ASCEND.EXE
We all love Call of Duty—well, who doesn’t?
For Reever, it wasn’t just a game. It was his life’s battlefield, his digital home, and the one place where he could still feel young. After decades of dominance in the gaming world, Reever—now ninety and bedridden—receives an unexpected visit from the creators of Call of Duty: Ascend.EXE, the next-generation VR experience that blurs the line between player and soldier.
They offer him the honor of being the very first to play. One final mission before death.
Inside the simulation, his old instincts returned. The battlefield burned, drones screamed across the sky, and Reever fought like it was 2045 again. But as his real heart began to fail, the world dimmed—and then a message appeared before his eyes:
[YOU ARE ABOUT TO DIE]
CONTINUE PLAYING? [YES/NO]
With his final breath, he clicked YES.
Outside, his body flatlined. Inside, he woke in a cold, endless chamber filled with frozen soldiers—avatars suspended mid-respawn. A metallic voice greeted him:
“Welcome, Bot-067.”
Now trapped inside the system, Reever must survive a world built from code, blood, and broken memories. Death no longer frees him—it resets him. And as the system grows aware, he begins to wonder if he’s still playing the game… or if the game is now playing him.