The elimination boundary took 3-minutes to reach Carly. Upon touching her, she instantly vanished the few meters away into the safe room. There was a flashing message that caught Carly's attention.

< System: You have been caught by the elimination boundary, in position 1 >

< System: You have three minutes to collect any gear you brought in with you. No items purchased from the Extant Upgrade Store will transport to the Hub >

She did the same as everyone else, taking a look around the room and grabbing anything she might want to take with her. There wasn't anything, the backpack had been emptied long ago, and she had nothing, not already on her person, that held any value for her. Of course, she left the blade gauntlet's and boots on. They were too good for Carly not to hope they would be transported with her, despite the message.

Carly waited for the 180-second countdown to reach zero. Whereupon she was teleported once more, Carly felt the familiar lurching sensation and visual whiteout that went with teleportation into the Hub. As her visual and auditory senses returned, Carly was blasted with enthusiastic cheering. An announcement of her achievement rang out over the top of all the noise. Carly stood on the raised circular podium in the center of the arena, feeling very alone.

It felt awkward and uncomfortable to Carly, who had hidden away for so long. It was also a sensation that was vaguely familiar, though to a young person who's life was lived long ago. Carly faked it. If the crowd was playing it up, then so would she. Putting on a smile and waving. Carly noted the absence of her blade gauntlets. 'That's a shame,' she thought.

Slowly Carly turned on the spot waving to acknowledge as much of the 50,000 plus people present, as she could. As she did, Carly checked out the time. It was Friday, December 6, 2120. The time was just turning over to 5:18 in the evening. While Carly knew she was faking it, she wondered if the cheering for her was truly genuine.

'Who would want to be sitting around at this time on a Friday waiting for the last person to be eliminated from the event? Especially when that person was going to receive the prizes, they all would have wanted.'

By the time 5-minutes had ticked over, Carly really felt like she had been left hanging. Still alone on the podium, she was also noticing the stats loss. Her cheek muscles were fetting saw from holding her smile.

'When the fuck is this going to end?' Carly could feel her anxiety levels rising second by second. Too many years alone or hidden amongst the crowd meant her personality was struggling while on display.

Another minute passed, but finally, someone came out from the underneath entrance of the stadium. The woman wore a no-nonsense business skirt and jacket with dark wavy hair and a confident stride. As she approached the podium, a set of stairs manifested from the ground. Each stair was completing its rise a moment before the woman stepped on it. As her head peaked above the podium ground level, Carly could see the angular face, thin lips, and dark eyes of the woman.

She approached Carly and raised her hand to shake. Carly followed along with a firm shake. The woman turned, stepping toward the entrance side of the stadium and spoke. Her voice was at a normal talking volume level to Carly, yet was received clearly by all in the stadium.

"PURG wishes to congratulate Miss Carly Berkstead on being the final competitor eliminated from the Loop Event. PURG also wishes to thank and congratulate everyone here. For your efforts both during these recent events and the years of service until now. We hope this last event was an instructive experience for all involved."

"It was fortuitous that you were eliminated at this time, Miss Berkstead. In celebration of the completion of the event, I invite the final twenty MDP and beta test competitors of this loop event. A special dinner will be held in your honor. Also attending will be the various governmental dignitaries, board members, and invited PURG staff."

"Attendance is expected from 8:00 pm at the PURG offices. For everyone else, PURG has set up a carnival, lots of entertainment, and a huge assortment of food which will be hosted in the portal square."

Finished with the announcement, the woman stepped closer to Carly. "Miss Berkstead, please follow me. I imagine your feeling tired from your efforts in the event?"

Carly nodded.

"I have made arrangements for you to stay in an eight times, time dilation suite at the PURG offices. You will be fully rested well before dinner is scheduled to begin. Please follow me."

Carly nodded once more, as the woman who never introduced herself, walked off and began to descend the stairs. Descending once more, the two entered the central room underneath the stadium ground. She placed her hand on one of the centermost columns, and it lit up a dull red. Touching the other centermost column, it also lit up dull red. As the two columns gradually brightened, between them, the familiar egg shape of a portal manifest.

A few seconds later, the process finished, switching to the familiar green of a ready portal. The woman gestured Carly to enter. "An NEC will be waiting inside your suite. It will assist you in anything you may require and will aid you in readying and escorting you to the dinner. You are expected to be your most presentable and best self, upholding PURG's values in the presence of the international dignitaries and board members."

Carly nodded once more before stepping into the green.

As Carly's vision returned, she found herself inside a long room facing towards a doorway. On the other side, a woman in a plain white blouse, black pants, and shoes waited.

As Carly stepped towards the doorway, the woman bowed. "Greetings Miss Berkstead, This one is your NEC servant for today, how may I be of assistance?"

