Profitable Purification

Marcella withdrew her massive psionic energy from Corbin’s internal realm. The terminal chimed instantly, echoing in the quiet, sterile room.

"Ms. Vance, you have successfully dropped the contamination level by sixty-five percent. Cleanse one more, and you can earn over a day's worth of vitality points. Keep up the good work."

Marcella felt a genuine smile tug at her lips. Snagging more than half a day of extra lifespan in a single session was a fantastic deal.

Corbin fluttered his eyes open. The heavy fog of corruption had vanished from his mind. He caught sight of her warm expression, and his breath hitched. A dark blush crept up his scaly neck and settled on his cheeks. His heart hammered wildly against his ribs.

*Rumors are nothing but garbage.* He stared at her in quiet awe. *Ms. Vance does not just purify my system effortlessly. She smiles at me. Where is the vicious temper they all talk about? She is gentle, and her resonance is incredible. I have never heard of a female dropping contamination by a full sixty-five percent without batting an eye. Most females hoard their energy and barely manage ten percent.*

Marcella tapped the glass control panel on the resonance platform. The heavy metal restraints hissed and released his wrists and ankles. "All set."

Corbin scrambled up and pulled the bite guard from his mouth. His rough, snake-like scales seemed to shimmer with a renewed, healthy luster now that the toxic sludge no longer suppressed his natural vitality. His voice trembled with raw emotion. "Thank you so much, Ms. Vance."

Marcella walked over to the sleek workbench and settled into her ergonomic chair. "No problem at all. It is my job."

*And it keeps me breathing,* she added silently in her head.

Corbin lingered awkwardly by the sliding door. He cast one last reverent glance in her direction before slipping out into the hallway. A second later, the digital backend of her terminal lit up with a flashing tip notification.

Marcella arched a brow. Eight hundred and eighty-eight merits and ten thousand galactic credits.

*That is incredibly generous.* She accepted the transfer without a single ounce of guilt. A girl could never have too much money in a dangerous world like this. The terminal also displayed her official system payout of sixty-five merits and six hundred and fifty galactic credits. Making money this smoothly felt intoxicating.

Male therians desperate for survival usually camped outside the Resonance Tower just on the off-chance a slot opened up. So, when Marcella tapped the button to summon the next client, the heavy door slid open mere minutes later.

Over the next hour, she operated like a well-oiled machine. She guided six more one-star male therians onto the cold metal platform. Each of them had staggered into the room on the verge of total feral madness. Some possessed jagged feline ears twitching in distress, while others dragged heavy, scaled tails across the floor. Their internal monitors flashed a dangerous, glaring red at ninety-five percent contamination. They were ticking time bombs. Each time, she initiated the link and flooded their corrupted veins with her S-tier green psionic energy. The vile black smoke in their systems melted away like snow under a blazing sun. Each time, the monitors plummeted to a safe thirty percent, turning a soothing green.

They practically worshipped the ground she walked on as they left. Every single one tipped her generously, each digital transfer heavier than the last. In less than ninety minutes, Marcella had racked up more wealth than an entire year of grueling salary and bonuses back on the Blue Planet.

While she worked, the AetherWeb was descending into a chaotic frenzy. Two massive trending topics had hijacked the main forum.

*‘After Ms. Vance's resonance, my contamination level dropped from 95% to 30%!’*

*‘When will Ms. Vance's resonance slots open for booking again?’*

Comments flooded the interface by the thousands.

*‘Are you kidding me? From 95 down to 30? Ms. Vance is a literal goddess.’*

*‘My contamination level is redlining at 95%. Beast God, please have mercy on my soul. Let me book a resonance slot with Ms. Vance.’*

*‘Why are they all 1-Star therians? Ms. Vance, please look at us 2-Star therians! We need you too!’*

*‘Ms. Vance, I am begging you on my knees to open the booking application channel. I will empty my bank account for a tip!’*

Oblivious to the digital meltdown she had caused, Marcella leaned back in her chair and contemplated her next move. The system chimed in her mind and materialized her holographic dashboard.

*Vitality Points: 5.1 days.*

*Karma Points: 0.7.*

*Available Targets: All male therians.*

*Available Partners: Dante Alarie, Cassian Vane, Xander Croft, Ryker Vossen, Kaelen Bellerose.*

The system's mechanical voice echoed with a hint of encouragement. "Ms. Vance, your psionic power consumption is currently only at ten percent. You have more than enough energy to continue with resonance sessions."

Marcella stared at the five measly days of lifespan remaining. The creeping dread in her chest squashed any thought of taking a break. "Fine."

She pulled up the configuration settings. Her fingers flew across the virtual keyboard. Fourteen slots. One-star supernatural ability ranking. Contamination levels restricted to the danger zone between ninety and ninety-five percent.

She hit confirm. The slots vanished from the screen in less than two seconds.

Marcella blinked at the empty queue. *Their clicking speed is terrifying.*

She poured herself a fresh cup of dark coffee from the corner machine. She had barely taken her first sip when the heavy door slid open.

A breathless male therian stumbled into the room. "Ms. Vance!"

Marcella lowered her mug onto the coaster. "That was fast?"

Dalton Rhys caught his breath and offered a sheepish grin. "Ms. Vance, I actually work for the Resonance Tower."

