The theater room buzzed with energy.

  Another student was on stage, delivering a monologue with enough passion to make everyone lean in.

  Kai sat in the back, half-listening, half-watching his friends laugh and whisper between scenes.

  For a moment, he allowed himself to relax — to enjoy the warmth of being part of something.

  As the last scene ended and people clapped, Kai stood and slipped quietly out of the theater.

  The hallway was dim now, most students gone.

  And there — leaning awkwardly against the wall — was Evan, waiting, just like Kai had told him to.

  His usual cocky grin was gone.

  Replaced with a nervous glance that flicked up when Kai approached.

  Kai stopped a few feet away, hands in his hoodie pockets, gaze sharp.

  “Glad you showed up,” Kai said calmly.

  Evan shoved his hands in his jacket, trying to look tough — but Kai could see the way he shifted from foot to foot.

  “You said to meet you here,” Evan muttered. “So… I’m here.”

  Kai studied him for a long moment, then spoke softly:

  “The watchers are pleased you’re listening.”

  Evan swallowed.

  “What do they want now?”

  Kai let a small smile tug at his lips.

  “A task. Something simple — for now.”

  He took a slow step closer, enough for Evan to lean back slightly, uncomfortable under Kai’s gaze.

  “If you do it, there’s a reward waiting for you,” Kai continued. “But if you fail… well, losing a tooth might seem like a small price compared to what else could happen.”

  Evan’s jaw tensed.

  “What kind of task?”

  Kai leaned against the wall, glancing down the hallway like it was nothing.

  “I need someone good with computers. Someone who knows what’s happening around the city — someone who hears everything. Not some loudmouth like you. Someone smart, quiet, useful.”

  Evan frowned.

  “Why?”

  Kai turned his head slightly, staring at him.

  “Because I said so.”

  A pause.

  “Unless you want to find out what happens when they get annoyed.”

  Evan cursed under his breath.

  “Alright, alright. I’ll find someone. I know people.”

  Kai gave a faint smile.

  “Good. You’ll bring me a name. Someone who can help me keep an eye on things… not just in school, but everywhere.”

  “What do you need that for?” Evan asked, narrowing his eyes.

  Kai looked at him for a long second, then shrugged.

  “Protection. Information. Call it whatever you want.”

  “And what if I don’t find anyone?”

  Kai’s smile faded — his eyes sharp, cold.

  “Then we’ll see if you can still smile without your teeth.”

  Evan looked away, jaw tight.

  “Fine. I’ll get you a name.”

  Kai pushed off the wall, turning as if the conversation was already over.

  “Good. I’ll be waiting.”

  As he walked away, the night cool against his skin, Kai felt something settle in his chest.

  “The first mission is set.”

  “If Evan can bring me someone who knows things — someone who can move in ways I can’t — then that’s the start of something bigger.”

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  He glanced up at the night sky, calm but focused.

  “I can’t fight every battle myself. But if I build this right… I won’t have to.”

  “An organization. One that works in the shadows. Fixing what’s broken. Stopping people like Evan used to be.”

  Kai smiled faintly, a cold, sharp glint in his eyes.

  “And it starts now.”

  Back home, Kai locked himself in his room — heart calm, mind sharp.

  He placed the candle down carefully, lit it, and sat in his closet, the door clicking shut behind him.

  “If I’m going to build something, I need resources. Control takes more than fear — it takes money. Connections.”

  Closing his eyes, he let himself sink — out of his body, out of the world.

  Into the smoky place, where colors swirled and time felt like nothing at all.

  There, he focused on numbers — long rows of them, as he had written on a paper earlier in class.

  Random? Maybe. But if he could influence reality, if his ripples could bend fate, then this was how he’d start to turn it to his favor.

  “Numbers. The right ones.”

  “The ones that will bring me what I need.”

  He focused hard, letting the numbers burn into the smoke like glowing lines.

  He didn’t know how much time passed — minutes, hours — but when he opened his eyes, he felt the same quiet certainty as before.

  “The ripple is set.”

  The next as Kai walked to school, the morning air crisp and cool, he took a small detour — a quiet smile playing at the corner of his lips.

  “Let’s see if this really works.”