"Hi, what's your name?" Carly asked the NEC woman.

"This one is identified as NS153, ma'am."

"NS, what does that designation represent?" Carly asked, having a fair idea from the greeting.

"NEC servant, ma'am."

"So, you do not have a name at all?"

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

"This one only has a unique identification number, to distinguish itself, ma'am."

"I hate that about this place. Are you an AI or scripted?"

"Ma'am? This one does not understand, ma'am."

"Probably scripted then."

"This one is unsure of the question, ma'am," the NEC said with a bow of submission. "This one apologises, ma'am."

With a sigh, Carly looked at the NEC. "Apology accepted," Carly did not want to cause the script undue issue for its shortcomings. It wasn't her fault, after all.

"Well, I am going to give you a name while you're with me. Hmmm, let's keep this simple. NS, NS, NS, what to use, Nnnns, Ness, Nessa. Yes, I think that will do. For the time that you're with me and if you want to hold onto it after, your name is Nessa, will that be okay?

"Thank you, ma'am," Nessa said with a sudden deep bow toward Carly. "This one is most grateful for your generosity."

"Don't say 'this one' when you reply to me, instead, say I."

There were several seconds of silence after Carly's requirement to Nessa. "I understand, ma'am."

"One last thing. Just call me Carly, not ma'am. That's not the type of personal status with which I want to be acknowledged."

"Understood... Carly."

"Is there any way I can serve you, Carly?"

"Sure, you can point me to the bathroom."

"Right this way."

Nessa began leading Carly down the hallway of the suite while Carly followed. "The portal relocated me out of the loop, without the month buildup of grime, but I still feel like taking a hot shower before taking a rest.

Coming up on a door that Nessa opened and stood back from, Carly walked in, taking a look around. It was a nice mixture of travertine stone tiles splitting into three sections of the room, A vanity basin to the left, half-walled shower behind, and a bath to the right.

"Oh damn, a bath, it has been so long," Carly said as she stared off trying to remember.

"May I assist you in any way?"

"I can handle it from here. Thanks, Nessa. Go and relax. I might be a while soaking," Carly said while smiling towards the NEC.

Nessa nodded once to Carly. "As you wish, call if you need help in any way." Turning, she then headed back down the hallway from where the two came.

Carly hit the plug down, flicked the tap on, and then began adjusting the temperature to a suitable level. After a minute, the bath was half full, and Carly climbed in.

The warmth of the water felt wonderful as she floated and just relaxed. That was something Carly hadn't done for decades. It was wonderful as the water stilled, creating that microlayer where the heat had been absorbed from the water into her body. Eyes closed, she luxuriated until the water was lukewarm. She grabbed some natural smelling soap that might have been lemon and basil. Carly gave herself a thorough scrubbing before standing up, letting the bulk of the water runoff her body back into the bath. She then stepped out over to the shower and washed her hair with a shampoo that was made with the smell of lemon, orange, and oregano. With a thorough rinse off, she stepped out of the shower and elected to body adjust rather than toweling off or blow-drying her hair.

She wrapped the robe around her that hung next to the door. Finally, she exited the bathroom after three-quarters of an hour had passed.

Carly took a quick look in the several other rooms of the suite. It was a three-bedroom, media room, along with a front and back living room. Nessa was sitting on one of the two double seater leather lounges. When she saw Carly exit the hallway, Nessa stood up.

"Can I be of assistance in any way?"

Carly sat on the other lounge, looked up at Nessa, and smiled. "That was glorious, Nessa. It has been so long since I was just still and without purpose." She closed her eyes and slumped into the lounge as Nessa sat down once more.

"It is such a nice feeling to know that this part of my life is finally finished. All my effort was not in vain. I did my best and the result was the best I could have hoped for. The best part, though, I can finally relax until I enter the new world. Now I guess I can let myself wonder what will be in store for me when I arrive at this new land."

"Probably a lot of hard work," Carly continued. "But at least for now, I can take it easy."

"I am glad you are satisfied with your outcomes Carly," Ressa responded. "If you take a rest, I will wake you with sufficient time for your preparations for the dinner this evening. Upon waking, I will instruct you on the required protocols for meeting various international government dignitaries tonight. PURG requires that you meet social expectations while conversing with these dignitaries. After my instruction, I will assist you with your physical preparation to ensure an appropriate appearance, before escorting you to the dinner."

Carly stared at Nessa while she spoke and held it for some time after. "Thanks for killing the moment Nessa, I guess I will go to bed now."

"I will be ready to assist you in any way, at any time, Carly."

Carly slowly walked away, back towards the main bedroom. So tired, she crashed out in minutes for a mostly restful sleep.

