The Blackwater Precinct smelled like stale coffee, sweat, and cheap floor wax. Telephones rang constantly in the background, a chaotic soundtrack to the misery inside.

Iverson sat in a small, windowless interrogation room. His hands were cuffed to a heavy metal ring bolted to the center of the steel table.

He kept his head bowed. His shoulders were hunched forward. He was the picture of a traumatized victim.

The heavy door creaked open. Officer Valerie Vance walked in, carrying a manila folder. She looked exhausted.

She pulled out the metal chair opposite him and sat down. She opened the folder and stared at the teenager across the table.

"Four men, Iverson," Valerie said, her voice flat. "Four grown men with criminal records are currently in the emergency room with broken bones. And you don't have a scratch on you. Tell me how that happens."

Iverson slowly raised his head.

His eyes were wide, wet, and filled with absolute panic. His lower lip trembled slightly.

"I... I don't know," Iverson stammered, his voice cracking perfectly. "They cornered us. The big guy, Rocco, he pulled a knife. He said he was going to cut my godmother's face if she didn't pay him."

Valerie frowned, her pen tapping against the table. "So you fought them off?"

"No!" Iverson gasped, pulling his arms back. The handcuffs dug into his wrists, leaving angry red marks on his pale skin. He made sure Valerie saw the marks. "I just... I grabbed a mop. I closed my eyes and I just started swinging it as hard as I could. I was terrified. I think they tripped over each other. I swear, I didn't mean to hurt anyone. I just wanted them to stop."

Valerie stared at him. She looked at his thin wrists, his baggy clothes, and his terrified eyes.

Then she looked down at the file. Rocco Gorski. Three counts of armed robbery. Two counts of aggravated assault. Known gang enforcer. And the butterfly knife found at the scene had Rocco's fingerprints all over it.

The logic clicked into place in Valerie's mind. A terrified kid swinging a heavy pipe wildly in a narrow hallway against overconfident, careless thugs. It was a lucky, desperate defense.

"You're lucky to be alive, kid," Valerie said softly. Her eyes narrowed, scanning his lean frame with a heavy dose of professional skepticism. "Your story has a lot of holes. A terrified kid swinging blindly doesn't usually shatter three jaws and a wrist with surgical precision. But... given the knife, and Rocco's extensive, violent record, my captain is ruling this as self-defense. You aren't being charged today. But don't make a mistake, Iverson. We will have people keeping an eye on this. You'd better make sure you never end up in my precinct again."

Iverson let out a massive, shuddering breath. He slumped forward against the table, burying his face in his arms. A single, perfectly timed tear slipped down his cheek. "Thank you," he whispered.

Valerie stood up and unlocked the handcuffs from the metal ring. "Come on. Let's get you out to the lobby. Your mother is here."

Iverson stood up, rubbing his raw wrists. He followed Valerie out of the interrogation room and down the busy hallway.

They walked past the temporary holding cells.

Rocco was gripping the iron bars of his cell with his good hand. His broken wrist was wrapped in a temporary splint. When he saw Iverson walking freely down the hall, his face turned purple.

"You little demon!" Rocco screamed, spitting through the bars. "He's faking it! He's a monster! I'll kill you!"

Valerie pulled her nightstick and slammed it hard against the iron bars. "Shut your mouth, Gorski, or I'll add terroristic threats to your charges!"

Iverson instantly shrank back, hiding behind Valerie's shoulder like a frightened child.

But as they walked past the cell, Iverson's pace slowed for a fraction of a second.

Valerie was looking forward. Iverson turned his head slightly toward the cell.

His gaze met Rocco's through the iron bars. In a fraction of a second, the trembling fear completely vanished from the teenager's face. His eyes turned into black voids of pure, terrifying malice, radiating an aura of absolute, unspoken violence. He looked dead at Rocco, his expression a promise of a slow death if the man ever crossed him again.

Rocco's screaming stopped instantly. The color drained from the gang member's face. He stumbled backward, away from the bars, his entire body shivering in primal fear.

