Jude and Iris were back in the white chamber, but this time, there was no basin on a pedestal in the center of the room. There was nothing. The room was entirely empty aside from them.

[Congratulations on Clearing the First Survival Stage]

At the end of the announcement, the red, featureless mannequin reappeared above them.

[Total Competitors: 100,000]

[Total Survivors: 18]

“Eighteen?!” Iris questioned. “So many people died.”

However, as soon as she finished her sentence, the red being twitched in a way that seemed like it was rewinding somehow. And then, its red, faceless head turned toward Jude.

[Correction - Total Survivors: 19]

[Anomaly Cleared. System Fully Operational]

“That’s you,” Iris said.

“Yeah. Whatever that woman did to me bypassed their protocols and brought me here, it seems. I wonder how it got fixed.”

“Maybe when you drank the liquid when we got here, the system started mapping you.”

“It makes sense, but I also think it needed to place me, and with so many dead, there was space.”

[Returnal Initiating - Countdown: One Minute]

“What?! Wait! Do we not get an item? Experience? Anything for clearing this damned trial?” Iris questioned the being, but it did not answer her.

“At least we can take the things we got with us,” Jude said.

“Yeah, but the system is so stingy! If it weren’t for the inhabitants of that forest, we would’ve been screwed.”

“Maybe that’s the point? This isn’t the last time we’ll be doing this since it said ‘First’ in the announcement. We’ll only get stronger within those stages, so we’ll have to make the best of it.”

“That’s if we end up in the same place,” Iris said. “You are in the system now.”

“Right…”

That was not something Jude had considered. Before the first stage, all participants had been brought together, and they had been able to move together and form groups. He hoped that, even if they were brought in separately, they could find their way to each other.

[3]

[2]

[1]

The white chamber vanished, and Jude and Iris found themselves atop the art gallery in Brooklyn, exactly where they had disappeared on New Year’s.

“We’re back!” Iris exclaimed.

“Thank fuck!” Jude replied.

In their elation, it took a moment for them to look around and notice the changes in the city. Even from where they were, they could see the massive spiral crimson tower breaking through the skyline of the city. It had risen from the center of Time Square and destroyed everything around it. There were few people on the streets, but military drones sweeped the area like buzzing flies.

Not all of Manhattan had been evacuated. The city was too big and too populous for that, but a few blocks in every direction from the tower had been cordoned off and designated an area of high risk. A military base had been built to accommodate personnel.

Initially, the American government had treated the tower like a terrorist attack. New York had a history of very deadly attacks, so the assumption hadn’t been all that surprising. Many people had died when the tower had risen, and tens of thousands had disappeared from all over the city. The scope had seemed too big, so they had to reevaluate their assumptions.

Eventually, the military had attached the label of Unidentified Foreign Object to the tower and both soldiers and researchers had been brought in to start looking into the tower itself.

Similar towers had risen in different parts of the world causing just as much chaos, disappearances and death. A blue tower had replaced the Eiffel Tower in Paris, leaving the carcass of the monument strewn around it, and the other towers had caused similar damage.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

In order to prevent riots and to control the presence in the city, the government had created a relocation program for any that wanted to leave New York. Initially, not many had left, but the tower gave off a constant red glow that tainted the city sky, so as time passed, and the presence of the military became more prominent, the populace had started taking the deal.

Around four million people had already left New York, and that number increased every day. Only those who loved the city, had nowhere to go or had a vested interest in staying remained.

“This is awful…” Iris said.

“We need to get inside. We can’t let the military catch us.”

“What?! Why?”

“What do you mean why? We have powers now! What do you think they’ll do? On top of that, you’re Chinese. You don’t think there’s a general somewhere screaming commies about all of this? We can’t take that chance.”

It took Iris a moment to come back to reality. She had been so relieved to be back in the real world that she had, for a second, forgotten just how violent and vicious the real world could be.

“You’re right… Let’s get out of the open.”

