In heavy silence, the five of us trailed Wren up the flights of stairs into the wing of the Ned Hanlon building. On the wall of the seventh floor, the signs listed the relevant wards in the direction we were headed: Orthopaedics, Surgery, Neurology, Respiratory, Dermatology.

I had been partly horrified of what we might come across in a recently abandoned hospital, but the place was quiet and had been ransacked quite some time ago now. Whatever patients there’d once been, they were no longer here. I didn’t know whether to be thankful with or concerned about that information.

As we headed down a long hall, a horrendous stench hit me, stemming from a room we passed. Rotten, rotting, death. Without thinking, I reached out to close the open door and was thankful for the reprieve it granted. It didn’t erase the smell entirely, but my stomach no longer wanted to release all the content within it. Nobody said anything.

Worried, I checked on Wren who hadn’t noticed my actions or seemingly the offending odour either. I hoped it was because of her single minded determination to bring us to her private room and not that she was somehow desensitised to it all.

My mind was running wild with explanations and justifications about why such a young girl had come from the RBWH, specifically from these wards. And why she’d never told us. Nothing made sense. Nothing at all. If I thought about it, Wren had sparingly given us details regarding her background. When we’d first met, she’d said she didn’t know where her parents were. I guess it turned out there was a whole lot more behind that statement.

The girl had remained stone faced, requesting us to only follow her further into the unknown. We’d made the promise to take her home so it wasn’t like any of us could refuse. If this was where she’d come from, we’d see this through.

That didn’t mean I had to like it, though.

“This… This was where I woke up,” she said, slowly approaching the room at the end of the hall.

Wren stepped inside and we followed.

It was a stock standard hospital room, the sheets on the bed pulled back and wrinkled as if only this morning someone had gotten up and left. The only thing that marked it different from any other was the childish print on the linen; pastel blue with cartoon dogs and cats. There was something so bizarrely wrong about it all.

The girl ran her hands gingerly over the bed, hazel eyes searching, brow furrowed. Her lips curled down into a deep frown. Slowly, her hands came together and began wringing in anxiety.

“I’m sorry, everyone. I thought… I thought seeing it would help me.”

She turned around to meet our gazes, tears beginning to spring up.

“I wasn’t lying to you, I never lied. I just… I can’t remember much of my life before the Gates appeared. And I…” Wren began to cry, her hands swallowing up her small face.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” I began, stepping closer to lift her to the bed and settle her on its edge. The others surrounded her too, even Tam who kept her distance. There was concern and abject horror on mostly everyone’s faces. Was this also why she’d wanted Nabu’s sponsorship? He was the god of schooling. Perhaps she’d thought she’d be able to learn more about her past?

“No, no, I’m sorry, I should’ve told you all before, but I was afraid,” she began, and sniffed in deeply through her sobs, “I was afraid you wouldn’t believe me.”

“Wouldn’t believe what, poppit?” Tam asked, squatting to alleviate some of her height from pressuring Wren.

“So you have been lying to us,” Axel said flatly.

I shot him a “shut the fuck up” look.

Wren began to wail, her face reddening, snot running. “I’m sorry! I’m so sorry, goddamn sorry, fucking sorry, don’t you understand? YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE.”

A stunned silence fell over the room as the girl’s sobs ceased immediately, quick as a switch being flicked. The emotional whiplash caused everyone but me to step slightly away in reflex. She wiped the tears from her eyes, a grim expression taking its place. There was something imperceptibly different about her. Nothing outward, but something was wrong. Like everything in the universe had been subtly shifted one atom to the left.

“What’s going on, Wren?” Jye asked, their voice wobbling with concern.

“You sons of bitches. You really fucking took her back here? After all I’ve done?” said the girl in front of me.

“Wren…?” I attempted, reaching for one of her hands, wondering if this was some sort of psychotic break.

“You! You want another girl’s death on your hands, do you? You fucking idiot,” she said, growling at me, slapping me away. Where she hit stung, but the weight of her words hurt more. Two girl’s deaths on my conscience. Bodies piling up. I breathed out to gather myself.

From the corner of my vision, I saw Axel summon his sword.

He pointed the pointed tip at Wren. “Explain.”