She arched a brow in understanding. *Home-field advantage.*

His scanner showed a contamination level of ninety percent. Marcella did not cut corners on standard safety protocol, regardless of his employment status. She directed him to the metal platform and ensured the thick bite guard was firmly secured between his teeth before initiating the deep psionic link.

Minutes later, the purification process finished. The heavy metal bands released with a mechanical hiss. Dalton sat up abruptly and stared at the digital monitor displaying his new thirty percent status. He trembled, fat tears welling in his eyes and spilling down his cheeks.

"Ms. Vance, you are a miracle worker! I will tip you everything I have. I will even lay down my life for you!"

Marcella stared at him, utterly speechless.

*Calm down, buddy. We are just getting what we need from each other.*

She kept the morning slots restricted to males lingering in or near the Resonance Tower for maximum efficiency. She put her head down and went to war against the contamination. By the time the clock struck noon, she had purified another fourteen one-star males in a single, unbroken stretch.

Her unprecedented work ethic sent a shockwave through the AetherWeb. Female therians simply did not work this hard. The Resonance Tower staff were practically weeping with joy. They rolled a silver cart into her room, loaded with an extravagant, steaming lunch.

The head staff member bowed deeply. "Ms. Vance, thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your hard work. We prepared this premium lunch specifically for you. If you require anything at all, please do not hesitate to command us. Please enjoy your meal."

Marcella nodded and accepted the food. She unboxed the meal, revealing perfectly seared cuts of premium alien meat, vibrant exotic vegetables, and a steaming bowl of fragrant broth. It was a feast fit for royalty, a stark contrast to the grueling struggle she was used to. As she sliced into the tender meat and took her first savory bite, she called up the dashboard again.

*Vitality Points: 13 days.*

*Karma Points: 2.1.*

She ignored the rest of the stats and swallowed her bite. "System, do you think I can earn a full month's worth of vitality points today?"

The system sounded giddy. "Ms. Vance, you absolutely can! Your massive psionic power has only been consumed by thirty percent. You are performing brilliantly."

Marcella gripped her metal fork tighter. She finally understood the sheer, terrifying magnitude of an S-tier rating. The suffocating anxiety of her impending death eased a fraction. Securing a whole month of life in a single day was a game-changer.

"Alright, then I will keep grinding this afternoon."

She finished her meal with methodical speed. She pushed the empty plates aside and pulled the work interface back up. A fierce aura of determination radiated from her. She adjusted the parameters once more.

Twenty-eight slots. One-star ranking. Contamination between ninety and ninety-five percent.

She opened the channel. The slots evaporated instantly.

The AetherWeb exploded into a second frenzy of digital screaming.

*‘Aaaah! Ms. Vance's resonance sessions opened again, and I still missed it!’*

*‘Damn it, who hoarded the spots? I will buy one right now. One thousand merits and one hundred thousand galactic credits. Name your price!’*

*‘Screw that, I am offering ten thousand merits and a million galactic credits!’*

*‘Why are the settings locked to 1-Star males? Ms. Vance, I am begging you, spare a single glance at us 2-Star therians!’*

Marcella ignored the noise. The clock hit two in the afternoon, and the door slid open to reveal her next client.

The afternoon blurred into a repetitive, high-stakes rhythm of purifying corrupted veins. She guided man after man onto the platform. The dark smoke of the therians' internal realms yielded effortlessly to her brilliant green psionic energy. The room hummed continuously with the sound of the medical scanners dropping from red to green. The faint smell of ozone and sterile metal filled the air. She barely paused to drink water. Time slipped through her fingers as she powered through the massive queue.

Just before five in the evening, the heavy metal restraints hissed open for the final time. Marcella watched the forty-ninth client walk out of the resonance room, leaving a massive tip in his wake.

She slumped back in her chair. The adrenaline finally crashed, leaving a heavy, aching fatigue in her bones. Her psionic power reserves had drained down to seventy percent.

The system chimed softly, offering emotional support alongside the data. "Ms. Vance, thank you for your incredibly hard work today!"

The holographic dashboard flickered into view.

*Vitality Points: secured for over thirty days.*

*Karma Points: 4.9.*

Marcella stared at the thirty days. The tight, painful knot in her chest unraveled. A profound wave of psychological relief washed over her, making the brutal physical exhaustion worth it. She had clawed a month of life from the jaws of this insane world.

She rubbed her throbbing temples. "System, when will my psionic power fully recover from this?"

"Ms. Vance, a good night's sleep tonight will restore your reserves."

The relentless survivor in her nodded. "Alright. Then, I will keep going tomorrow."

"Ms. Vance, you might want to consider taking some proper rest." The system actually sounded concerned, though beneath the robotic tone, it was ecstatic. A host who willingly ground through tasks without throwing a tantrum was a rare miracle.

Marcella scoffed quietly. *Is it that I don't want to rest? No, my ticking time bomb of a life won't let me. Just remembering how close I was to dropping dead makes my lungs burn.*

She cleared her dry throat and shifted her focus to the next hurdle. Earning days was great, but she needed to maximize her efficiency.

"I am curious. How many two-star male therians could I successfully resonate if I burned through seventy percent of my psionic power?"

The system possessed the exact calculations in its database, but it deliberately kept the information hidden. Marcella would have to test those limits herself.

"You have got this, Ms. Vance!"