah, yeah. I hate you, remember?”

[+15 EXP]

Rara walked to reception desk. Activated Reputation Police badge hologram.

“Bomb threat report on floor 99,” she said flatly. “Open emergency elevator. Now.”

Receptionist hesitated. Checked system. Liora’s 4.9 code passed.

Elevator opened.

They entered.

Elevator doors opened. Different smell. Smell of money, smell of power.

QueenAdora’s penthouse was as big as a football field. Glass walls, view of Neo-Jakarta. In the center, RatuAdora was live streaming.

Blonde hair, white dress, perfect smile. 5.00 score floated above her head.

“Hi lovelies!” she said to camera. “Today I’m giving away 1 million credits to my most loyal fans!”

Chat exploded. Hearts, flowers, “I love you Queen!”

Dane hid behind pillar. Heart pounding.

“She’s perfect,” Rina whispered. “How can we make her fall?”

Dane looked around. Table, sofa, cabinets. There was a door to the office.

“There,” he said. “Rich people’s secrets are always in the office.”

They crawled. Slowly. Streaming camera wasn’t pointed there.

At the office door, Rara tried to open it. Locked. 5.00 biometric.

“Failed,” Kimo whispered.

Dane looked at streaming room. RatuAdora was laughing, reading donations.

Suddenly, office door opened from inside.

A child came out.

About 12 years old. Brown hair, ragged clothes. Score on chest: 1.3.

Child looked at Dane. Eyes met.

Dane froze.

Child wasn’t a fan. Child was… skinny. Wounds on arm. Score 1.3.

QueenAdora’s child?

Door opened wider. RatuAdora’s voice from inside: “Sweetie, get mommy some water.”

Child flinched. He looked at Dane again. Then he closed the door. Fast.

But enough. Enough for Dane to see inside the room.

A cage.

In the corner of the room, there was an iron cage. Inside, 3 other children. All scores below 2.0. Wounded, skinny, empty eyes.

Queendora, 5.00 Perfect, kept 1-Star children in cages in her penthouse.

Dane didn’t think. He recorded everything. Using Liora’s chip.

30-second video. QueenAdora laughing in front of camera. Behind her, cage of 1-Star children.

“Got it,” Dane whispered. “Let’s go.”

They returned to elevator. Went down. Left tower undetected.

Back at underground station, Dane uploaded video immediately.

To all networks. To all phones in Neo-Jakarta.

Title: _“QUEENADORA 5.00 PERFECT? WATCH THIS.”_

At first, no one believed.

“Fake!”

“Edited!”

“QueenAdora would never!”

But video was too clear. RatuAdora’s voice. Children’s faces. Iron cage in floor 99 penthouse.

Then first child spoke up. One of kids in video. Name was Dio.

He went live on street. Bruised face. Score 1.2.

“She’s my mom,” he said to camera. “She locked me up because my score is low. She said I’m her shame.”

Explosion.

[+1,000 EXP: Video viral] [+2,000 EXP: Dio live] [+5,000 EXP: 1 million people curse QueenAdora]

Dane checked system panel.

[Level Up! --> Level 11]

[Level Up! --> Level 12]

[Level Up! --> Level 13]

[Level Up! --> Level 14]

[Level Up! --> Level 15]

New skill unlocked: [Mass Slander level 1– Spread slander to 10,000 targets, stack effect]

On station’s big screen, RatuAdora’s score flickered.

5.00 --> 4.99 --> 4.98 --> 4.95

Dropped.

Kept dropping.

RatuAdora went live again. This time crying.

“I didn’t know! They’re orphans I’m protecting! This is slander!”

But too late. Comments already flooded:

“LIAR!”

“MONSTER!”

“FAKE 5.00!”

Score: 4.90

[TARGET ACHIEVED] [+10,000 EXP]

Dane dropped to knees. Laughed. Hurt, but satisfied.

“It worked,” he whispered.

But Rara grabbed his shoulder. “Dane, look.”

On screen, new news appeared:

BREAKING: QUEENADORA DELETED BY THE CORE

Score 4.90 deemed unstable. Deletion Protocol activated.

Image of QueenAdora, bound by energy chains, dragged to underground Sector 0.

Dane was shocked. “The Core? Who?”

Screen went black.

Station lights died.

Alarm blared.

Robotic voice from all speakers:

“ANOMALY DETECTED. SOURCE: DANE MERCER. DELETION PROTOCOL ACCELERATED.”

[DELETION DEADLINE: 6 HOURS]

Darkness. Alarm. Panic.

Dane stood up. Level 15. Strong. But The Core knew his name.

“What is The Core?” Jax asked.

No one answered.

Then station door opened.

Not Reputation Police.

Not Liora.

Something black, liquid, human, shaped. Red eyes. No face.

“Target: Dane Mercer,” it said. Voice like 100 people speaking at once. “EXECUTE!"