My Gambling System: Chaos Engine

Chapter 1B: The Null Set

The train passed. The roar faded into a soft hum. The shaking stopped.

Joseph stared at the ceiling.

Nothing happened.

The crack did not spread. The concrete did not fall. The dust settled on the floor. The room was silent again, except for the drip, drip, drip of the pipe.

Kael slowly lowered his arms. He looked at the ceiling. Then he looked at Joseph. He brushed the dust off his shoulder.

"You are smart," Kael said. He did not sound angry. He sounded amused. "Your math was perfect. I checked the logs. This building was condemned ten years ago. It should have collapsed five years ago."

Joseph slumped in his chair. "I don't understand. The variables... the weight... it should have fallen."

Kael walked back to the stool and sat down. He leaned close to Joseph’s face. "You forget where you are, Joseph. This is Sanctum."

Kael reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, glowing blue chip. He tapped it against the wall. The wall hummed for a second, then went silent.

"Reality Reinforcement," Kael said. "The landlord of this building pays a subscription f*e to the City Core. They pump energy fields into the walls. They pay to ignore physics. Gravity, stress, decay—these things are for poor people. If you have enough credits, the roof never falls. Reality does what it is told."

Joseph felt a cold pit in his stomach. He had relied on logic. He had relied on the rules of the world. But in Sanctum, money broke the rules.

"You tried to use your brain to escape," Kael said. "I respect that. But it changes nothing."

Kael grabbed Joseph’s broken finger again. He squeezed it. Joseph bit his lip so hard it bled, refusing to scream this time.

"I am done playing," Kael said. His voice dropped to a whisper. "I know you won't give me the codes for your own life. You are stubborn. But you are not alone."

Joseph froze. "What do you mean?"

"Your sister," Kael said. "Elara."

The name hit Joseph harder than the broken bone. "Leave her out of this. She doesn't know anything."

"I know," Kael said. He pulled out a photo from his pocket and held it up. It was a picture of a young girl with bright green eyes, sitting in a park. "She is very pretty. Very healthy."

"If you touch her..." Joseph growled, struggling against the zip-ties. The plastic cut deep into his wrists, drawing blood.

"I don't need to touch her," Kael said. He tossed the photo on the wet floor. "I already have her."

Joseph stopped moving. The room felt like it was spinning. "No. She’s at school. She’s safe."

"We picked her up an hour ago," Kael said casually. "Right now, she is at the West Sector Processing Plant. You know what they do there?"

Joseph’s breath came in short gasps. "The Harvesting Clinics."

"Exactly," Kael said. "Rich people need new eyes, new hearts, new livers. And Elara... she has a very high Luck Value. Her parts are premium. Very expensive."

"No!" Joseph shouted. "Please! Take the codes! I’ll give you the codes!"

Kael shook his head. "It is too late for that, Joseph. The contract is already signed. If I just take the codes, my boss will be happy, but the Clinic still owns your sister. I can't stop them with just a few passwords."

"Then what do I do?" Joseph begged. Tears mixed with the blood on his face. "Tell me what to do."

Kael sat back. He tapped his metal chin with a finger.

"There is a way," Kael said. "A buy-out."

"How much?"

"Five million credits," Kael said.

Joseph stared at him. "That’s impossible. No one has that kind of money."

"Your father did," Kael said. "But his accounts are locked for twenty-four hours because of your little scanning error earlier. So, you need cash. Fast."

Kael stood up. He walked behind Joseph and cut the zip-ties with a knife.

Joseph fell forward onto his hands and knees. His broken finger throbbed. He cradled his hand against his chest.

"Get up," Kael ordered.

Joseph stood up slowly. His legs were weak.

"I am giving you a chance," Kael said. "Not because I like you. But because I like to gamble. And watching a 'Null' try to survive is very entertaining."

Kael grabbed Joseph by the collar of his shirt and dragged him up the stairs. Joseph stumbled, trying to keep his footing. They went up a flight of rusted metal stairs, through a heavy door, and out into the night.

The air was thick and tasted like chemicals. It was raining. But it wasn't normal rain. It was acidic. It stung Joseph’s skin like tiny bee stings. Smoke rose from the pavement where the drops hit.

Kael threw Joseph onto the wet street. Joseph landed hard in a puddle. The water soaked his clothes, burning slightly.

Joseph looked up. Above him, the city of Sanctum towered like a mountain of steel and light. Holograms of giant women selling soda danced in the sky. Flying cars zoomed between the skyscrapers. It was beautiful and terrible.

Kael stood in the doorway, dry and safe.

"The time is 8:00 PM," Kael said. He pointed to a massive digital clock on a nearby building. "The Harvesting Clinic starts the procedure at midnight. You have four hours."

"Four hours to get five million credits?" Joseph yelled over the sound of the rain. "How? I can't rob a bank! I have no weapons! I have no luck!"

Kael smiled. It was a cruel, wide smile. He pointed down the street, toward a district where the lights were red and gold.

"The Pit," Kael said.

Joseph felt a chill that had nothing to do with the rain. The Pit was the underground casino. It was a place where people bet their lives. It was the most dangerous place in the city. The house always won. Always.

"Go to The Pit," Kael said. "Play the games. Win the money. If you bring me five million credits by midnight, I buy your sister back. If you are one minute late... or one credit short..."

Kael made a cutting motion across his throat. "She gets dismantled. Piece by piece."

"I have zero luck!" Joseph screamed. "The scanner said NULL! I can't win at a casino! The cards will always be bad! The dice will always lose!"

"Then you better find another way to win," Kael said. "Use that big brain of yours. Figure out the math. Cheat. Steal. I don't care."

Kael stepped back and the heavy metal door slammed shut. The lock clicked.

Joseph was alone.

He knelt in the acid rain. His finger was broken. He had no money. He had zero luck. The universe was mathematically designed to make him fail.

He looked at his reflection in the puddle. He looked pathetic. A wet, broken boy.

But then he thought of Elara. He thought of her green eyes. He thought of how she laughed at his terrible jokes. She was the only variable that mattered.

Joseph stood up. The rain burned his face, but he didn't feel it anymore. He wiped the blood from his mouth.

He looked toward the red glow of The Pit in the distance.

"Probability of success," Joseph whispered to himself. "Zero percent."

He started walking. "I'll take those odds."