The Game was the easiest way for the rich and ultra-rich to make quick money without lifting a finger. No need to run a business or invest in stocks. All you needed was access, capital, and the appetite for high-stakes entertainment.
It was called "Solaria."
And no, it wasn't something you found on the app store.
Solaria was invitation-only, veiled in secrecy, and designed for an elite class of gamblers who enjoyed betting on people's real lives. It had its own recruitment team, data analysts, surveillance systems, and criteria for identifying both Players (the people being bet on) and Bettors (the ones placing bets).
To be invited into Solaria was to join an inner circle of the world's most powerful gamblers. From young heirs in Europe to retired generals in Asia, from eccentric oil magnates to mysterious tech billionaires—Solaria catered to them all.
Nathan got his invitation through his younger brother, Nick.
Nick was, for lack of a better term, a connoisseur of the black market. He had a hand in everything shady but profitable—from crypto laundering to art forgery to information brokering. There wasn't a shadowy corner in Calendra, Molina, or Denara that Nick didn't have eyes and ears on.
When Nick introduced Solaria to Nathan, it sounded like a high-stakes fantasy league.
"You download the app," Nick had said, grinning, "and you can place bets on real people. Like reality TV meets Wall Street."
Nathan had initially rolled his eyes. But curiosity won. He installed the app through a private link and scanned through its sleek black interface, amused by the different active profiles. People being watched, judged, predicted, and bet on for everything from their dinner choices to their romantic moves.
Then he saw her.
A profile.
Elena.
His blood ran cold.
Her name. Her photo. Her real-time activity tracker. She was a live asset in Solaria.
"Oh my God," Nathan whispered, his heart hammering. He tapped on the screen again. There was no mistaking it. It was her.
He dialed Nick immediately.
"Why is Elena on the Solaria app?!"
"Wait, what?" Nick sounded groggy. "Who?"
"Elena. THE Elena. The younger daughter. The girl with the rainbow aura."
Nick was silent for a beat.
"I didn't know. I swear. I don't handle onboarding. I just bet sometimes."
"She's not supposed to be in this world!" Nathan hissed. "She's not some show pony or betting piece. We have to get her out!"
Nick sighed. "You don't just 'get out' of Solaria, Nate. Do you know how many millions she's generating on the platform right now?"
Nathan felt like the ground was shifting beneath him.
Meanwhile, Elena had been feeling strange.
For the past few days, there was a gnawing tiredness in her bones. Her eyes stung even when she hadn't cried. She began noticing things. People at the coffee shop glancing at her. Strangers smiling knowingly. Coworkers asking oddly specific questions about her day.
She tried to shrug it off. Maybe she just needed to drink more water. Maybe she was being paranoid. She wasn't used to this city yet.
But something was off. Deeply off.
What Elena didn't know was that thousands of Solaria users were placing bets on her every move.
Today's top bets:
Will she wear her rubber shoes or sandals?
Will she pick the chicken rice or the spicy beef soup?
Will she arrive more than 5 minutes late?
Will she post a story on her socials?
Satellites tracked her movement. Microphones in partnered establishments picked up her conversations. Surveyors embedded in the city pretended to be baristas or janitors or delivery guys. Elena had unknowingly become one of Solaria's hottest live subjects.
And people were winning big money.
Some players in Solaria became flash-in-the-pan stars—interesting for a week or two, then dumped. But Elena? She was different. The randomness of her decisions. The unexpected choices. Her energy. It made betting on her both thrilling and dangerous. Some users lost thousands on her because she refused to follow obvious patterns. Others tripled their wealth by simply trusting their gut.
The Game loved her.
Nathan hated it.
Every time he refreshed the app, her odds changed. The bets were getting more intimate. More invasive.
He called Nick again. "We need to go to the Solaria headquarters. Today."
"It's not that easy, bro. The company behind it—they operate from a shell office in the Technology Park. Security's tighter than a bank."
"Then we find a way. She can't be part of this."
Nick hesitated. "Fine. But just so you know, her current valuation is in the millions. They're not going to let that go without a fight."
Just as they were about to leave the house, a knock echoed through the halls.
Nathan opened the door.
Standing there was the Grand Elder.
The air shifted. Even Nick's cocky demeanor disappeared.
"Grand Elder," Nathan said, bowing immediately. "We didn't expect—"
"I heard," the Grand Elder interrupted, his voice low and thunderous. "About Elena. About Solaria."
Nick visibly paled. "We didn't mean for this to happen. It was an accident—"
"You allowed her to be exposed," the Grand Elder said, eyes like steel. "You brought her into a world that was never meant to touch her."
"We can fix it," Nathan said. "Please, allow us to take you to the Solaria office."
The Grand Elder nodded, slowly. "You will. But understand this: if you fail, your family's place in the Circle will fall."
Nathan felt the weight of those words like chains.
That afternoon, the three of them set off toward the hidden heart of Solaria. None of them knew exactly what they would find. Whether Elena could be freed. Whether the Controllers would even listen.
But one thing was clear: the Game had gone too far.
Nathan felt responsible for what happened. He had been keeping tabs on Elena all her life, and it only took a short period for her to get into a high stakes and dangerous game. Nathan believed that Elena was his responsibility – even if there was no way that she could be his.
And the girl with the rainbow aura was no longer just a player.
She was the battlefield.