The walkie-talkie hissed.

  “Status confirmed. Coordinates received,” came a low voice—cold, sharp, controlled. “You are late, Agent Fry.”

  Becky winced. “I had to wait until they were asleep. Anya’s getting suspicious.”

  The voice on the other end chuckled, humorless. “Then eliminate her. Complete your mission.”

  Becky didn’t answer.

  “You’re hesitating again.”

  “I’m delaying,” Becky snapped back, masking the tremble in her voice. “She’s not ready. If she dies now, we both fail.”

  A pause. Then: “Report. What is her current level of progression?”

  Becky exhaled slowly. “Her instincts are waking up. She took out a full assassin squad. No skills, no cheat assists. Just raw combat.”

  “Good,” the voice replied. “That means Phase One of the simulation is nearing completion. You are authorized to continue observation. Feed her just enough to survive, and nothing more.”

  The walkie crackled again.

  “Oh—and Becky,” the voice added. “Don’t forget. If you fail this mission, you don’t just lose the game.”

  The line cut before she could reply.

  Becky stared at the black device in her hand.

  Her fingers curled into a trembling fist.

  The next morning, the silence between the trio was louder than footsteps on broken glass.

  Anya still hadn't asked about the midnight whispering she thought she heard.

  Damian, as always, said nothing—but his eyes lingered on Becky longer than usual.

  Then the sky changed.

  It cracked open like a warning—red light bleeding through the pixelated clouds.

  A low rumble vibrated beneath their feet.

  The air smelled like iron and ozone.

  A system voice boomed overhead.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  ALERT: BOSS ZONE ACTIVATED. SQUAD ‘RED ZERO’ HAS ENTERED PHASE TWO. SURVIVAL WINDOW: 00:45:00. OBJECTIVE: DEFEAT BOSS OR ESCAPE TO A NEUTRAL ZONE.

  Anya’s eyes widened. “Wait—we didn’t enter a boss zone, did we?!”

  “No,” Damian said. “It found us.”

  Trees around them twisted, pixelating into jagged obsidian thorns.

  A circle of corrupted terrain surrounded them like a cursed arena.

  And then it came.

  A cybernetic monster, ten feet tall, part machine, part nightmare.

  One red eye glowed like a sniper dot, tracking Anya.

  Its name loaded above it: [SENTRY 01: THE JUDGE] Type: Neutralizer Boss / Central Tower Gatekeeper Weakness: ???

  “I’m sorry,” Becky whispered.

  Anya barely heard her. “What?”

  “I didn’t think they’d send this boss so soon…”

  “What do you mean you didn’t think?” Anya stepped toward her. “Becky, what’s going on?”

  But the boss didn’t wait.

  Its fist hit the ground like a meteor, throwing all three into the air.

  Anya rolled into a thorn bush, blood streaking down her leg.

  Becky was coughing beside her, face pale.

  And Damian was… gone?

  “Where is he?” Anya shouted.

  “Running flank!” Becky yelled back. “He’s trying to get around it.”

  “You knew this would happen,” Anya growled.

  “I didn’t know it would be now! I just—” Becky choked, ducking another blow.

  “Then why do you sound like you work for them?!”

  Becky looked at her, wide-eyed, vulnerable. “Because I do.”

  Anya froze.

  “You what—?”

  “I didn’t mean to. I didn’t choose it,” Becky said, barely dodging a plasma blade as it scorched the ground. “They found me when the game started. Said it was kill or be killed. Told me you were the enemy.”

  “And you believed them?!”

  “No!” Becky screamed. “I couldn’t. That’s why I’ve been lying to them. Giving them just enough. Buying us time.”

  The Judge roared, slamming a spike into the ground.

  A ring of fire erupted, forcing Anya and Becky to dive in opposite directions.

  Damian returned just in time to toss a blade at the boss's exposed back.

  A weak spot flickered. Becky saw it.

  “Under the shoulder panel!” she shouted. “That’s the processor housing its override chip!”

  Anya stared at her. “How do you know that?!”

  Becky hesitated. “Because they trained me to fight it…”

  The shock on Anya’s face only lasted a second—because then she moved.

  Not out of trust.

  Out of survival.

  She dodged left, climbed the collapsing rubble of an old tower base, and launched herself at the boss’s shoulder like a missile.

  Her blade hit the flickering point with all the fury she'd built up for two chapters.

  The boss convulsed.

  System Error.

  Glitching sparks.

  CRITICAL HIT. CORE DESTABILIZED. BOSS SHUTDOWN IN 00:10...

  “Everybody DOWN!” Damian shouted.

  The explosion ripped through the zone, blasting smoke and wires into the sky.

  And then… silence.

  Later, they camped on a ridge overlooking the Central Tower.

  Anya finally saw it clearly: a floating spire, spinning slowly in the sky like a divine needle threading space.

  Light pulsed from its base in slow, rhythmic beats. A heartbeat.

  Damian explained, finally: “The Tower is the exit. Every phase brings us closer. But only one can reach the top. Only one can go home.”

  Anya's mouth went dry.

  Becky didn’t speak. Just stared into the flames.

  Until Anya finally asked:

  “Who’s your handler?”

  Becky’s jaw tensed.

  “I don’t know his real name. But the spies call him The Warden. He runs the surveillance grid around the tower. He decides who lives, and who doesn’t.”

  Anya looked away, eyes burning. “So what am I, then? A mission?”

  Becky answered softly.

  “You were never a mission. You were my best friend. You still are. I just... don’t know how to save you without losing myself.”

  Anya didn’t respond.

  But she didn’t leave, either.

  Which meant—maybe—for now—they still had time.