It wasn’t Beady.

Val knew that, but she couldn’t help it. If Beady were still alive, he’d be just about this boy’s height. She was sure of it. This time, she’d protect him with her life. She’d save him, never let him out of her sight—

But the boy, with tears falling from his eyes, took a few steps back. His hands were still a bloody mess.

“Hey, wait.” Val crouched down. She made her best attempt at a smile; her voice instinctively pitched higher. “It’s okay. I’m not here to hurt you.”

He froze in place. Even his tears seemed to have stopped halfway down his cheeks. His clothes were tattered at the ends. And the room… It was so dirty. Bits of debris and junk were scattered around him, and a table was overturned like some tornado had run through the place. This was no place to keep a kid.

But then he gasped.

“Valkyrie…”

“You know me?” That wasn’t the response she’d expected. “Yeah, uh… yeah! That’s me.” She gestured for him to come a little closer. Those wounds. Were they as bad as they looked?

The boy inched forward just a bit more.

“I’ll get you out of here.” She took a glance at his hands. They didn’t seem to be too bad. I mean, this isn’t even the real world. Does it really matter? Well, the pain was real. Muted, but still enough to feel. But what even was this place? What were they doing kidnapping kids like this? It didn’t sit right with her one bit.

She’d get him out of here. For sure. It was just that she still didn’t know of a way out. Should she try teleporting? But she was pretty sure it wouldn’t work. And adding another passenger didn’t seem plausible considering that Coach hadn’t been able to teleport her with him. But then what? Options, options, options. Her thoughts were in utter shambles…

“Aha!” The window! She could see the city almost a mile below. For a split second, she considered the consequences of jumping out from this height. It was a simulation, but still, would she feel the pain? Would she survive? Would the boy survive? How would respawning work? Wouldn’t it be faster to somehow end her life? No, that’d be too gruesome for the boy. She instead looked across the room at a chair…

She grabbed it.

“Stand back,” she called out to the boy. He moved behind her, and swiftly, she pulled the chair back and smashed. The window reverberated but didn’t crack. She tried again. The chair splintered at the joints. She grabbed a hold of one of the larger pieces and smashed it into the window again. And again, and again—

“I wouldn’t suggest that.”

A familiar voice.

“It’s programmed to be impenetrable. It’ll also sound off an alarm, and I really don’t like turning off that alarm.”

Shit. It was that man, Azan. She readied the broken chair piece in her hands and got into her stance. She’d fight her way out if she had to. He wouldn’t win against a trained boxer, could he? Please be weak. Please don’t be a pain in the ass. Please, please, please…

Azan ignored her, and instead, knelt down before the boy. “Well, aren’t you lucky? You found yourself the perfect hero.”

She pulled the boy back. “What are you doing to him?”

“Me?” Azan got back up on his feet. “Nothing.” He pulled out a golden coin and flung it over.

She snatched it from the air and had a quick glance. It looked familiar.

“A million simuls. And…” He pulled out a glowing orb, small enough to fit in his palms. There were symbols—in reds and blues—revolving around it, constantly changing with every second. “A findolancer.” He tossed the object over as well.

“What is this?” She held the orb closely to her face. The symbols swirled around in orbit like planets. It was kind of mesmerizing.

“Why don’t you ask Jack. I’m sure he’ll know.”

Jack? “How did you…” How did he know Coach’s name? How much information did he have in his arsenal? She was pretty sure boxing wasn’t popular amongst corporate businesspeople. Why care about two supposed nobodies like her and Coach?

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“I know a lot of things.”

“Why’re you giving me all this?”

“You need money, yeah? I know. I’ll give you another one”—he rolled another golden coin across his fingers—“if you take him out of here.” He motioned towards the boy.

Take him out? Was he trying to bribe her? “What do you mean, ‘take him out’?”

“What do you think I mean? Remove him, delete him. I don’t care. I gave you the findo. Figure it out yourselves. Just get him out of Simular.” Then his voice lowered. “And don’t come back. Not him. Not you. Not even Jack, yeah?” He grinned right after. It looked so fake; something about it just didn’t sit right with her.

The boy pulled closer. She could feel the heat emanating off his trembling body. The blood started soaking through her clothes, reminding her of all that she’d been through since Beady’s death.