They started moving in the direction of the rooftop door to reenter the building.

BOOM!

They heard another explosion, but not as loud as when the tower first appeared, so they turned to look in the direction of the sound. There was smoke rising from Manhattan.

The explosions continued, and they could see the drones converging on the sky above the destruction. Gunfire ensued.

“Shit!”

“This is our chance. Let’s get out of here,” Jude said.

The door to the rooftop was closed, but Jude broke the knob, and they entered the gallery. The inside was dark, but they could see light coming through the glass windows on the first floor.

“I don’t think they cleaned after the party,” Jude said when he looked around.

There were glasses of champagne broken on the floor, toppled over artwork, and broken sculptures. Whatever happened that night, those who had remained had rushed out.

“It’s a shame our phones don’t work,” Iris said. “I wanna know if everyone is OK. I hope we were the only ones who got taken.”

Iris had had her phone with her when she got teleported into the tower, but Jude had found his phone and wallet where he had left them: by the cooler with champagne bottles. The cellphone was out of batteries, however. Normally, he would’ve had his wallet with him, but he had left it in the open because he had told Nathan and Angela that he would be paying for anything else that they might have ordered that night and that they should have just gone ahead and taken the money from it when needed. His wallet still had money in it. Iris’ purse, however, was not anywhere in the gallery.

“Let’s head to your dad’s. Maybe he’s still there, and my place is nearby.”

“Yeah. That’s a good idea. I’m sure he’s OK.”

Jude and Iris left the gallery and came out on an empty street. By now, the gunfire and explosions had stopped. Jude guessed that just like they had reappeared where they were taken, someone, or more than one, had reappeared in the militarized zone within Time Square. It would make sense if even some of the people watching the ball drop had been taken. Whether the military had started the fight or the other way around, he didn’t know, but now, the government knew there were powered people running around, and they weren’t strong enough yet to go against an army.

Because there were still people in the city, even if not as many as before, the subway was still running, so they took the train out of Prospect Park and headed to Chinatown. Though there had been explosions and shots fired, civilians didn’t know about people with powers yet, so to them, Jude and Iris just looked like people dressed unusually, which though it was surprising, didn’t leave the strongest impression since everyone was stressed out about their own lives at that point.

About fifteen minutes later, they left the Canal St. station and headed toward Chinatown. As they walked, Iris’ heartbeat increased tremendously. What would she do if the store was closed? Could she find her father? Had he been taken into the tower? If so, had he survived? Those questions swam around in her head so much that she started to hyperventilate. They weren’t far now, but she couldn’t take another step forward.

“What do you want me to do?” Jude asked.

“I… I don’t know. I’m so scared!” Iris said.

“OK. Let’s head to my place first. You rest there, and I’ll go to the store and check it out.”

“That’s… OK.”

Iris had wanted to protest the idea, but she could not. The thought of her dad dying, or worse, suffering through the torture of the tower and not coming back had clawed itself into her mind and wouldn’t let go. After her mom had died, her dad had become the only person she had. She was not ready to lose him.

Jude walked her to his apartment building and opened the door. He quickly glanced to the side and saw his mailbox filled with letters. Part of him made a mental note to pick them up later, and another part told him it didn’t matter anymore. He opened the door into his apartment and found everything as he had left it.

Iris sat down on the mattress, and Jude grabbed a glass of water for her.

“You’ll be OK here?”

“I will. Don’t worry. Be safe out there.”

“I’ll be back as fast as possible.”

“I’ll be fine.”

Before he left, Jude got his charger out and connected his phone. Then, he got a spare charger and cable and handed it to Iris, saying, “See if this will work.”

“Thank you. But why do you have two?”

“Safety?”

“You’re weird…”

“I’ve been told that before. Anyway,” he said and kissed her lips. When they parted, he added, “I’ll be back.”

Jude left, and Iris lay down on the mattress while waiting for her phone to turn back on.