The girl’s eyes narrowed in disgust. “I told her! I told her not to trust you all. You’re bastards. All bastards. Fuck! And you’re gonna drag us down, I know it.”

Using a finger, I gently brushed Axel’s weapon away from her, wondering just how much of the blond’s response was justified. Had I not cared about Wren, I might’ve reacted similarly. The entire situation was making goose bumps form over my limbs. Seeing Wren talk like this was eerie and unsettling.

“I knew it! You are not a child. Who are you?” asked Gigi.

“Figures the fucking alien would be the only one in their right mind. To answer that, I’m Makris. And let me be the first to say it is decidedly not my pleasure to finally talk to you all.”

Makris?

Nabu’s words flashed in my head from when he’d sponsored Wren. I’d assumed his hesitation with Makris was simply Wren’s last name in concert with his particular stuttering style of speech. No. Of course it hadn’t been. Nothing was ever so simple. He’d been including this other entity in the sponsorship. Perhaps… only including them?

That aside, suddenly everything about the girl made a lot more sense. She always seemed deep in thought, always seemed to know more than someone her age should, always had some sort of mature response that belied her ten or so years on this earth. All along she’d been consulting this “Makris.” Was this… a split personality disorder?

Makris rolled their eyes. “I can tell what you’re all thinking. No. She’s not clinical.”

“What are you then, peach?” Tam finally said, her voice tight with scepticism.

“I told you! The name’s Makris! I got fucking eaten by one of the Gates.”

“You died in a Dungeon?” I asked, now confused.

“I thought you were smarter than this. But turns out you’re goddamn deaf. I was eaten by one of the Gates. Before the Dungeons activated.”

Before…?

“Yeah, before, you asshats. Everyone was posting about them, all right? I wanted to see what all the buzz was about. Can’t blame a guy for being curious, damn it! I walked right up and touched one. It swallowed me whole.”

Well, weirder stuff had happened. I’d begun learning not to question things like this anymore. Perhaps I should’ve been more sceptical, but it was clear the person speaking to us was not Wren. Her usually pensive and well-mannered way of speech was completely gone. The way she sat, back straight, and a leg crossed over her lap was completely out of character.

This was not Wren.

It seemed like the rest of the party was of the same mind as no one objected to Makris’s explanation. Not to mention, I think we’d all seen the posts and videos before tech basically went down. One second someone was here and then they were gone. I’d assumed they’d died. I guess that wasn’t the case. Or at least it wasn’t completely what had happened. Makris obviously no longer had their own body. Or if he did, it was completely inaccessible to him.

“How’d you end up inside a kid then?” Axel said, folding his arms and leaning against the wall, clearly barely humouring what Makris was saying. He'd returned the sword to his inventory, believing Wren's replacement to pose no threat.

“First of all, bloody hell, don’t say it like that. Second of all, how the flying fuck would I know? One moment it’s nothing, the next, I’m playing passenger princess to little miss coma patient.”

My mouth went dry.

“C-Coma patient?” I stammered out, staring at the person who wasn’t Wren but wore her body.

“Well. She woke up just after I did.” Makris’s tone softened briefly.

“Wren was in a coma?” Jye echoed.

“Yeah, and you fuckers brought her back here. I’m struggling to repress her memories as much as it is!”

It looked like I had to rely on my gut again. Even if I couldn’t tell what people would do, like Carrie, I’d not been a poor judge of character just yet. We had never been betrayed, never been hoodwinked. So I decided to take everything that Makris said at face value. Even if he was lying some way or another, the truth of the matter was that Wren had lost her memories or access to them. Her tears before this entity’s appearance hadn’t been fake.

When I thought about it, she had never really spoken about her past. In fact, the most I could recall was that she'd talked about her teacher and visiting Japan. Back then I’d thought her reluctant to share information about herself; not that she could barely remember anything.

So I asked the question all of us were too afraid to voice.

“Why are you hiding her memories from her?”

The foreigner inside Wren turned their attention to me. His expression markedly soured. It was off-putting seeing this expression on Wren’s face. It sat on her lips and brows poorly.

He said, “It’d be too much. She’d break. And, goddamn, as much as I’d like to be part of the corporeal world again, this body isn't mine. It’s hers.”

