The flickering fluorescent light above Saturn's head continued its rhythmic buzzing.
It was a sound that should have been annoying.
But in the absolute silence of the 1990s office it felt like a ticking clock.
Kaelen Thorne stared at the CRT monitor.
The words 24 HOURS REMAINING were burned into the phosphor screen in a sickly green hue.
He looked down at his hands which were pale and trembling with the residual shock of relinquishing his divine authority.
He was a Rank F again.
A man with no mana and no magic.
Just a suit and a ledger.
So let me get this straight Kaelen said his voice sounding hollow in the small room.
I saved the world from the Gods.
I bankrupted the Abyss.
I turned the humanity into a sovereign entity.
And the reward is a one day eviction notice?
Saturn leaned back in his squeaky leather chair and sighed.
It is not an eviction notice Kaelen.
It is a reality of the market.
Mana was the currency of the old management.
It was a fake asset backed by the whims of the Sponsors.
But Time... Time is the gold standard of the Multiverse.
Saturn gestured to the grey mist outside the window.
Every universe has a fixed amount of 'Temporal Capital' assigned to it at birth.
Earth 01 used up most of its capital during the hundred cycles of the apocalypse.
The Architect was a terrible steward Kaelen.
He spent your centuries like a drunkard in a casino.
Now that you've taken over the firm you've inherited the debt.
Kaelen stood up and walked to the clunky computer.
He looked at the lines of code scrolling past.
If the world is out of time how do I earn more?
I assume I can't just ask for an extension from the Board.
Saturn chuckled and pulled a dusty Rolodex from his desk.
He flipped through the cards until he found one with a symbol of a broken hourglass.
You earn Time by performing Productive Interventions Saturn explained.
There are millions of universes out there Kaelen.
Some are thriving but most are dying.
Some have too much time and no one to use it.
Others are being eaten by predators who want to hoard the seconds for themselves.
As the Master Liquidator you have a unique license.
You can enter these worlds and perform an audit.
If you find 'Stagnant Time' or 'Mismanaged Decades' you can seize them.
[SYSTEM MESSAGE]
[NEW MECHANIC UNLOCKED: TEMPORAL ARBITRAGE]
[DESCRIPTION: YOU MAY TRAVEL TO OTHER UNIVERSES TO RECLAIM WASTED TIME]
[CONVERSION RATE: 1 YEAR OF EXTERNAL TIME = 1 HOUR OF EARTH 01 SURVIVAL]
Kaelen felt a cold chill run down his spine.
He looked at the conversion rate.
To keep Earth alive for a single day he would need to harvest twenty four years of time from elsewhere.
It was a brutal equation.
You're asking me to be a parasite Kaelen whispered.
I'm asking you to be an Auditor Saturn corrected.
There are worlds where time is being wasted by tyrants who live for ten thousand years while their people die in days.
There are worlds trapped in time loops that serve no purpose but the amusement of a bored god.
Take the time that is being wasted and bring it back to the Ledger.
Kaelen looked at the countdown on the screen.
23:55:12
He didn't have a choice.
If he stayed here the world would simply cease to exist.
Lia and Silas would be gone.
The million students who had finally tasted freedom would be erased.
I need a team Kaelen said his eyes glowing with a spark of his old predatory gold.
I can't audit an entire universe by myself.
Saturn nodded and tapped a key on his keyboard.
I've already processed the travel permits for your primary assets.
Lia Sinclair and Silas Vesper are linked to your soul.
Wherever you go they will follow as your 'Claims Department'.
But remember Kaelen...
In other worlds you are not the CFO.
You are an intruder.
The local gods will not care about your Ledger or your suit.
They will see you as a thief.
Kaelen adjusted his tie and straightened his blazer.
A thief steals for himself Kaelen said.
An Auditor reclaims for the system.
Where is the first target?
Saturn handed him a small golden card.
It had the name of a world written in a language that seemed to shift and writhe.
