When we stepped into the high-voltage, disinfectant-smelling corridors of the purification facilities, each of us was being polished like a sacrificial porcelain goblet to be presented at the masters' table. Beside me stood a version of those eerie child beauty pageants from the old world, now adapted for the nuclear age.
A boy, barely sixteen or nineteen years old... But his parents had built him not as a son, but as a billion-Viva investment prototype. It was clear from the taut, smooth transparency of his skin that they fed the boy only mineral water, rejecting the fatty, nutritious meals from sponsors. He was like a perfect statue; but a hollowed-out statue whose soul had been replaced by ownership software.
The system let off the offers, increasing every second above the boy's head like fireworks.
[OFFER UPDATE: Master Malphas offers 500,000 Viva and a lifetime guarantee of 'Real Meat' for him to join the harem.]
[OFFER: Lady Viola promises Nuclearium Upper District citizenship to the family in exchange for him becoming her private servant.]
(Lady Tetsa is offering 5,000 viva for a one-night sponsorship.)
(Lord Barte is offering a job at the Palace of Desires in exchange for a lifetime contract. To please the ladies and lords, 2 liters of blood per day.)
(Lady Kater: No blood or s-x—just menial labor and simple cleaning tasks. 50 viva daily, fresh bread, and a legume package for the family.)
(Lady Yeny: Bed companionship, luxury clothing, and a sense of fulfillment. 30,000 viva monthly.)
(Lord Danie: He has LIMITED all offers in exchange for you coming to his bed tonight.
OFFER: 1 MILLION VIVA.)
"For 50 viva, instead of that kid, you're suddenly so eager to clean the old woman's blood bags—your heart's racing.If you want, I'll make that handsome young man my premium instead of you, huh, Dorian?"
Dante's voice was hoarse and distant, but it was enough to make me clench my teeth in frustration.
"I clean with my honor. Or rather, I would have. Before you stopped me."
"But you didn't," Dante said mockingly. "You've never served a vampire. You've never adorned the beds of lords and ladies, nor washed their toilets and blood bags. You're a pig wallowing in filth with your so-called honor."
"Yes," I said through clenched teeth.
"That's why I chose you,Soldiers shouldn't be bought with money, sweetie."Dante said. "Clean yourself up properly—I don't care for filth."
I took a deep breath and made eye contact with the boy.
In Vivaricus, babies born "different" who wouldn't contribute to reproduction usually remained as mere protein in the kitchens, whereas "special pieces" like this boy were rare collection items that whetted the appetite of the lords and ladies. When I looked into the boy's eyes, I saw not a teen's fear, but the dark ambition of a gladiator ready to do anything to please his master.
"I will sacrifice my blood, my life, my everything to the master who sends me the most gifts," the boy said in a memorized robotic tone. "Service to my masters is my only reason for existence..."
This will never be me, I thought. What flows through my veins will not just give them life; one day, I will be the one to pour that poison directly into their hearts.
I turned my eyes away from that tragic child to the groans of the "fallen star" nearby. The woman was still "smiling" at the screen despite that metal heap down her throat, tearing her honor to pieces for a slice of stale bread. The wreckage of the past and the false glare of the future met right here, in this slaughterhouse. And I was standing right in the middle of that bloody bridge.
HOME DELIVERY: FRESH VENISON
The massive metal door opened with that cold, arrogant grandeur symbolizing the entrance to the Obsidian Palaces. Dante's golden seal appeared once more in my lens like a brand.
[SYSTEM: SUBMISSION PROTOCOL 100% COMPLETED]
[NEW ORDER: HOME DELIVERY REQUEST]
After watching my despair as if examining a piece of art—a cracked vase—Dante froze the entire air of the shelter with that icy voice.
"Drink? No, baby... We're in no hurry," Dante said. That ominous, hungry smile, feeding on the ashes of my honor, appeared on his lips. "I can't waste your 'honorable' blood in this damp hole. There's no need to spoil the quality."
I said.
"You're keeping me waiting right here in the middle of the circus—aren't you coming to take my blood? What the hell are you, some kind of holy vampire? F-ck that—I'm going to take my own blood!"
He sent another notification through the system. That absolute authority in his voice engraved my obedience like a seal upon my soul.
"I want home delivery... Fresh venison. Cleaned, packaged, and left directly on my bed."
I shuddered at the deep humiliation of being categorized as "venison," equated with a carcass on a butcher's block. As Dante turned and began to vanish into the darkness, his final words snapped like a whip in my mind.
"Prepare yourself, Dorian. I can't wait to 'tame' you in my palace."
[PROTOCOL: OWNERSHIP REHABILITATION INITIATED]
[TARGET: ENTITY 'DORIAN' – CLASS: EXQUISITE ASSET]
When I stepped onto the marbles of that palace, what Dante would see would not just be an obedient "human pet." I was going there to be the quietest and deadliest error code wandering the palace corridors. He might have taken my honor; but my hatred was still my own property.