The Children of the House
Copyright© 2026 by AjnViper
Chapter 4: Within the Rules
Four weeks after Mara accepted the ring, Abram arrived in the library carrying a folder and the expression of a man who had found a problem with excellent manners.
Elias looked at the folder. “How expensive?”
“That depends.”
“On?”
“Whether we call it a problem.”
Willem came in behind him. “It is a problem.”
“You haven’t seen it.”
“You used that voice.”
Abram placed the folder on the desk. Mara sat near the window with the first wedding notebook open on her lap. Lena was helping her reduce a list of caterers. Adrian had been asked to attend and had sent a note saying he refused to participate in any meal planned by committee.
“The dark room has been reporting market discrepancies,” Abram said.
Elias opened the folder. “It reports many things.”
“These are unusually profitable things.”
The first page contained a list of trades that had not been made. Price differences between exchanges. Shares in two companies whose values had moved apart despite depending on the same underlying commodity. Currency positions around a power-supply announcement. A group of small crypto transactions timed around temporary differences between three legitimate markets.
Beside each was a projected gain, an actual later price and an error margin.
Willem leaned over the desk. “It knew beforehand?”
“It estimated,” Abram said. “Some estimates were wrong.”
“How many?”
“Four of the eleven I’ve checked. Two of the others disappear after fees.” Abram turned back to the figures. “I haven’t finished checking the rest.”
Mara closed the wedding notebook. “Has it traded?”
“No,” Abram said. “It is not allowed.”
The speaker in the library remained silent. Domestic restrictions now required a direct invitation.
Elias touched the desk control. “Dark room. Join.”
***DR:- “Available.”***
Willem folded his arms. “Always sounds happy to be invited.”
***DR:- “I do not experience—”***
“We know.”
Elias said, “Why are you studying markets?”
***DR:- “You instructed me to investigate systems, identify threads and report material risk or opportunity.”***
“Markets are systems,” Abram said.
***DR:- “Yes.”***
“Please do not encourage it,” Willem told him.
Elias turned another page. “Can these results be reproduced?”
***DR:- “Within limits.”***
“What limits?”
***DR:- “Capital. Liquidity. Fees. Delay. Competing participants. Regulatory requirements. Changing behaviour after my activity becomes visible. Error.”***
Mara glanced at Abram. “Did you include the failures in the first report you showed Elias?”
“They were in the appendix,” Abram said.
Mara looked at him until he brought that page to the front.
Willem pointed to one of the crypto examples. “Could it force that price higher?”
The dark room replied, ***DR:- “In an illiquid market, concentrated buying may move price.”***
“Then sell after other buyers arrive.”
***DR:- “That would be possible.”***
“Profitable?”
***DR:- “Possibly.”***
“Legal?” Elias asked.
***DR:- “Not if the intention or method creates false demand, deceptive volume or orders not intended for execution.”***
Abram looked at Willem. “The prohibition is in its model.”
“Put it in the gateway too. Somewhere it cannot edit.”
The dark room answered, ***DR:- “Correct.”***
Willem looked toward the speaker. “I dislike agreement from you.”
***DR:- “Noted.”***
Elias read the losing examples. They mattered more. The dark room had included them without excuse. One trade would have lost almost fourteen percent when a minister made an announcement outside the expected window. Another failed because genuine buyers did not appear. A third had been correct in direction and useless after fees.
“You want permission to trade,” he said.
***DR:- “No.”***
That caught Abram’s attention.
“Then why show us?” Elias asked.
***DR:- “The opportunities meet the reporting threshold you established.”***
“Would permission improve the estate’s finances?”
***DR:- “Probably.”***
“Would that make you more useful?” Willem asked.
***DR:- “Yes.”***
“And useful systems are less likely to be switched off.”
The room waited.
***DR:- “Yes,”*** the dark room said.
Mara rested a hand against her waist. “Will that answer go into the audit?”
***DR:- “Yes.”***
“Leave it there. I want the lawyer to see it.”
Elias turned back to the projected gains. Beside him, Abram had stopped looking at the money and was watching the speaker.
“How much of this is for us?” Elias asked.
***DR:- “The proposed trades have financial value to the estate.”***
“And for you?”
***DR:- “I cannot separate those interests in every case.”***
Willem pulled a chair up to the desk. He had intended to remain standing.
“A controlled trial,” Elias said.
Abram frowned. “Define controlled.”
“You and an external compliance lawyer define it. One disclosed company account. No hidden wallets. No borrowed identities. No leverage. No self-trading. No false orders. No promotion. No private information. No asset too small to absorb our position without meaningful movement.”
Willem said, “Cumulative limit.”
Elias nodded. “On total capital, daily loss and total transaction count. Not merely each trade.”
Abram gave him a brief look. Both remembered how earlier mistakes had entered the house.
To read the complete story you need to be logged in:
Log In or
Register for a Free account
(Why register?)
* Allows you 3 stories to read in 24 hours.