The round table at the top of XXXVidz Tower was lit up by artificial lights, a projection of prestige and power. The windowless chamberādeep within the corporate districtās coreāwas where deals were made, destinies altered, and reputations sold.
Zadie sat straight-backed at the far end, legs crossed, coffee untouched. Her gaze was fixed on the central display, currently playing four looping thumbnails: Kaiden. Aria. Luna. Nyx. A highlight reel from their debut shoot. The watermark read Untainted Holes, but the overlay screamed something else.
VALHALLAāS SINNERS ā UNCUT. UNHOLY. UNFORGETTABLE.
Across from her, Executive Marlow, a bloated man who wheezed even while sitting, jiggled as he laughed.
"Weāve got a goldmine and itās just sitting there behind a damned niche studio paywall!"
He slapped his belly for whatever reason before he continued. "I say we run a proper ad campaign to push it on the socials, maybe even get the edgy influencers to plug it, and our revenueās gonna break company records tenfold. Hell, Iām talking quarter-shifting returns! Our stockholders are going to drool while screaming our praises!"
Vesta, her expensive jewelry items clinking one after the other as she stirred her drink without sipping, spoke up. Her voice was smooth but carried the cold indifference of a woman used to stepping on necks.
"This could finally be our chance to move beyond the decaying corpse that is the old web. Let the traditionalists rot. The Awakened Media Platform is where everythingās heading. Money, attention, influence. If we move fast, we could carve a serious piece out of the awakened porn pie. Maybe even challenge ChronosX if we play our cards right."
Zadieās lips parted.
"We should consider reaching out to Valhallaās Sinners for their go-ahead."
There was a pause around the round table. Then a snort.
Renzo, eyes permanently narrowed like a lizard in human skin, waved her off.
"Oh, donāt be stupid, Zadie. We own those videos. They signed the release under your watch. What Kaiden and his sluts want doesnāt matter one bit; we can do whatever the hell we want."
Zadieās eyes darkened. Her pupils narrowed to slits.
"Iām well aware of the legality being entirely on our side, Renzo. I just think itās not smart to provoke a group thatās rising faster than any content creators weāve ever seen. Especially not ones that can not only bring in unseen numbers but also rapidly grow as awakened combatants. If they see this as a betrayal, we wonāt be fighting lawsuits, but angry awakened people who are after our necks. Itās smarter to get their go-ahead."
"Pfft." Delia Krome, arms draped over the back of her chair, rolled her eyes. "Youāve gone soft, Zadie. Whereās the old monster I know? Maybe you still feel sentimental ācause you cast them for that shoot. What, seeing that handsome pecker up close make you blush?"
The others broke into chuckles at that, amusement dripping with mockery. For a high-ranking executive like Zadie to have stepped in as caster was unorthodox. It was, in their eyes, a demotion.
Zadie didnāt rise to the bait. Her fingers only tapped the table once. Cold. Controlled.
But she didnāt get to make her comeback because the room suddenly stilled when the door hissed open and a junior assistant burst in, out of breath, tablet clutched to her chest,
"I-I apologize for the interruption!"
Renzo growled, "We said no interruptions."
"Yes, I know, but... Kaiden is here. Heās requesting a private meeting with all executives."
Vesta blinked, straightening her spine. "You mean that Kaiden?"
The assistant nodded grimly.
Zadieās gaze sharpened. "Did he say what heās hoping to achieve by coming to us?"
"No. Just that it was for āexecutive ears only.ā"
For the first time since the meeting began, the smug amusement in the room drained. Replaced by quiet, electrified tension.
Zadie nodded, accepting the assistantās words.
"Then letās not keep him waiting."
The conference doors creaked open.
In stepped Kaiden.
No fanfare. No dramatic poses. Just a slow, deliberate gait that turned the oxygen in the room into something heavier, thicker. A lead blanket of sheer presence that dragged every executiveās eyes to him like magnets drawn to steel.
He wore civilian clothes. A plain black hoodie and dark jeans, no brand logos, no awakened gear. But it didnāt matter. His eyes said more than any uniform ever could.
They were hollow, sharp, and alert. Not dead, but something worse: aware. Alert in a way that said he knew every line of sight in this room. That if things went wrong, heād pick who to maim first based on efficiency. Not emotion.
A shiver passed through Zadie before she could stop it.
āThis...ā she thought, her mouth suddenly turning dry. āThis is the same boy I cast less than a week ago? The awkward, wide-eyed cutie here to screw some pretty girls on camera and get paid for it?ā
The man standing before her now... this wasnāt someone looking to impress. This was someone who came with a purpose, and the implicit threat that anyone who denied him that purpose would regret it deeply.
He stopped at the table.
"Hope Iām not interrupting."
His voice was quiet. Controlled. But it landed with the same weight as if it were a weapon placed gently on the table: Seen, not used. Yet.
Behind him followed three distinct auras. Not bodyguards. Not decorations. Just power walking in three separate flavors.
Aria. Silver hair flowing, eyes dull but sharp. A blade still sheathed but ready. She looked around the room with badly veiled disgust like someone scanning a menu she had no appetite for.
Nyx was next, hands in her coat pockets, chewing faintly on a pink lollipop with a blank look in her eyes. Her aura was spacey, aloof. But something about the way her pupils occasionally flicked to the execs was... measuring. As if assessing which one of them would break first if she pushed.
Luna came last. Her face wore mild annoyance, lips pressed in a line. Not angry, not rude... just looking as if this whole meeting was a waste of time. Like sheād rather be training. Or sleeping. Or killing something.
Together, the four didnāt look like a content creator and his cast.
They looked like a problem.
None of them smiled. None of them offered greetings.
Marlow began to frown strongly. Delia Krome lost her smirk. Even Vestaās fingers twitched against her cocktail glass. Renzo scowled, trying to sit taller in his chair.
Zadie eyed them for a bit longer, and in that silence, she was the only one who managed to say something.
"Kaiden. Luna. Aria. Nyx. To what do we owe the pleasure?"
Kaidenās eyes flicked from face to face. Evaluating. Judging.
Then, at last, he spoke.
"You have something that I want. Why else would I come to a place like this?"
Zadie exhaled slowly. She already knew where this was going.
"You want the videos."
It wasnāt a question. It didnāt need to be.
Even without knowing the exact circumstances behind Kaidenās storm-cloud entrance and the way his Valkyries loomed like bored executioners at his back, it wasnāt hard to put the pieces together.
Theyād only ever uploaded their content to the Awakened Media Platformāa controlled space. Locked down. No copies, no piracy, no risk. Every frame monitored, every view counted, every ounce of power held firmly in their hands.
And then there were āthoseā videos. The debut trilogy. Untainted Holesā crown jewels. Freely floating around the festering remnants of the old internet, outside their control.
Zadieās lips twisted. "If it were me in your position, Iād want the same."
Before she could say more, Marlow suddenly exploded.
"Absolutely not!"