+1,000,000 Aura

"Just what the hell is going on here?" Nokia yelled out as the Fashion Police surrounded him.

“What do you mean, what’s going on? You’ve reached negative one million Aura debt! So I, Captain Lorin Mercury, have been ordered to arrest you! As cute as you are, I have my orders!”

“Having negative Aura is a criminal offense?” Nokia said tilting his head.

“Normally, no! But for an influencer such as yourself, this is unacceptable! Headquarters has requested your immediate detainment! You will come with us now and attend your hearing!” Lorin ordered.

"Hmph" Nokia thought looking around.

"Seeing as I have no Idea where I am and how this world works the probability of me Winning against 5 Police officers in this worlds probably 0."

He looked over to the set of trains arriving.

"I could try to run away maybe jump on a train... But I doubt know where they go? I might also raise my crimes and get in more trouble and seeing I'm already at -1,000,000 aura I don't think that's going to help my case."

"As weird as these guys are" Nokia thought looking over to Lorin with his whip and set of tights. "It might be best to give in for now."

“Fine,” Nokia acquiesced. “I will attend this hearing. Let’s go.” He said walking towards Mercury.

“Heheh,” Mercury said, giggling. “Now… I’m just going to need you to put these handcuffs on…” He said, pulling out a set of pink cuffs.

“Now that’s not happening,” Nokia said sharply. “I’d jump into ten more oncoming trains before that.”

After traveling in a futuristic car—surrounded by the freakiest individuals he had ever seen—Nokia sat in silence, not saying a word. They arrived at a massive skyscraper that loomed over the city, at least five hundred floors high. Entering the building’s vast frame, he was escorted all the way to the top, where he entered a chamber lined with panel judges. Ten of them sat waiting.

The drone that had followed Nokia, stopped short at the chamber doors, as the security at the complex halted its progress.

For a brief moment, the chat flared one last time on Nokia’s interface:

[Chat]

GucciGamer94: Damn—first the Fashion Police, now the execs? Nokia’s going through it 💀AuraHunter88: RIP Nokia 😂

[...]

And then—silence.

Inside the chamber, there was no feed. No emojis. No laughter. Just ten judges watching Nokia with pure disdain for his lack of aura. As they sat behind a giant desk reviewing himlikea panel, a man in the center shuffled paperwork with a sharp look in his eyes.

“Nokia Oren,” A man in the center of the room said, shaking his head.

“Just who are you guys?” Nokia asked.

“Have you forgotten us already? We are the Stakeholders—the ones who draft the contracts of influencers. The pioneers of Streamopolis.”

“I see,” Nokia said quietly.

“We have come to review your file as an influencer, and we would like you to release yourself.”

“Release myself?” Nokia questioned.

“Yes. It would be very harsh if we were to remove you… And so, we want you to tell your stream—and everybody—that you simply decided to stop being an influencer. Sign these forms, and that will be it.”

“Wait a minute… why do I have to do this? What if I want to be an influencer?”

“We cannot allow you to continue as an influencer with negative one million Aura. This debt is far too high, and it is simply a fee we are not willing to pay.”

“Everyone keeps saying that… but what is this Aura debt? And how did I lose one million?”

Letting out a deep sigh, the man in the center straightened his jacket before addressing Nokia.

“Take a look at your Influencer Card. It should be in your pocket.”

“Influencer Card?” Nokia muttered, reaching into his pocket.

He drew out a transparent card, glowing faintly with a holographic display of his own face. His stats shimmered across the surface:

“As you can see, you’re in debt,” the man said firmly. “And you’re not in a position to pay.”

“How exactly does Aura work?” Nokia asked. ”Your telling me I have to pay? Is it a currency?”

The judges raised their brows at the question, while Nokia’s words echoed across the chamber.

“Ah, then there’s your train accident…” the man continued. He shook his head. “It seems you’ve lost far too much memory for us to even go down this path. It’s best for you to stop being an influencer.”

Nokia looked from left to right, his face twisting in confusion. 

"This sucks" Nokia thought. "I may not know much about this world but one thing is for sure, being an influencer here is everything even more so than in my previous life." He thought dropping his eyes.

"If only I had a chance to prove myself... but it looks like unfortunately my time as an influencer has been cut short again. If I try to run out of this I'll probably be hit by  another train at this point..."

Nokia acquiesced letting out a deep sigh.

“I guess... I don’t really have a choice, do I?” Nokia muttered, lowering his head. He felt the gaze of the ten judges pressing into his neck. If he didn't give in now they were going to force him to.

