Kai, Simone and the Eighth Wall (🇬🇧 English version)

CHAPTER 6: Python, Pipes & Window-Characters

Two men in black suits shoved Kai into the room, practically dragging him. A rough sack covered his face, reeking of fabric mixed with sweat and stale myrrh. His feet stumbled clumsily against the stone floor. 

They forced him violently onto a metal chair. The sack was yanked off in one sharp motion. 

Harsh light made him blink. Across from him, Simone, tied to another chair, stared with the look of someone who'd already cried, already panicked... and now just wanted to strangle someone. 

—"What the hell did you do now, Kai?" 

Kai opened his mouth to retort, but an imposing silence cut him off. 

Lady Stark sat elevated, lounging casually on a black satchel, legs crossed. Her ivory pipe between her fingers exhaled smoke as elegant as it was lethal. 

She studied him like a disappointed teacher facing the student who turned in a blank test on principle. 

—"Kai," she said, her voice as calm as a scalpel before incision. "You came here to make money. Or, at best, to make *me* money. But no. You chose to blow up my casino instead." 

She took a deep inhale, exhaling a smoke tendril shaped like a question mark. 

—"Care to defend yourself?" 

Silence fell, broken only by the drip of water somewhere in the shadows. 

Simone sighed, shut his eyes, and muttered: 

—"Choose your next words *very* carefully, Kai..." 

Kai nodded. 

—"He rigged it. Don't know how. That lunatic booby-trapped the pen. The slightest movement triggered a micro-charge. The second I tried using it—boom. The casino's west wing blew. And he escaped in the chaos." 

Lady Stark slowly shook her head, tapping her empty pipe against her thigh. 

—"I warned you, Kai. He's not just any prisoner—he's an assassin. An architect of death. Did you *really* think he'd hand you a magic pen without strings? He was ready to kill you." 

—"Well, he nearly succeeded," Kai shot back, pointing at his soot-stained shirt. 

A heavy silence settled. Then Kai straightened slightly, his cuffs scraping the chair's metal. 

—"I can pay you back. I'll rob a bank. A real one. Not some poker room in disguise. *Money Heist* on a budget—no Dali masks, no boring monologues." 

Lady Stark narrowed her eyes. 

—"No." 

—"Wait. Hear me out. I've got the plan. A private bank run by ex-military. Not one vault—*four*. Scattered across the city, synced by an algorithm. And I've got the key. Well, I know who *has* it." 

—"I just said no, Kai." 

She signaled one of her men. The man stepped forward wordlessly, drew a heavy Colt from his belt, cocked it with a sharp *click*, and pressed it against Simone's temple. 

Simone, still bound, gave Kai a desperate look. 

—"You'd better pull out one hell of a negotiation, man..." 

Kai raised his hands—though they were still cuffed. 

—"Okay, okay, let's talk. Here's my offer:" 

—"I screwed up," he admitted, voice lower. "I wasn't careful enough. That pen... it messed with my head. Don't know how, but for a few seconds, I... *dreamed*. I really thought it could grant wishes. I let my guard down."