The rice was cold. The soy egg had cracked, and the last piece of chicken had been divided between them with surgical precision.
Liora sat cross-legged on the floor, poking at her three-dollar meal box with a bamboo chopstick. Across from her, Levi used a worn towel to wipe the condensation off the only window in their twelve-square-meter rental.
"I applied for three more jobs today," he said, trying to keep it casual.
Liora didn't look up. "You already work fourteen hours a day. Want to test if humans can run on caffeine and willpower alone?"
He chuckled, sitting down beside her. "You're right. I'll try photosynthesis next."
Just as she was about to respond, her vision blinked. Not in a poetic, metaphorical way. Literally—like someone turned the world off and on.
[System Activation Complete]
Welcome to the CivitasNet Investment Interface
Current Account Balance: $10
Mission: Uplift potential. Amplify impact. Invest wisely.
Rewards: Tied to long-term social and scientific contribution.
[Notice: Investment threshold will increase upon successful public impact.]
Liora blinked again.
"What the hell?" she whispered.
"What?" Levi leaned over. "Did the fluorescent light flicker again?"
"No. Something... weird just popped up. Like an interface. In my head."
Levi stared at her. "You mean—like a halluciworld? We could go see a doctor—"
"I'm not crazy," she muttered. "I think… I just got something. Like a system."
He looked half-concerned, half-intrigued. "System? Like… stock tracking? Crypto alerts?"
Liora didn't answer. Her gaze had drifted to her cracked phone, which was playing a low-volume stream from StreamTube. A gray-haired man sat behind a cluttered table, surrounded by wires, glass tubes, and what looked like a homemade filtration device.
"This is my eighth prototype. It can run without power for 48 hours and purify air in desert zones. I just need $200 for materials to finalize it…"
The comment section was brutal.
"Who let Grandpa into the lab again?"
"He's making a bong, right?"
"$200 for a science fair project, lol."
Liora narrowed her eyes.
She tapped the gift icon.
$10. All she had.
She clicked Send.
[System Notification: Your investment has activated a Tier-1 Innovation Response.]
+10 "Civic Momentum" points
+1 "Tech Uplift" token
Impact: Prototype #8 has gained public visibility. Potential link to governmental R&D match funding in progress.
Her hands froze.
Levi looked at her phone, then at her. "Did you just send that guy money?"
"I think I just… invested."
He laughed. "In a junkyard inventor?"
She didn't respond. Her gaze drifted to Levi's face, half-shadowed by the dim bulb overhead.
He'd given up his inheritance to chase her crazy dream, and they were still sharing cold rice dinners.
But somehow, it still felt like winning.
The system pinged again.
[HotThread]
Thread #8827331 trending: "Mystery Doworld Resurrects Desert Purifier Project"
Comments:
"Okay but that design's legit."
"Anyone else actually rooting for this old man now?"
"Who tf is @GlassWings? They just dropped $10 and disappeared."
Levi raised an eyebrow. "Is that you?"
"I don't even have a HotThread account," Liora muttered. "Wait—what did they call me?"
[Alias Assigned: GlassWings — Fragile in form, powerful in effect.]
GlassWings.
The system buzzed once more.
[StreamTube Highlight Alert]
Channel: DailyDunk
New Video: "Mysterious Donor Revives Desert Tech—Is This the Next Elon or Just a Meme?"
A wave of laughter bubbled in her chest—and stopped just before it surfaced.
Liora sat very still, letting the moment sink in.
Ten dollars.
That was all she had.
And somehow, it was enough to tip something—someone—into motion.
She looked at Levi, who was now side-eyeing her like she'd grown antennae.
"Don't say it," she said.
"I wasn't going to."
"You were."
"…Are you gonna become a billionaire now?"
Liora looked at her phone. The system icon glowed faintly, pulsing like a heartbeat.
"I don't know," she said softly. "But I think the world just blinked. And this time, it noticed me."