Iverson turned his head forward, his face instantly morphing back into the scared teenager.

He stepped out into the chaotic, noisy lobby.

Standing dead center in the room, looking like a queen who had been forced to step in mud, was his mother, Adelina.

Adelina saw Iverson emerge from the hallway. She didn't run to him. She didn't check to see if he was bleeding.

She marched toward him, her high heels clicking aggressively against the linoleum floor.

"How much more humiliation are you going to put me through?" Adelina hissed, her voice low but vibrating with pure fury.

The tiny flicker of hope that had lived in Iverson's chest-the hope that maybe, just once, his mother would ask if he was okay-died instantly.

His face hardened into a mask of cold indifference. He didn't say a word. He simply walked past her, pushed open the heavy glass doors of the precinct, and walked out into the cold air.

Adelina gasped in outrage. She quickly thanked the desk sergeant and chased after him.

Hector had the rear door of the Maybach open. Iverson ducked inside and slid all the way to the far side of the leather seat.

Adelina climbed in after him and slammed the door shut. The heavy, soundproof doors sealed them inside a silent, luxurious vault.

The car pulled away from the curb, leaving the Rust Belt behind.

"You fought a street gang for that woman," Adelina snapped, turning her body to face him. Her voice trembled slightly, betraying a crack in her icy armor. "Do you have any idea how terrified I was when the police called me? I thought you were dead! And then I get there, and I find out you risked your life-and my reputation-for a street brawl over a woman who lives in a slum! Are you trying to destroy everything I've built for us?"

Iverson's hands curled into fists on his lap. His knuckles cracked loudly in the quiet car.

"Don't talk about Brenda like that," Iverson said, his voice dangerously low. "She actually acts like a mother. Unlike the women in your country club who just use their kids as trophies."

Adelina flinched like he had slapped her. Her face turned red with anger.

"You are the stepson of the O'Neal family now!" Adelina yelled, losing her composure. "You have rules to follow! You have a standard to maintain!"

Iverson let out a harsh, mocking laugh. "A standard? You mean I have to stay out of Brandon's way so your precious stepson can inherit the empire without any competition?"

"Do not speak about Brandon that way!" Adelina pointed a shaking finger at him. "He is your role model. He just got a recommendation letter for the Ivy League!"

She reached into her designer bag, pulled out a thick manila folder, and threw it hard against Iverson's chest.

"I enrolled you in a premium Ivy League tutoring program," Adelina commanded. "Starting tomorrow, you are forbidden from going back to that ghetto. You are going to pull your grades up from the bottom of the class, or so help me God-"

Iverson didn't even look at the folder. He let it slide off his chest and fall onto the floor mats.

"Save your money," Iverson sneered, leaning his head back against the window. "I'm garbage at school. I'm a loser. No amount of expensive tutors is going to fix my brain. I don't want their fake life."

Adelina stared at him, her chest heaving. "If you keep this up, I will have your stepfather cut off your trust fund."

"Do it," Iverson said, his voice dead. "I don't want his dirty money anyway."

The conversation hit a brick wall. The silence in the car became suffocating.

Iverson's phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out.

It was a text from his best friend, Jerod.

Man, the rumor mill says the Blackwater block went insane today. Cops locked down the street. I walked by Brenda's shop-it's locked up tight and she's safe inside. You weren't down there, were you? You good?

Iverson read the words, and the tight knot in his stomach finally unraveled. His shoulders dropped. He exhaled a long, quiet breath.

He turned his head and stared out the tinted window. He saw his own reflection in the glass. The lonely, angry teenager.

He hated fighting with his mother. It physically hurt his chest. But he knew the truth. If he showed his real intelligence, if he became a threat to Brandon, Brandon would destroy them both. Playing the worthless, rebellious loser was the only way to keep his mother safe in the O'Neal mansion.

Adelina looked at her son's cold profile. A wave of exhaustion and heartbreak washed over her. She turned away, staring out the opposite window.

The Maybach turned off the main road and approached the massive, wrought-iron gates of the O'Neal estate.

