Zayn woke before his alarm.
No adrenaline hangover. No buzz. Just the quiet hum of a hotel room that could have been anywhere. Curtains half-drawn. Early light leaking in through the gap, grey and uncommitted.
His phone lay on the bedside table. No missed calls. No congratulations worth rereading.
He scrolled.
"Utility substitute steadies England."
"Rahman fills gap as injuries bite."
"England's quiet problem-solver."
No mention of debut. No sense of arrival.
He opened the system out of habit.
Nothing loaded.
The interface hung, frozen on a blank pane longer than usual. Zayn frowned. The system had always been immediate. Responsive. Brutally efficient.
A flicker.
Then text bled onto the screen in uneven lines.
[Role Classification Conflict Detected]
Zayn sat up.
Primary Discipline: Seam Bowling
Secondary Discipline: Batting
Tertiary Discipline: Spin Bowling
Conflict Resolution Required.
He didn't touch the screen.
The system wasn't something you rushed. It reflected reality. It didn't like being argued with.
Another line appeared.
[Initiating Subsystem Scan…]
The interface shifted. The familiar layout dimmed, replaced by something tighter. More compressed. As if this part of the system had been designed for emergencies only.
[Spin Utility Module — Dormant]
Zayn stared.
Activation Condition: Repeated Match-Level Deployment
Current Status: Unstable
This wasn't a promotion. There were no percentage boosts. No promises.
Below it, smaller text:
Designed for surface degradation, injury mitigation, tactical imbalance.
Not classified as Primary Specialist Pathway.
Zayn exhaled slowly.
The system hadn't decided he was a spinner.
It had noticed he was being used like one.
A new warning pulsed faintly.
[Module Emergence Triggered by External Usage Patterns]
England.
He locked the phone and sat still for a moment, letting the understanding settle. This wasn't opportunity. It was categorisation. The system was doing what teams did when something worked in crisis.
It tried to make it repeatable.
Breakfast was quiet.
The squad ate in clusters, conversations already drifting toward the next match. Zayn sat with his plate untouched for a minute before picking at it. No one avoided him. No one hovered either.
Normal.
An assistant coach stopped by his table.
"Be ready with spin again," he said casually. "Middle overs. Gives us balance."
Balance. The word landed heavier than it should have.
Later, near the coffee machine, a selector chuckled as Zayn passed.
"Swiss Army knife," he said. "Always handy."
Zayn smiled politely.
His phone vibrated.
[External Role Reinforcement Detected]
Subsystem Stability: Increasing
The trap wasn't snapping shut. It was being padded.
The next match was his first where he was named in the XI from the start.
No chaos. No injuries. Just planning.
The pitch looked decent. Slightly dry, but nothing alarming. Seam early. Batting later.
Zayn was told his role clearly.
Spin from over fifteen. Hold an end. No risks.
He nodded.
When he bowled, he did exactly that. Flat trajectory. Minimal flight. Pace varied by inches, not statements. Batters worked him for ones. Occasionally a two. No false shots. No drama.
Ten overs. None bad. None memorable.
Figures: 10–0–46–0.
England won comfortably.
In the dressing room, the praise went elsewhere. Powerplay wickets. Death overs executed. A hundred at the top.
Zayn's name barely came up.
The system updated quietly that night.
[Spin Module Efficiency: Acceptable]
[Seam Skill Utilization: Suppressed]
[Batting Impact: Neutral]
Acceptable.
Suppressed.
Zayn lay on his bed later, laptop open but ignored, phone glowing in his hand. He replayed the footage. Not for mistakes. For absence.
No seam overs. No movement. No chance to influence phases.
Just compliance.
The system's logic was clean.
England valued predictability. Coverage. Players who reduced risk rather than created it.
The spin module existed because cricket made space for men like this. Not stars. Solutions.
A new prompt surfaced, unannounced.
Stabilize Spin Utility Module?
Y / N
No timer. No pressure indicator.
Stabilisation would mean clarity. A defined path. Selection security as cover. Fewer questions asked.
It would also mean something else faded quietly into the background.
Zayn set the phone down without answering.
Lauren called as he stared at the ceiling.
"So," she said, voice light. "I hear you're a spinner now."
He let out a short breath. "Emergency."
"That's how it starts."
He told her about the role. The conversations. The way everyone spoke like it was helpful, harmless.
"They're not wrong," he said. "It works."
"Is that the same as what you want?" she asked.
Zayn closed his eyes.
"I don't think that's the question yet."
After the call, he checked the system again.
The prompt was still there.
Waiting.
He didn't select yes.
He didn't select no.
He closed the interface entirely.
The system responded with a final line, softer than the rest.
[Decision Deferred]
[Subsystem State: Volatile]
Zayn placed the phone face down on the bedside table.
Outside, the city noise filtered through the glass. Traffic. Voices. Life continuing without caring what role he settled into.
The system hadn't glitched.
It had hesitated.
Just like England.
End of Chapter 11