I stared at the private message feed for a long second.
The live window showed Elara frozen in place.
Black code lines crawled up her arms.
Like veins pulsing slow and thick.
Her eyes stayed locked wide.
Pleading without words.
The sender tag read Unknown.
But I knew better.
The System didn't send cute threats.
It just acted.
I closed the overlay fast.
Turned to the others standing around the gear stall in the hub square.
"We have a problem," I said.
"The System just sent me a private feed.
Elara's tagged for reset if I don't respond.
The code's already on her.
She's locked in place right now.
We need to move before it finishes wrapping her."
Lyra's visor flickered once.
She pulled up her own interface.
Scanned quick.
"Confirmed," she said.
"I see the lock too.
It's a containment field.
Anomaly-specific.
Not standard mob control.
So we can't just slash it.
The System wants you to choose.
Log out and abandon her.
Or stay and trigger whatever accelerated test it's prepping."
Kira stepped closer.
Voice low and urgent.
"Then we break it.
How?
Because I'm not watching another loop start.
She just got free."
Elara's head twitched slightly in the feed.
Like she heard us.
Fighting the code.
"I don't know yet," I said.
"But standing here talking won't help.
Let's hit a quiet alley.
Get out of the main square before bounty hunters spot us gawking."
We moved fast.
Slipping between stalls.
Past players haggling over potions and weapons.
Keeping heads down.
Whispers followed us anyway.
People pointing.
Murmuring.
"That's the glitch guy with Lyra Voss."
"What the hell are they doing together?"
One kid tried to tail us.
Until Lyra shot him a look.
It sent him scurrying back to his friends.
We ducked into a narrow side street.
Lined with shuttered vendor carts.
Shadows thick enough to hide in.
Elara's feed still played in the corner of my vision.
Code lines now at her shoulders.
Tightening slow.
Like a noose.
Promising to yank her back into endless death.
Lyra leaned against the wall.
Arms crossed.
"Alright, anomaly boy.
Your move.
If you log out, the System probably lets her reset quiet.
No fuss.
But if you stay, it escalates.
Enforcers.
Guild bounties.
Maybe even floor-wide events tailored to break you faster.
So what's it gonna be?
Run back to your debt collectors?
Or double down and see how deep this rabbit hole goes?"
I looked at Kira.
She nodded once.
Firm.
"I'm not bailing.
She saved herself by remembering.
I'm not letting the System erase that."
Elara in the feed managed a tiny whisper through the static.
"Help me.
Please.
I don't want to forget again."
I took a breath.
"Screw logging out.
I'm not giving it what it wants.
So we break the containment.
How do we do that?
Lyra—you know more high-rank tricks than anyone here."
She pushed off the wall.
Paced slow while thinking.
"Containment fields like this tie to the target's core tag.
If we overwrite Elara's status from Contained to something else—anything else—we might snap the lock.
But it'll cost you hard.
Stability's already in the red.
One big push could drop you to zero again.
Next death takes more than a random memory.
Maybe an emotion.
Or a whole skill.
So you ready to gamble that much?"
I checked my stats.
Stability twenty-one.
Flashing urgent.
"I don't have a choice.
If I let her reset, she's gone forever.
And I'm no better than the System.
So tell me how to target her tag from here.
Because she's not even physically with us right now."
Lyra pulled up a holographic map interface.
Spun it until a faint red dot appeared.
Elara's location pinned in the crypt.
Still.
"You can remote-overwrite if you focus hard.
Link through the team chat since she's flagged as allied now.
But the System will fight back.
Spawn interference mid-cast.
So we need to cover you while you push the skill."
Kira said, "I'll ward the alley.
Throw every barrier I've got left."
Lyra drew her laser swords.
Blue light humming low.
"I'll handle anything that spawns.
Just don't die mid-overwrite.
Or we all eat the backlash."
I nodded.
Sat cross-legged on the dirty stone.
Focused on the feed.
Zoomed in on Elara's frozen form.
Found her core tag buried under layers of black code.
"Contained Looped Entity.
Test Subject Alpha Nine."
I hovered my cursor over it.
Felt the pull.
Like trying to lift something way too heavy.
Then triggered Overwrite.
Aiming to change it to "Freed Allied Player Proxy."
The skill activated.
But the System hit back instant.
Red error flashing.
"Override Contested.
