Aiden woke up gasping.
There was no countdown. No holographic alerts. No looming death.
Just...a sterile white ceiling.
He was in a hospital bed. Electrodes on his chest. Monitors beeping softly. Outside the window, neon lights of a futuristic city blinked through the darkness—but it wasn't the world he remembered.
> SYSTEM OFFLINE. CONNECTION: TERMINATED.
His interface was gone.
His wrist was bare.
The Reckoning was over—or so it seemed.
The door slid open. Two figures entered. One wore a suit with a black earpiece; the other, a woman with dark eyes and a data tablet.
"Aiden Pierce," the woman said. "Welcome back to the real world."
He didn't answer.
"We're with the Control Division. You survived what we call Cycle 73. You are one of three players to return alive."
Three?
> 100 entered. 28 made it to the final phase. Only three returned?
Aiden sat up. "Where are the others?"
"Gone," the agent said bluntly. "Erased or absorbed. You're lucky to even have a body."
The woman tapped the tablet.
> "Do you recall anything about the Core Phrase you unlocked before ejection?"
Aiden hesitated.
He remembered the code: Render the Reckoning.
He remembered the system whispering, Final choice will be yours.
But he didn't trust them.
Instead, he asked, "Who are you really?"
The woman's gaze sharpened.
"We are the ones who built the Reckoning."
"And now," the man added, "we need your help to contain it."
> SYSTEM PHRASE RETAINED IN MEMORY CORE. AIDEN PIERCE DESIGNATED: ROGUE ADMIN.
Aiden realized he wasn't free.
He was in the next game already—just wearing different clothes.
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