The Charlatan's Engine: Weaponizing the Prestige
By @john1208
Zennor Fent hit rock bottom when the corrupt Vexillion Trust shattered his hands, reducing the once-promising illusionist to a starving beggar in the flooded subway tunnels of Vintara. Then, [The Charlatan's Engine] awakened. It doesn't offer generic strength or wealth - it offers reality-warping stage props, provided Zennor can successfully execute high-stakes missions without breaking character. Tasked with pickpocketing heavily armed enforcers and escaping locked death-traps, Zennor is rewarded with an Infinite Top-Hat that swallows bullets, and a razor-edged Deck of Fates that homes in on heartbeats. With every completed act, his condemned subway car transforms into an extradimensional Backstage, and his rags weave into an immaculate, bullet-resistant tuxedo. But the System has one lethal rule: he must never reveal the secret behind a trick. As Zennor begins humiliating the city's elites through bizarre, supernatural public spectacles, the Trust dispatches their deadliest hounds to silence him. Can Zennor execute the ultimate city-wide illusion before the curtain falls on his life, or will a single missed cue get him killed?
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Cold Hearth, Quiet Knives
By @john1208
I bought Meike’s life for three thousand credits, handing the cash to a back-alley surgeon in exchange for her pristine ID chip and a promise to incinerate her corpse. Now, I wear her name, a pressed apron, and a suffocatingly cheerful smile as the newest maid in the Vossen Penthouse. It is the perfect cover to fund a safe haven for my little brother, Kobus, far from the syndicate hunting us. My new employer, Bram Vossen, hasn't spoken a word since his own board of directors slaughtered his loyalists. He is a scarred, paranoid phantom who expects me to break. Instead, I play the relentless sunshine to his gloom. The facade works too well. Our silent truce solidifies over the battered stray dog I smuggled into the greenhouse, and Bram soon becomes fiercely dependent on my quiet competence and spiced stews. But peace is fragile. When Anika Volland, a vicious supermodel and board-member's daughter, begins tormenting me to assert her dominance, she threatens to expose my stolen identity. If she digs too deep, will I be forced to butcher this high-society elite to protect the only sanctuary we have left?
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