Stability Drain Commencing."
Pain lanced through my head.
Sharp like needles behind my eyes.
Stability dropping fast.
Twenty to eighteen to fifteen.
Black code pushed back against my command.
Wrapping tighter around Elara in the feed.
Enforcer silhouettes flickered at the alley mouth.
Starting to form.
Claws and blades pushing through the hub wards.
Because this wasn't normal spawn.
This was targeted retaliation.
Lyra shouted, "Incoming!
Hold the line, anomaly boy!
Keep pushing!"
She charged forward.
Swords spinning.
Carving through the first enforcer that solidified.
Metal screeching as limbs flew.
Kira threw glowing green walls.
They slowed the next wave.
Buying seconds.
I gritted my teeth.
Poured everything into the overwrite.
Felt the tag resist.
Bend.
Fight.
Then finally snap.
Changing to "Freed Allied Player Proxy.
Success."
The feed exploded white light.
Flooding out.
Code lines shattering off Elara like glass.
She stumbled forward.
Gasping.
Real again.
No longer frozen.
The containment broke with a loud crack.
It echoed through the whole hub square.
Players nearby stopped to stare.
Confused.
Elara appeared right in front of us.
Pixels resolving fast.
Breathing hard.
She grabbed my shoulders.
"You did it.
I'm out.
I'm really out.
The loop's gone.
I can move.
I can choose."
Tears ran down her face.
Digital.
But real enough to hurt.
Kira hugged her quick.
"Welcome to the team for real this time.
No more dying on repeat."
Lyra sheathed her swords.
Breathing steady.
But eyes sharp behind the visor.
"Nice work.
But the System just lost a test subject.
It's not gonna shrug that off.
Expect heat.
Bigger heat.
Floor bosses.
Seasonal purges.
Whatever it takes to reclaim or erase you."
Before anyone could answer, the hub square alarms blared.
Loud.
Red lights flashing across every building.
A massive system-wide announcement boomed through every speaker and private channel.
"Anomaly Activity Detected.
Containment Breach Phase One Initiated.
All players in East Sector prepare for accelerated testing.
Rewards doubled for confirmed kills on flagged targets."
My name popped up huge in the skybox hologram.
"AREN VALE – ANOMALY CLASS – WANTED ALIVE PREFERRED."
Bounty numbers scrolled underneath.
Ten thousand credits base.
Scaling with proof.
Players in the square turned slow.
Looking right at us.
Some drawing weapons.
Others backing away.
Whispering "jackpot" or "this is bad."
Lyra grabbed my arm.
Yanked me toward a side portal.
"Time to move.
We hit the next floor up the ladder before the whole server swarms us.
Because right now you're not just famous.
You're the biggest target in EIDOLON."
Kira pulled Elara close.
"Stick tight.
We're not losing you again."
Elara nodded.
Fierce.
"I know paths.
Shortcuts through the upper zones.
Old backdoors from dying in them for years.
I can guide us."
We dove through the portal.
Light swallowing us whole.
Dropping into a new zone.
Neon-lit ruins towering high.
Crumbling skyscrapers wrapped in vines.
Glowing fungi pulsing like heartbeats.
The ground trembled already.
Because something massive stirred far off.
Answering the System's call.
Lyra stopped us at the edge of a broken bridge.
Overlooking a chasm.
"Catch your breath.
Because from here it only gets harder.
Your glitch draws them like blood in water.
And the deeper we go, the less the rules apply.
So tell me straight, anomaly boy.
Are you still in?
Because walking away now saves your skin.
But staying means we fight the whole damn game."
I looked at Kira.
Determined.
At Elara.
Finally free.
At Lyra.
Waiting for my answer.
"I'm in," I said.
"Because logging out isn't winning.
It's just delaying the inevitable.
So let's see how far this error can go before the System crashes trying to fix it."
Right then a new private message flashed.
From the same unknown sender.
This time with no feed.
Just cold text.
"Congratulations, anomaly.
You passed the first test.
But the real game starts now.
Prove you belong.
Or be erased."
Attached was a single glowing waypoint.
Deeper in the ruins.
Labeled "First Trial Awaits.
Accept to Proceed."
As I stared at it, the ground shook harder.
Something huge roaring in the distance.
Coming straight for us.
Promising pain.
Rewards.
And answers.
All at once.