  He entered the small convenience store just down from the school — shelves lined with snacks, drinks, and a rack of lottery tickets behind the counter.

  “Can I get a ticket?” Kai asked calmly, nodding toward the display.

  The old man behind the counter barely looked up, sliding the slip of paper toward him.

  “Good luck, kid,” he muttered.

  Kai paid, took the ticket, and slipped it carefully into his pocket.

  As he left the store, his fingers brushed over the paper, and he thought:

  “If this works… if I can win this, even a small prize… then everything changes.”

  “I’ll have the means to build what I need.”

  “No more hiding in the background.”

  “No more being powerless.”

  Kai walked toward school, eyes sharp, mind calm.

  “This is just the beginning.”

  Evan was waiting for Kai — leaning near the stairwell, watching him approach with that same anxious tension he always carried now.

  “I asked around,” Evan said quickly, glancing around like someone might be listening. “There’s this guy. Jonah. Kinda weird, but… people say he’s crazy good with computers. Knows everyone’s business. If anyone can get info, it’s him.”

  Kai paused, hands in his hoodie pocket, tilting his head slightly.

  “Good,” he said calmly.

  Evan swallowed, licking his lips.

  “But… why? Why are you doing all this? Why me?”

  Kai turned to face him fully now, his eyes sharp and unreadable.

  “Because the watchers have a plan.”

  Evan blinked, confused, uneasy.

  “A… plan?”

  Kai took a step closer, lowering his voice.

  “A big one. And right now? Me and you — we’re part of it.”

  Evan shifted nervously.

  “What plan?”

  Kai gave a small, cold smile.

  “If you show your value, I might tell you more.”

  He leaned in just a little, eyes like glass.

  “But for now? You don’t ask questions. You follow.”

  Evan hesitated, then nodded quickly.

  “Yeah. Okay. Okay.”

  Kai turned to walk away, calling back over his shoulder:

  “Find me Jonah. Soon.”

  The sun was already starting to set when Kai made his way to the theater room.

  The weight of everything he had set in motion pressed quietly in his chest — but as soon as he opened the door, the familiar noise of his friends talking and laughing washed over him like a wave of calm.

  Inside, Brandon was throwing crumpled paper balls at Leo, who was dramatically pretending to dodge them like they were bullets.

  Naomi was leaning against the edge of the stage, reading over her script like she had a serious grudge against it.

  And Lila was perched on a chair, casually scrolling her phone — but when Kai walked in, she looked up and gave him a small nod.

  “You’re late, Romeo,” she teased.

  Kai smirked a little, sliding into an empty chair.

  “Got caught up.”

  “In what?” Naomi asked without looking up.

  “Life,” Kai said simply.

  Brandon snorted.

  “Well, welcome back to real life, dude. We were just deciding who has to bring snacks for tomorrow.”

  “And it’s definitely Brandon’s turn,” Leo said quickly, grinning.

  “No way, man! I brought chips last week!”

  “You brought one bag of chips for like seven people,” Naomi shot back, still reading.

  Kai leaned back, watching them with a faint smile.

  “For a second, it feels normal.”

  “But I can’t forget what I’m building now.”

  Still, for a moment, he let himself laugh when Brandon and Leo started arguing like brothers over who owed snacks, and when Lila gave him a knowing smirk, as if to say “they’re always like this.”

  As the theater room emptied out, and his friends drifted home, Kai slipped away — walking to the back of the school where Evan had told him to meet.

  Evan was already there, looking jumpy, and standing next to him was a thin guy with shaggy brown hair, glasses sliding down his nose, wearing a hoodie that was too big and cargo pants loaded with pockets.

  Jonah.

  The moment Kai arrived, Evan took a step back, nodding toward Jonah.

  “Here. Told you I’d find him.”

  Kai gave a slow nod.

  “Good job.”

  Evan hesitated.

  “You two talk. I’ll… I’ll be over there.”

  And he left them alone.

  Kai turned to Jonah, studying him.

  “I heard you’re good with computers.”

  Jonah looked at him, eyes sharp behind the glasses, but curious.

  “Yeah, I guess. Depends on who’s asking.”

  Kai gave a small smile.

  “Someone who could use your skills.”

  Jonah snorted.

  “What, you want me to hack into the school files or something? Not interested in detention, man.”