Briefly the words “this body” triggered a memory from when Wren had saved Axel’s life, way back in the cabin. She’d said the same phrase before losing consciousness. “You better take care of this body.” It had to have been Makris then. That meant he could control her sometimes. Or could he take over completely, like he was now? As I chewed on this new information, the pieces were falling into place of Wren’s past, of the small things she’d shared with us.

“You were the one who saved her from the CBD Dungeon,” I said.

He scowled. “I hate thinkers like you. Always scheming. Hard to guess what you’re fucking conjuring up.”

“Thank you for taking care of her.”

Makris glowered at me.

He muttered under his breath. “Fucking thinks I’m gonna eat his candied words.” His voice grew louder. “I didn’t do it for the thanks. She never did a single thing wrong. She deserves to be happy. So you better believe I’m gonna keep my eye right tight to you five.” His hazel eyes bore down on the party. “You so much as blink wrong at her, and I’m gonna be down you’re fucking throat.”

“Why don’t you tell us how that works, then?” I suggested, curious even under the dull surprise of what was happening.

“Why would I tell you?” he spat.

“So we know how to get into contact with you if Wren ever needs you.”

Makris’s top lip curled in distaste.

“Hate your type so much. But she trusts you. Whatever.” He exhaled dramatically. “The way I figure it works is I exist within her mind, like a subconscious she can converse with. Sometimes when our emotions overlap, my reactions can spill over into hers. And I’ve found that if our feelings entirely align, or she loses consciousness, I’ve taken over or been thrown into the driver’s seat.”

I nodded, making mental notes. It sounded complicated, but also simple. When they felt the same, they became the same.

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So that meant before Makris had taken over this time, Wren and him had aligned in their emotions, since Wren hadn’t lost consciousness. He’d been genuinely sorry about what he’d done, whatever it was, just as Wren was sorry for what she’d done. For some reason, more than anything else this stranger had said, that reassured me the most. If he could feel apologetic like that, like Wren’s tears proved… maybe he really was just looking out for her?

“You guys better leave this hospital when she wakes up. I can’t erase new memories. Just restrict access to the ones that… I’m shielding this conversation, so she’ll know that I came out, but she won’t know exactly what I’ve said. Don’t say anything about her past.”

Axel threw his hands up. “You didn’t tell us shit. We don’t know anything about it.” His jaw muscle twitched in frustration.

“And that’s exactly how I like it. Fuck. She’s fighting for control. We gotta wrap this up.”

Gigi said, “It was nice meeting you.”

Makris gave xem a death glare. “I trust you the least.”

Out of all of us, from Axel who’d pointed a sword at Wren, to Tam who’d attempted to kill us, to me whom he’d professed to hate the most, he trusted Gigi the least? It was mind boggling. Xe couldn’t even earn experience without helping someone. It made me wonder if, in fact, Makris might be the one who had mental problems. But then again, here I was, questioning the sanity of what was essentially a ghost haunting and possessing Wren. Who really could argue what mental stability was anymore?

“Catch you later, fuckers. And remember. I’m watching.” Makris flicked us a brow salute with his middle finger.

Then blinked.

Wren’s eyes went wide in horror. “Oh no. I’m guessing you met Makris. I’m sorry. About him. And about not telling you.”

An indescribable relief settled over me at her return, and I flung my arms about her, happy to see the girl I’d come to know back to normal. Her eyes widened further and they began to water. Within a second, she was crying again, and I felt the presence of party members encroach, adding their arms into the embrace.

As Gigi, Jye, and Tam joined us in the huddle, she let her tears fall, sobbing into our hug. Axel, as he always did, remained aloof, but his gaze seemed to stare through us all. I saw in his eyes that same sadness, the one that swept him away, and for a moment I allowed myself the thought I would've once suppressed.

I wanted it to be him in my arms too so I could anchor him back to reality. But as Wren’s body shook against mine, the four of us began to mutter soft reassurances. I brushed her hair back and let her continue to weep. Chrissie had never been much of a crybaby. It was refreshing to see Wren be honest with her emotions.

And, yeah, maybe I was living vicariously through her, treating her like the sister I’d lost. But that wasn’t hurting anyone, was it? I had no doubt that Jye was doing the same thing too. Maybe even Tam and Gigi were as well. It didn’t make our concern for her any less valid.