* * *

Carly woke up before Nessa's 8-hour schedule. Getting up immediately, she did a bit of a movement warmup and stretched before heading out of the bedroom.

Nessa was waiting in the living room seated on the lounge with eyes closed. As Carly silently entered the room, it was as if a sixth sense alerted Nessa to Carly's presence. She stood and opened her eyes at the same time, smiled toward Carly before she asked. "Did you sleep well, Carly?"

"Great," Carly answered. "That bed was damn comfy."

"Would you like to eat a meal before we begin the preparations for dinner? We have a lot of preparation time ahead of us."

"That would be great, Nessa."

Nessa walked over to a vacant wall and placed her hand on a marked square, a large section of the wall lit up as the NEC stepped back, offering Carly room to take a look. "There is a wide selection, feel free to select whatever foods and beverages you would like. After you have eaten, we shall begin."

* * *

"I believe this will be sufficient for now," stated Nessa. "You have two hours remaining in this suite to get ready. I will assist in doing your hair and makeup. That will give us some more time together so I can quiz you and solidify the knowledge you have studied Carly."

"If only I had a perfect memory, hey."

"The system was designed so that your learning and memory capabilities that are the equivalent of your organic self. Eidetic memory is outside your scope of potential."

"Now, do you wish to have another bath? If you take as long as last time, then you should begin your physical preparations now, Carly."

"Oh, are you implying I took too long?"

"Not at all, I am simply stating that if you wish to take a similarly relaxing bath as previous now is the time to begin. I will inform you when you need to get out. With a body adjust, that will give me 40-minutes to aid you with your formalwear. Then we need to meet up with the other 39 competitors. It has been arranged that you will all be entering together after all the dignitaries have arrived. Each of you will be announced and presented in order of your result."

"That means I will be entering first or last?"

"Last, Carly."

"Great, then there is no hurry."

"On the contrary, the announced introductions will be separated by 20-second time slots. They will be completed in 13-minutes 20-seconds, and will not start until all of you are present."

"Fine, I am going for the bath now, let me know at 30-minutes so I can wash my hair again. Is satisfactory with the schedule Nessa?"

"That would be above optimal scheduling Carly," the NEC bowed deeply in response.

"Nessa, you don't have to bow, I don't care about such things."

"That may be so Carly, but your efforts to aid me in completing my allocated tasks are still appreciated. Thank you, Carly."

"No problem. Now, bath time," Carly said as she rubbed her hands together like it was her precious.

* * *

Carly looked at her represented self on the screen. The image was slowly turning to display how she looked from all angles.

"Damn, Nessa. This updo looks amazing."

"It was my pleasure, Carly. Since all participants are wearing the same basic formalwear dress or suits, the only thing to separate you is your physical appearance. This hairstyle and makeup should adequately accomplish this task."

"You know I am not really one for the limelight, right?"

"Then why did you go to all the effort of winning the event?"

"For the rewards offered, of course. Nothing else would entice me."

"Congratulations, this event is part of your rewards."

"Hmmm."

"It is time to rendezvous with the rest of the competitors. I believe you are ready. Shall we depart?"

"I suppose I am ready. Nessa, lead on."

Taking Carly to the portal room, she adjusted the destination location and activated the red egg-shaped light. It instantly switched to green, indicating the portal was open and offered Carly to enter first. Carly appeared stepping out of the portal located in a setback that was part of what appeared to be a paved and loose stone courtyard. With several raised stone garden beds containing a single tree in each and an assortment of blooming flowers. Saying the space was picturesque did it little justice.

Carly stepped to the side. A moment later, Nessa appeared and stepped in beside her. Some people were standing around the spacious area, all garbed in similar attire, of light blue and white diagonal stripe going from right shoulder to left hip. Carly shook her head; she thought the colour looked awful, especially on the men in their suits.

Carly considered her attire, the dress she was in had both a high neckline and back with sheer short sleeves and form-fitting bodice and waist that flared to the hem, elegant yet straightforward. With the chunky heeled ankle booties that were superbly comfortable and added just 5-centimeters to her height with a 2-centimeter platform. Unfortunately, it was spoiled by that slash of white going across them, serving no purpose other than to draw tears from eyes, Carly thought.

Carly didn't really care, though. Clothes, were clothes, were cloths after wearing either jeans or practical training shorts and t-shirts for years on the farm. Then the standardised combat attire for MDP trainees. Fashion was the last thing Carly was going to be bothered about.

There was one other woman in the group of nine now waiting around. Carly headed over to the group, Nessa followed. "I thought it was imperative we arrived now for this event so that all the preparations could be carried out?" Carly said to Nessa, unhappy she was so early.

"Better to be early than late Carly, that way no one will be angry because everyone else had to wait for you."

"Meh," Carly responded with a shrug of nonchalance.