  Kai shook his head.

  “No. Nothing like that. But I do need information. People. Things moving around in the city. Stuff that’s hard to see unless you know where to look.”

  Jonah raised an eyebrow.

  “Sounds shady.”

  “Maybe,” Kai said calmly. “But useful. And I’m not asking for charity.”

  Jonah crossed his arms.

  “What’s that mean?”

  Kai leaned in a bit, lowering his voice.

  “It means… I’m willing to make it worth your while. But first, I want to know something.”

  Jonah frowned but stayed quiet.

  “What’s the one thing you want most right now?”

  Jonah blinked, caught off guard.

  “What?”

  “If you could have anything. Right now. What would it be?”

  Jonah hesitated, shifting awkwardly.

  “I mean… that’s a weird question.”

  Kai waited, saying nothing, eyes calm, waiting him out.

  Finally, Jonah sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.

  “Alright. There’s this rig. A top-tier computer setup. Custom liquid cooling, RTX 4090, maxed out specs. Thing’s like five grand. I’ve been obsessed with it for months.”

  He gave a small, sheepish laugh.

  “Sorry. I get a little carried away when I talk about that stuff.”

  Kai just smiled slightly.

  “What if I could give you that?”

  Jonah blinked, staring at him.

  “What? How?”

  Kai shrugged.

  “You let me worry about that. You give me what I want, and I’ll give you what you want.”

  “You’re serious?”

  “Dead serious.”

  Jonah studied him for a long moment, and then said quietly:

  “What do you want me to do?”

  Kai’s smile sharpened.

  “For now? Just watch. Listen. Tell me what’s happening under the surface — who’s doing what, what people are hiding.”

  “Like what? Gossip?”

  “No. Real things. Everyone’s informations in the school . Who has influence . Opportunities.”

  Jonah adjusted his glasses, thinking.

  “You really gonna get me that rig?”

  “If you prove useful.”

  A pause. Then Jonah smirked, and a new light entered his eyes — part curiosity, part ambition.

  “Alright. You got yourself a deal.”

  Kai extended a hand.

  Jonah looked at it, then shook.

  As they let go, Kai thought quietly to himself:

  “Second piece on the board.”

  “Now it begins.”

  Kai stepped through his front door, shutting it softly behind him.

  The house was quiet — his mom still at work, the late afternoon sun casting long shadows across the floor.

  He dropped his bag by the door, pulling off his hoodie as he dragged himself toward his room.

  “Long day.”

  His body ached — from holding himself together, from thinking three steps ahead of everyone else.

  From juggling two worlds — the friend, and the mastermind.

  He let himself fall backward onto his bed, staring at the ceiling as his thoughts spun.

  “Jonah’s in.”

  “Evan’s scared enough to follow.”

  “The first pieces are moving.”

  And yet, none of it would matter if he didn’t have the means to back it up.

  “I can’t build anything without money. Not really.”

  His eyes drifted to his desk.

  There, sitting neatly by his notebooks and candle, was the lottery ticket.

  For a moment, he just stared at it — heart suddenly pounding in his chest.

  “Did it work?”

  He sat up slowly, reaching for his phone.

  Fingers trembling slightly now, he pulled up the lottery website, typing in the numbers from the slip, one by one.

  First number — match.

  Kai’s breath caught.

  Second number — match.

  A strange tension filled his chest.

  Third — match.

  By the time he reached the final number, his hands were cold, but when it matched perfectly, he exhaled sharply — a sound between a laugh and disbelief.

  “I won.”

  He stared at the screen, reading the confirmation over and over.

  “I actually won.”

  For a moment, he didn’t move — letting the weight of it settle over him.

  “It worked.”

  Slowly, a smile tugged at his lips — something darker, sharper, full of quiet excitement and rising power.

  “This changes everything.”

  He leaned back against the wall, phone still in his hand, eyes focused on nothing as a thousand ideas started racing through his head.

  “Money. Real money.”

  “I can fund this. I can make this real.”

  “No more struggling for scraps. No more hiding.”

  The possibilities swirled through his mind — buildings, people, influence.

  “The beginning of something they’ll never see coming.”

  His smile widened slightly, eyes glinting in the dim light of his room.

  “First the school. Then...”

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