Chapter 34 - The Most Terrifying Sect
The IRS agent’s name was Rebecca Sloan.
She wore a navy blazer, carried a laptop, and possessed no detectable qi.
Mason feared her instantly.
Second Shift had received large payments from shell companies, foreign family offices, and customers who occasionally paid in precious metals because hidden cultivators were apparently allergic to normal accounting.
Rebecca had questions.
“Mr. Reed, you reported forty-three thousand dollars in ‘specialty restoration revenue’ this month.”
“Yes.”
“And eighteen thousand in materials.”
“Yes.”
“And this line?”
She pointed.
“‘Ceremonial spear de-cursing.’”
Mason looked at Tessa.
Tessa looked at the ceiling.
“That may need recategorizing.”
Rebecca stared at him.
“I would recommend it.”
Logan arrived halfway through the audit.
He took one look at Rebecca and turned around.
She said, “Mr. Voss?”
He stopped.
Mason smiled.
“Oh, this is wonderful.”
Rebecca opened another file.
“I have questions regarding three payments from Voss Heritage Holdings.”
Logan’s usual confidence evaporated.
Tessa whispered, “So this is his natural predator.”
For two hours, cultivation politics paused while normal tax law dominated the room.
Mason found it refreshing.
Rebecca eventually concluded Second Shift was not laundering money, though its bookkeeping was “aggressively improvised.”
She gave them thirty days to correct classifications.
Then she stood to leave.
At the door, she paused beside an old brass desk fan Mason had repaired that morning.
“That model is from the forties.”
“You know fans?”
“My grandfather repaired appliances.”
She touched the guard lightly.
The fan hummed.
Mason’s interface displayed:
[OBJECT RESONANCE: FAMILY RECOGNITION]
Rebecca smiled.
“Nice work.”
Then she left.
Mason exhaled.
“I fought Jace Mercer with less anxiety.”
Logan was already on his phone calling accountants.
Ward looked delighted.
“Useful experience.”
“How?”
“You need a real organization if you intend to protect civic infrastructure.”
Mason groaned.
The old man was right.
Second Shift could no longer be three cultivators, one engineer, one rich irritant, and a wheelchair they technically still had not returned.
They hired.
Not disciples.
Employees.
A bookkeeper named Carla who threatened to quit after seeing Logan’s receipts, then doubled her rate instead.
Two mechanics from Todd’s yard.
A former Iron Choir formation apprentice named Devon Ruiz who had left because the sect prohibited dating and he “believed in romance and bad decisions.”
A retired electrician named Mr. Boone who could not cultivate but could detect bad wiring from across a room.
Priya became consulting engineer under the explicit condition that nobody call her “mortal staff.”
June Mercer started showing up after school and was banned from using the plasma cutter until fourteen.
She called this oppression.
Second Shift became noisy.
Messy.
Alive.
The system updated.
[ORGANIZATION FORMED]
SECOND SHIFT RESTORATION
TYPE: INDEPENDENT RECLAMATION SHOP
CORE VALUES DETECTED:
- REPAIR BEFORE REPLACEMENT
- CONSENT BEFORE RECLAMATION
- PEOPLE BEFORE RELICS
- LABEL YOUR TOOLS
Mason stared at the last line.
“Who added that?”
Mr. Boone shouted from across the shop, “COMMON SENSE DID.”
The system accepted it.
Then an emergency alert appeared.
[LINE ZERO NODE FAILURE]
[LOCATION: NORTH WATER WORKS]
[VOID CONTAMINATION: 47%]
Mara looked at the map.
“That node isn’t abandoned.”
Priya frowned.
“The water plant is operational.”
Ward’s face changed.
Mason understood.
If void contamination reached a live civic system, this would not stay hidden.
Millions of people used that water.
He grabbed his coat.
Carla called after him.
“Clock out first!”
Mason stopped.
“Seriously?”
“I am fixing payroll whether the city survives or not!”
Mason clocked out.
Then ran to save Detroit’s water supply.
---
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