The television flickered in the corner of their cramped Dublin flat. RTE News played at low volume.
"…Guild Ironclad suffered devastating losses today on Floor 45. Twelve Challengers confirmed dead, including Guild Master Patricia O'Brien's daughter, Sarah. She was nineteen years old."
James stared at his plate, fork in hand, knuckles white. Across from him, his mother stirred her tea without purpose, eyes fixed on the screen, shoulders drawn in as she watched families weep outside Dublin Tower.
The anchor kept talking. "This marks the forty-third consecutive failed attempt to clear Floor 45. Families of the deceased will receive standard guild benefits, totaling approximately two million euros per Challenger…"
James set down his fork with a soft clink against the plate.
"Mum, I've been meaning to tell you something." The words came out quieter than he intended. "I'm going to become a Challenger."
The spoon stopped mid-stir. Her fist tightened around the handle and she kept her eyes on the swirling tea, not looking at him. Several seconds passed.
The TV moved on to a commercial for Tower gear insurance.
"Mum—"
"No."
"I know what you're thinking, but—"
"You don't know what I'm thinking." Her eyes were already wet when she finally looked at him. "You couldn't."
"I already lost your father to that tower," she said, her voice unsteady. "Do you remember what they sent home?"
James's throat tightened as the memory came back. The wooden box. Barely enough inside to confirm it was him.
"I can't bury you too." She grabbed his hand across the table, gripping it hard. "James, please. You're all I have left."
"I know—"
"Don't do this." Tears slid down her face. "I've worked three jobs to keep you alive, to give you a real chance at something. Don't make me bury my son."
Her voice broke on the last word.
James squeezed her hand. His voice was low, steady. "I'll be careful. I promise. I won't be reckless like Dad was."
"Your father said the same thing." She pulled her hand back like she'd been burned. "He promised he'd come home."
"This isn't the same—"
"It's exactly the same."
"Look at where we are." James gestured around the flat. "We're rotting here and nothing is going to change that."
"We're alive—"
"Barely." His hands pressed flat on the table. "Dad's brothers took everything after he died. Three million in Tower Credits, the life insurance payout, all of it. They called it family property. And we can't even fix the heating. You work seventy hours a week and we still can't get ahead."
"I don't care about the money—"
"I do." He held her gaze. "You're destroying yourself and it won't stop unless I actually change something."
"And you think dying in a tower changes anything?"
"I'm not going to die."
"Everyone thinks that." Her voice dropped. "Your father did."
James leaned back in his chair. Rain had started against the window outside.
"I can work minimum wage for forty years and we'll still be sitting in this same flat. Or I take the risk and maybe we get a real life out of it. That's the choice."
"Or you die in the Tutorial like eighty percent of everyone who walks through."
"Or I'm part of the twenty percent who walk back out."
She didn't answer. Her hand was trembling when she picked her fork back up. She started eating again in silence, tears still on her face, not looking at him.
They finished dinner without another word. The TV kept running through Challenger memorial segments and Guild recruitment ads.
♢♢♢♢
11:58 PM.
James lay on his bed fully dressed, staring at the water-stained ceiling. His hands wouldn't stay still.
He could hear his mother in the other room, still moving around. She wouldn't sleep tonight. He knew that much.
He tried to remember his father's face and found that seven years had worn most of the details away. He remembered the laugh. He remembered the last time he'd seen him suited up in Challenger gear, telling James he'd be back soon.
He pushed the memory aside.
After his father died, his uncles had moved fast. Nearly three million in Tower Credits. The life insurance. They'd called it family property, said the money belonged to all of them by right. By the time his mother had managed to get a solicitor to look at it, the accounts had already been emptied.
James checked his phone on the nightstand. 11:59 PM.
Everything he'd said at dinner was true. He'd meant all of it. This was the only path forward that made any real sense.
But eighty percent didn't make it through the Tutorial alive. Four out of five people who made this same choice tonight would be dead inside seventy-two hours.
He could choose Civilian. Stay safe. Work his way through life like everyone told you to, slow and steady and unremarkable.
But then what? Another fifty years in flats like this one, watching his mother run herself into the ground while his uncles lived comfortably off money that had been his father's?
James stood and walked to the window. Rain streaked down the glass. He stood there a while with his forehead almost touching the cold pane.
He thought about his father one last time. His dad would have said something stupid and optimistic about taking chances and not living with regrets. Something exactly like that.
James turned from the window and took a slow breath.
Then midnight hit.
A sound like a chime went off inside Jamess head. Some blue words showed up in front of his eyes.
[INITIALIZATION COMPLETE.]
[YOU ARE NOW ELIGIBLE TO BECOME A CHALLENGER.]
Jamess breathing stopped for a second.
[PLEASE REVIEW THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION CAREFULLY.]
[DESIGNATION OPTIONS:. Civilian]
[CHALLENGER: YOU CAN USE THE TOWER SYSTEM.. You MIGHT DIE. YOU MIGHT ALSO GET POWER AND MONEY.]
[CIVILIAN: YOU CAN STAY ON EARTH. YOU WILL BE SAFE. YOU WILL LIVE A LIFE.]
[YOU CANNOT CHANGE THIS CHOICE ONCE YOU MAKE IT.]
[PLEASE SELECT YOUR DESIGNATION.]
Two buttons showed up in front of James. They were glowing a little: [CHALLENGER]. [CIVILIAN].
James looked at them. His finger was in the air not moving.
He thought about his mother, who was probably still awake in the room probably saying prayers that he would choose Civilian.
He thought about his father and the box that came home of him.
He thought about this apartment. What it would be, like to stay here for fifty more years.
His hand drifted toward Civilian first, stopped, pulled back without touching it.
Then moved to Challenger.
Eighty percent don't make it out alive. But twenty percent do.
James steadied his hand and pressed it without letting himself think any further.
VERIFIED TITLE: CHALLENGER]
[WELCOME TO THE TOWER CONNECTION]
[ PREPARING TUTORIAL, FOR SHIPMENT]
[TRANSPORT BEGINNING IN 30 MINUTES]
It was just 30 minutes but that was all he needed to say goodbye to his mom.
[TRANSPORT INITIATING]