Eventually she stilled, her breath slow and rhythmic.

She’d sobbed herself to sleep.

While she was out, we took some time to loot whatever we could of the hospital. Holding our breaths, we delved into the rooms which we knew held corpses, laying hands on them and pulling them into our inventories. I didn’t know what I’d do with them. I mean, it was nice that we’d returned Anna despite what had happened. Maybe we could find homes and family for the others too.

Though, it was a grim thing to acknowledge. That some of the first casualties in this situation were the people who couldn’t fend for themselves. Surprisingly, in a good way, there were very few dead coma patients. Which wasn’t a sentence I’d ever thought I’d think. I wondered if every person who got swallowed up by a Gate had ended up inside their “vacant” bodies instead.

It wasn’t a far stretch to imagine it.

The Deities treated us like dolls to play with as they liked. Plucking someone's errant “soul” or whatever it was and rehoming it didn't seem beyond their apathy towards us. It would increase the player count or, rather, balance it out, considering all the people who’d “died” before the Dungeons had activated.

We reached the lobby of the hospital, Jye cradling Wren in their arms, and I paused at the front reception. Tam and Gigi still hadn’t come back from their building and floors yet. We’d promised to meet here.

I hadn’t been sure about letting the two of them search together, but neither of them had disagreed. They were an unlikely duo, but perhaps with their closer connections to sponsors, they got along better? The cutthroat didn’t seem to despise xem as much as she did Axel or me. Maybe they’d be a good pairing to consider in the future for combat.

Switching focus, I said to Jye and Axel, “Either of you know how to switch on emergency generators?”

I was making assumptions, but based on how thoroughly abandoned this place was, it seemed someone had intentionally shut it down, and evacuated whoever they could, leaving those they couldn’t. Wherever they’d gone, it was unclear. However, if it was the case that people had deliberately closed up shop, the emergency generator might not have run itself down and still have had some juice in it.

“Survival camping teaches you a tonne of shit,” Jye replied, nonchalantly.

I jutted my jaw at the PC. “You think it’d bring the computers back online?”

“Why?”

“The patient files.”

The giant’s brow furrowed. “To access Wren’s history?”

I nodded. If Makris was being honest, it’d be easy to prove. Her file would detail what she’d been here to treat and how long. She had said she wasn’t ten, but I couldn’t imagine her being much older or younger. But if she’d been in a coma for some time or if her life prior to ending up in the hospital had somehow stunted her growth… she could be in her teens. We couldn’t know unless we checked, especially with Makris playing gatekeeper.

Also, other than Wren’s background, I also wanted to know who else we'd picked up here. I didn't like that my inventory was slowly becoming a mass grave of anonymous individuals. Once we got the computers back up, I had intended on asking Axel to try and log in. There was no way they wouldn’t be password protected, but he knew his ways around PCs.

Jye didn’t reply for a moment, their soft gaze absorbing the snoring form in their arms. They frowned. “Damn. Oops. My bad, man. Looks like I forgot how to work emergency generators.”

“You just, right now, forgot?”

The redhead met my gaze, their expression steady and solemn. They didn't answer my question and instead said, “Makris said it was for the better for her not to know. You dredging that up… Nothing good will come of it, dude.”

“That’s not up to you or him to decide.” I shook my head.

After letting out a short huff of breath, Jye replied, “Both of us went through something as kids, man. If you were in her shoes… wouldn’t you wanna forget it all, if you could?” They didn't elaborate, but I knew what they were implying.

If Jye could forget their past, they would.

It wasn’t the first time Jye had presented such alarming thoughts. Rather, their reaction was completely within character for them. That didn't mean they had the right to make this choice for Wren. No one did except for her. Even if memories were painful, they were the building blocks of our identities. Without them, who were we?

She at least had to be given the choice.

Before I could voice my thoughts, Axel replied for me, “That’s where you're way off mark, Jye. He’d prefer to suffer his whole life than lose a single moment of Chrissie.”

“I…” I faltered, failing to create any retort or follow up.