THE EVER-BLOOM EMPIRE.
A world of eternal spring Saturn said.
The Emperor there has found a way to stop the aging process for the nobility.
They have been living for five thousand years while the sun never sets.
They have accumulated a massive surplus of 'Unused Mortality'.
Go there Kaelen.
Collect the debt.
And try not to get executed before the first quarter ends.
Kaelen grabbed the card and felt a sudden violent pull at the center of his chest.
The beige office began to dissolve into a swirl of emerald green light.
________________________________________
Kaelen landed on a floor made of pure white jade.
The air was heavy with the scent of lilies and the sound of a thousand harps.
He stood up and looked around.
He was in a massive garden filled with statues made of gold and silver.
The sky above was a permanent shade of dawn.
[SYSTEM MESSAGE]
[ZONE ENTERED: THE EVER-BLOOM EMPIRE]
[LOCAL LAW: TIME IS STATIC]
[WARNING: YOUR EARTH 01 COUNTDOWN IS STILL ACTIVE]
Kaelen looked at his watch.
The seconds were still ticking away.
He was in a world where no one aged but he was still dying.
Master Silas Vesper's voice came from the shadows behind a jade pillar.
The assassin appeared his grey mist looking grey and sickly in this bright world.
The mana here is... strange Silas said his daggers drawn.
It feels like it's frozen in place.
Lia Sinclair stepped out from behind a golden statue.
Her violet eyes were scanning the garden with a hunger that made her hands tremble.
Mr. Thorne she whispered.
I can feel it.
The time is everywhere.
It's in the trees. It's in the statues. It's in the very air.
It's like a feast that hasn't been touched in centuries.
Eat nothing yet Lia Kaelen commanded.
We are not here to scavenge.
We are here to perform a Hostile Audit.
Kaelen walked toward the massive palace at the end of the garden.
The gates were guarded by warriors in armor made of flower petals and glass.
Stop! one of the guards shouted raising a spear that hummed with temporal energy.
By order of the Eternal Emperor no outsider is permitted to breathe the air of the Bloom!
Kaelen didn't stop.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out his black business card.
I am Kaelen Thorne Master Liquidator Kaelen said his voice cold and echoing.
I am here on behalf of the Multiversal Market.
Your Empire has been flagged for Temporal Hoarding.
I am here to collect the five thousand years of overdue mortality you owe the system.
The guards looked at each other in confusion.
Mortality? a guard laughed. We are the undying! We owe nothing to the void!
Kaelen smiled a sharp lethal expression.
Every loan eventually reaches its maturity date Kaelen said.
And looking at your sky... I'd say you are several centuries late.
Kaelen raised his hand and his Ledger appeared in the air glowing with a dark obsidian light.
[SKILL ACTIVATED: FORENSIC LIQUIDATION]
[TARGET: THE EVER-BLOOM EMPIRE GARDEN]
[RECLAIMING WASTED SECONDS...]
Suddenly the golden statues began to rust.
The lilies withered and turned to grey ash in a matter of seconds.
The jade floor cracked as the 'Static Time' was sucked out of the environment and into Kaelen's Ledger.
Across the garden the harps stopped playing as the musicians began to age fifty years in a single heartbeat.
[SYSTEM MESSAGE]
[TIME RECLAIMED: 10 YEARS]
[EARTH 01 COUNTDOWN: +1 HOUR]
The guards screamed as their petal armor wilted and their hair turned white.
What have you done?! a guard shrieked falling to his knees as his skin wrinkled.
I've just updated your accounts Kaelen said stepping over the guard's trembling body.
Consider this a late fee.
Lia Sinclair looked at the dying garden and her eyes glowed with a predatory violet light.
Should I go to the palace Mr. Thorne? she asked.
Yes Kaelen said walking toward the massive ivory doors.
The Emperor is holding a massive amount of 'Idle Decades'.
Go and tell him the Auditor has arrived to discuss his bankruptcy.