For the first time since ascending to Sovereign status, Kairos felt the weight of ghosts.
Not literal spirits—but traders.
Men and women who once wielded cosmic influence, their names written into trade routes, their legacies immortalized in the deals they brokered.
Until… they vanished.
Not through death.
But erasure.
The Hidden Line in the Ledger
Kairos had just returned from the Scarcity Vault, the Scarcity Key now housed inside his Sovereign Interface, when a notification flickered at the edge of his consciousness.
⚠ Hidden Ledger Detected. Access Restricted.Authority Required: Anchor Clearance or Equivalent.
He'd seen this before—deep, encrypted segments of the Sovereign System he wasn't meant to access. But something about the Vault had changed him. Perhaps the Scarcity Key was more than just a relic.
He focused his will through the Sigil of Trade and issued a singular command.
"Override by Equivalent Value. Use Scarcity Key as trade tender."
The system hesitated.