Axel’s words were scathing. They were rude. And they were… true? I’d still never truly moved on from her. Had I— Had I been suffering my whole life because of her loss? I wasn’t suffering. I hadn’t been suffering. No. That wasn’t right. Suffering was the wrong word for it.

“Have you considered that maybe whatever Wren’s been through is even worse? That maybe she’s been put through the ringer?” Jye asked sadly, looking at the girl they held.

The severity of it all didn't matter. Jye was wrong. This wasn't the right way to handle things. Injustice burned in my gut. “You’re taking away her autonomy. She doesn’t even know what she doesn’t know!”

In my peripheral vision, Axel stiffened slightly, but it was Jye’s reaction that stole my attention.

“I’m with Makris on this… You’re gonna have to find someone else to get those files, man.” Jye sighed.

It was the second time they’d expressed judgement towards me, but the first that they’d intentionally gone against me. Both times had been in regards to Wren. It’s not like I hadn’t been expecting it. But after so long I’d begun to feel that the redhead respected my opinion, my lead. Unlike Axel who listened to me because of our past, the relationship I’d formed with Jye felt based on trust and acknowledgement of personal reasoning. The betrayal I felt was shocking.

Perhaps seeing this emotion leak out onto my face, Jye blanched and muttered, “Sorry.”

Footsteps sounded from the hallway, and as if cued for peak drama, Tam and Gigi finally arrived. Their curious gazes swung between Jye and me, taking in the tense atmosphere.

“I spy with my own little eye, something like UST,” Tam said sweetly in a sing-song voice.

“Shhh,” Jye hushed, gesturing with their head to Wren.

“We’ll talk about this later,” I said. I was surprised by how cold my voice sounded in my own ears. Their behaviour shouldn't have shocked me, but it frustrated me. I understood where the redhead was coming from. But they weren't thinking clearly, their rationale clouded by their own past.

Even if someone’s past held pain, they had the right to it.

We left the hospital with our inventories packed with a mishmash of medical supplies and miscellaneous items that we'd thought might be useful in the coming days. If our brush with losing our main healer had taught us anything, it was that so long as we had some respite between matches, we could come back from pretty much any injury with enough time. It wouldn’t be pretty, and it would hurt like hell, but anything that we could use to prevent our deaths and aid us in that recovery was beneficial.

Wren stayed asleep on our way to the CBD Dungeon. Clearly the past day had utterly worn her out.

The CBD Dungeon, which had spawned directly in the centre square of Queen Street Mall, lodged between a Hungry Jacks and several telco storefronts, was probably only about another leisurely hour on foot.

We’d make it there before midday.

It hadn't been cleared as far as we knew. Though it did kind of suck that we'd stopped receiving updates regarding Dungeons. The more information we had, the easier it was to strategize about our plan of action. The one thing we did know was that the Gates remained even after a clear. From the sounds of the Dungeon Commentary, the final Challenge was reset and the whole thing just kept on going. Players could enter and attempt Dungeons ad infinitum. I guess we could even replay the same Dungeon if we really wanted.

It did beg the question: was there anything to stop us from handing over an old school walkthrough to get other players to speedrun the Dungeons? If it weren't for the fact we were all competing to survive I might've given the idea more thought. But the Deities were relying on everyone's natural sense of competitiveness to prop us against each other in a fight for our lives. Had it not been for our need to overcome everyone else's speed I probably would've lent a hand.

But as the world's average player level progressed towards 10, we'd been racing to catch up. Still… we weren't assured to even reach the culling if humanity didn't entertain the Deities enough. Maybe I did need to give the idea of assisting others more consideration.

It was a disgusting balancing act we’d have to keep in mind going forward.

Don’t get us cancelled, but don’t let us get outshone.

Suddenly I understood how people on Big Brother must’ve felt.

After discussing this, we'd all agreed, apart from the sleeping Wren, that we needed to clear Dungeons for the best rewards and the most experience. Even if we could walk in and out, as the CBD Dungeon allowed, clearing was the more beneficial course of action. Reluctantly, I’d brought back up how abilities were passed on, and there was a brief heated exchange between the five of us which came to the conclusion that unless a party or individual was willfully standing in our way, we'd avoid further killing, despite the bevvy of rewards that came with claiming another's life.