Reluctantly, he walked to the front of the table and took the forms from the man in the center.

“Very well,” Nokia said. “I’ll... sign the forms.”

“Good. Take them to the room across the hall. Once you’ve finished signing, we will remove your Influencer Card from our system.”

“Fair enough,” Nokia said, drooping his head as he walked out the door. He was only 3 steps out of the room before he was stopped again.

“Excuse me,” an assistant said, hurrying up to Nokia. “Although you’ve decided to stop being an influencer, there are many other rights you still hold. Due to your special privileges, you’ll also need to sign these forms.”

Nokia sighed his name across the pages the assistant handed over. Then finding a desk in a corner, continued with the original pile.

“Oh, sorry—before you can begin those, you actually need another set of forms,” another assistant said, dropping yet another stack in front of him.

Nokia’s began to get frustrated. Without reading a single line of fine print, he just kept signing, and signing, and signing until his hand ached.

“Oh, also—we’ll need to remove your free transportation benefits,” a third assistant chimed in, slipping him another document.

“And here’s one granting us permission to continue recording you, even though you’re no longer an influencer,” added a fourth, placing another form on the pile.

By the time he’d finished four or five sets, Nokia had had enough.

“This is so stupid!” he yelled out in frustration. “I’m signing away my life and I don’t even know what the hell is going on! Can I just get out of this place already?”

He dropped heavily into his chair and bowed his head, scribbling his name in furious strokes. His pen ripped through the paper in a fury as he went on.

Slip!

Just then a sheet slipped from the pile landing on the marble floor.

At that same moment, a casually teenager with an insanely expensive watch approached Nokia. With an honest look he picked up the form Nokia had dropped and earnestly made his way over to Nokia.

“Excuse me—” the young man began, but before he could finish, Nokia looked up.

Seeing a piece of paper in his hand, Nokia groaned as he began seething with rage.

“Listen, man, I’m tired of this crap. I don’t have time for this. Just leave me alone.”

"Look man this is your" The teenager began but Nokia raised his hand signaling him to stop speaking

"Wait what??" The teenager exclaimed.

After scribbling his name across the paper Nokia ungratefully slapped it back into the teenagers hands.

"That good enough for you?" Nokia yelled in a heated scorn.

In that instant, unseen to Nokia, a rush of Aura began rippling through the room.

“An Aura… Stream?” The well-dressed teen murmured, eyes widening.

A giant blue tide of energy pulsated in the room with Nokia as the focal point with a density so strong it almost lifted the teenager off his feet.

"Im...possible!" The teenager remarked.

The stream pulsed through the entire building flickering the lights briefly before finishing in a swirl of unrelented energy flowing into Nokia. And in the next instant it all dissapeared

The teenager looked down at the paper, blinking in disbelief—then broke into a grin.

“Wait… did he just give me an autograph?” he laughed.

“You’re still here?” Nokia croaked, glancing up. “You want me to sign another one for you?”

“No, no—that’s quite all right,” the teenager said smoothly, amusement flickering in his eyes. He tucked the sheet away and turned to leave.

“Just who is that guy?” he muttered under his breath, reading the signature again. “Nokia Oren… hmph. I won’t forget it.”

Clutching the page, he walked toward the panel of judges and vanished behind the double doors.

After a few minutes of furious scribbling, Nokia set down his pen, took a deep breath, and exhaled. With a thick stack of papers in his hands, he walked back into the chamber.

“Alright. I finished everything. Now I can put this influencer stuff behind me, correct?”

But the moment he stepped in, he froze. Every judge on the panel stared at him, wide-eyed, their expressions caught somewhere between shock and awe.

“What… what’s going on? Why aren’t you saying anything?” Nokia asked.

“You won’t be stopping your career as an influencer today, Mr. Nokia,” the man in the center said, shaking his head.

“And why’s that?” Nokia asked, confused.

“Have you taken a look at your Aura account?”

“My what?” Nokia muttered, scratching his head.

“Open up your influencer card. Something has changed.”

Reaching into his pocket, Nokia pulled out the holographic card, and blinked at the display not believing what he saw.

[★ 1-Star Influencer — 1 Follower]
[Aura Level: 1]
[Aura Bank: 0]

“What?!” His jaw dropped. “My Aura… it’s been reset?”

“Indeed,” the lead judge replied.

“But… how?!”

“Apparently you just accumulated 1,000,000 Aura.”

“WHAT?!” Nokia exclaimed. He dug into his system messages trying to find the evidence.

"How in the hell  did I manage to do that!"