Before the car even came to a complete stop in the driveway, Iverson pushed his door open. He stepped out and walked toward the massive front doors of his luxurious prison, never looking back.

Iverson pushed open the heavy oak doors of the O'Neal estate.

The light from the massive crystal chandelier in the foyer hit his eyes, making him squint. The air smelled of lemon polish and expensive floral arrangements. It made him sick.

Doris, the head maid, stepped out of the dining room. She wiped her hands on her apron. "Mr. Iverson, dinner is being served in the main dining room."

"Not hungry," Iverson muttered, not breaking his stride as he headed for the grand spiral staircase.

He reached the second-floor landing.

Brandon O'Neal was leaning against the railing, wearing a perfectly pressed cashmere sweater. He looked down at Iverson's scuffed shoes and messy hair.

Brandon let out a loud, theatrical snort of disgust. "Smells like the garbage truck just rolled in."

Iverson didn't stop. He didn't look at Brandon. He just walked right past him, his shoulder brushing violently against Brandon's arm, forcing the older boy to stumble back a step.

Iverson reached his bedroom door, stepped inside, and slammed it shut. He reached down and twisted the deadbolt. Click.

The silence of the room wrapped around him. The room was massive, filled with antique furniture and silk curtains. He hated every inch of it.

He grabbed the collar of his gray hoodie, the same one stained with the grime of the Blackwater District, ripped it roughly over his head, and threw it onto the floor.

He walked over to his mahogany desk and grabbed his black backpack, which he had tossed there yesterday. He yanked it upward.

Because he hadn't zipped it properly, the bag tipped. Three heavy textbooks spilled out, crashing onto the Persian rug.

A glossy, folded poster slipped out from between the pages of a math book and fluttered to the floor.

Iverson crouched down to pick up the mess. His hand stopped hovering over the poster.

It was a promotional flyer. In the center, printed in bold gold foil, was the logo for Apex Academia, the world's most elite, underground academic competition app.

Iverson stared at the gold logo.

In that single second, the slouch in his shoulders vanished. The lazy, rebellious fog cleared from his eyes. His gaze sharpened into something terrifyingly focused, cold, and brilliant. The mask of the idiot fell away, revealing the apex predator underneath.

He picked up the poster, stood up, and sat down in the heavy leather chair at his desk.

He opened his laptop. It was a top-of-the-line Alienware rig. His mother thought he used it to play mindless shooting games all night.

His fingers flew across the keyboard, typing a 32-character alphanumeric sequence that would have locked out a government firewall. The screen went black.

A hidden partition booted up. He clicked on a blank, unnamed file on the desktop.

The webcam flashed a red light, scanning his iris.

Beep.

The screen exploded into a sleek, dark interface filled with complex algorithms, global leaderboards, and real-time academic bounties.

A mechanical voice whispered through the speakers. "Welcome back, x.786_Null. Rank: 1."

Iverson leaned back in his chair. A slow, arrogant smirk spread across his face.

Here, he wasn't the Rust Belt trash. He wasn't the disappointment. He was a god. He dominated the smartest minds on the planet without breaking a sweat.

Suddenly, a bright red notification box popped up in the center of the screen.

It was a direct challenge. The sender's name glowed in silver: The Oracle. Rank: 2. His eternal rival.

Iverson clicked the message. It was one sentence.

The regional joint exams are coming. I am going to drag you off that throne, Null.

Iverson's smirk widened into a genuine, dangerous smile. His fingers hovered over the keyboard. He typed a single word in response.

Try.

Heavy footsteps echoed in the hallway outside his room.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

"Iverson!" Adelina's voice was muffled through the thick wood, tight with anger. "Open this door right now! Do you think what you did today is just over? We are not finished talking about your reckless behavior!"

Iverson didn't flinch. He reached onto his desk, picked up a pair of heavy, black noise-canceling headphones, and slid them over his ears.

The sound of his mother's anger vanished completely.

The faint blue light from the monitor illuminated his sharp jawline and his intensely focused eyes. The real world was gone.