Tam wasn't exactly happy with that outcome. And surprisingly Gigi also voiced xir discontent. Jye was more chill with the idea, and I realised I hadn't ever asked them how they were dealing with the whole thing. Our less than amicable conversation in the hospital lobby had left me feeling like I hadn’t considered their feelings enough.

Out of the six of us, only Wren and I technically hadn't yet taken a life. Though the girl might've argued her inability to save one counted. The idea that my actions had inadvertently caused so many deaths (eight) already did not sit well with me. But maybe Jye was able to take the killing more calmly because of who they were.

However, the last time I'd come to that same conclusion, Carrie had killed herself. Making a mental note, I decided I'd check in with the obstinate redhead when the opportunity arose. They'd been making one too many concerning comments in the past week for me to properly sideline. It could just be that’s who they were, but I wanted to err on the side of caution. I don’t know if I’d be able to handle it if… No, it didn’t bear thinking about.

Axel, surprisingly, supported my choice to stay our hands from murder. I'd have thought he would've been all for it, which would've put the vote at three to two, with “try to not kill” somehow losing out. When I'd asked why he'd agreed, he'd just smiled and said that he was getting tired of it. Whatever that meant.

The blond didn't strike me as someone that felt guilty about defending himself or fighting for what he believed in. If anything that's what I lik— It was an admirable trait to have, to have confidence in your convictions.

I didn't know enough about the granting of XP, but it seemed pretty obvious to me that the first time a party completed a Dungeon it'd be more satisfying than the second or the third and so on and so forth. Just like watching a movie for the first time would have the biggest impact. As such, Just Friends had ultimately decided to get as many first clears as we could. That was why we’d chosen the CBD Dungeon as our next challenge.

Since our last battles had been sudden and without any ability to prepare, we’d discussed whether or not we should rest up properly. With the ticking clock, I don’t think any of us would’ve been getting a solid sleep with the very real threat of tutorial termination looming above our heads. But Axel suggested we do some recon before making any concrete plans. It was a shockingly decent idea.

And so, we were heading now to do surveillance before trying to enter the Gate.

While we walked, and really I was getting bored of it and was considering “claiming” a bicycle when I could, I mentally ran through what I could remember of what Wren had said about the CBD Dungeon. Snow biome. Large furry monsters. It made Nabu's Challenge seem like a walk in the park, well, other players aside at least.

And if I could trust whatever Anon123 was saying in the Dungeon 16 Commentary, then “the small one” they'd spoken about had referred to Wren, and that meant the CBD Dungeon was number 11. The person who'd first entered it was… Adrien something? Damn, it had been so long ago. I couldn't properly recall all the details, but he'd entered it quite early.

That he hadn't cleared it was testament to how difficult the Dungeon might be. The man was probably dead by now. Perhaps we could take him home too. Man, I hoped no one was getting the wrong impression with how many bodies Just Friends was picking up. Then again, public perception wasn’t something we really had to worry about in the apocalypse. Only personal opinion mattered.

That said, I was glad for the generous amount of baby wipes we’d swiped from the NICU ward in the hospital. We shared them as we walked, scrubbing ourselves of all the grime, blood, sweat, and tears we’d accumulated over the past week. The wipes didn’t replace a shower, but they made me feel a tonne lighter. Sometimes all you really needed was to be refreshed. The rest of the party appreciated it too, and this may have just been me projecting, but with us looking more groomed, we seemed more like a team than a randomly assorted mass of spare parts.

Surprisingly, Jye appeared to be familiar with the area, and Axel and I explained where the Dungeon had spawned, so they took lead. With the rest of us only vaguely aware of our bearings, we followed behind and spoke further about our plan. Regardless of what happened, the first thing we needed to deal with was the party camping out the front of the CBD Dungeon, demanding payment from those wanting to enter. It wasn't particularly fair to anyone, but it made a certain amount of sense.

Had the same group taken over Dungeon 16’s Gate since Carrie had abandoned it when we'd returned with her daughter? It would be the smart thing to do, if they had someone watching. But that was only if they didn't know what was actually happening behind all the mechanics of the Event.

Now that I thought about it… Was it our responsibility to inform others?

To let them know this was all one big reality TV show and we were the contestants aiming for the prize?

Would anyone even believe us?