No wonder. She didn’t like this man either. How could somebody with such low regard for human life be in such a position? Of course she knew how. It was exactly because he had no regard that he’d gotten up here. But nobody—not even the government—would tell her what to do. Corporate had ruined her family once. She wasn’t going to back down twice.

“Make it five,” she said.

“Five?” the man asked. “Five what?”

“Five of those.” She pointed at the gold coins in his hands—five of the million simuls that he’d given her earlier.

“Ah, you’re one of those—a fool that bites the hand that feeds them. How very exciting.” He paused only to let a devilish grin crack through. “Feisty. I like it. But you do realize you’re in no position to be making counteroffers, yeah?”

“Feisty?” She scoffed at the blatant slander. “What a load of crap. I know you’re trying to get rid of the kid. I’m not a fucking idiot.”

“And what if I say no?”

“If you’ve done your research, you should know better than to mess with me.” It was time she used this brain of hers for once. She was smart! She’d prove Coach wrong. “It’s all live recording—being saved onto a private drive as we speak.” She pointed at her Razen. “My eye sees all, motherfucker.”

Azan caught his breath. Then he bursted out in laughter.

Shit! Did he figure out her bluff?

“You’re playing a dangerous game here, young lady.” He cleared his throat. “Delete the recording and I promise ten times the initial offer.”

“Nah, fuck that.” She wouldn’t fall for that. “How the hell would I know if you’ll keep your promise?”

“And how do I know you’ll keep yours?” He sighed, clicking his tongue a few times. “I can make this a much more regrettable experience for the both of us, so please. Make this quick for me, yeah?” The coins rolled delicately across his fingers. His words seemed laced in venom.

She took a moment to consider everything. If she pushed too hard… “Fair enough. Recording’s gone. Promise.”

Azan flung four more coins in her direction. “That makes five. I’ll send five more once I’ve confirmed your departure from Simular. And if I see this recording anywhere online—”

“Wait a fucking second. You already gave me one! You’re supposed to give me ten more! That should make a total of eleven—”

“Don’t.” His eyes briefly glazed over towards the window. She could see him looking past her shoulders. “Don’t even…” His tone shifted. There was a sinister quality to his voice. Then he blinked a few times, and he was back. “Ten. I won’t ask twice.”

“But I can record this again—”

“I’ve been trying to be respectful. At the very least, I’ve been trying my best for some lowly thief.” He approached her with slow, agonizingly slow steps. Then he leaned in and whispered into her ear, just barely enough for her to hear. “Try me. Send the recording out and see what happens. Do you really think I’ll fall? It’s just a minor inconvenience. And ten coins? They’re worth nothing to me. I could give you eleven. Hell, I could give you two hundred. But don’t, for a second, believe that you have the upper hand.”

Fuck. Did she screw things up? Had she crossed a line that shouldn’t have been crossed? The greed had gotten to her. She should’ve just taken it. Ten coins. That was enough to buy an eye. Probably not as good as a Razen, but still.

“I can always find replacements. Stick to what you’re good at. Boxing.” His words dug deeper than knives. “Oh, I forgot. You’re no good at that either.”

There was a mixture of emotions boiling up to her neck, but she used all her might to push it back down. Whatever she said now would only bite her in the ass.

The man leaned back, finally releasing her from his suffocating presence. Then he pulled out what looked to be a teleporter fob. The edges were outlined in gold and silver. “Get him out of here within the hour, and I’ll give you five more coins. Yeah?”

“Yeah…” She reluctantly nodded. “Got it.”

“Wonderful.” He pointed the device towards her. And without warning, he pressed the button and waved. “Bye now.” The same oddly sly, but less threatening grin had returned to his face. She was almost relieved to see it.

But the relief didn’t last.

There was a sudden flash of light, and a surge of nausea. She fell to the sandy earth, retching her empty insides out.

“A-are you okay?” The boy was there with her, still holding onto her leg for dear life. He looked her curiously in the eye.

“Yeah.” She took deep breaths for a few seconds longer. It felt like she had just escaped certain death. When she pulled herself up, she recognized the place—a lonely beach paradise with the same crushed beer cans and worn-out beach chairs she had seen just this morning.

Was this real? Was she finally home? For a moment, she couldn’t trust anything. Not even her surroundings. But once she had finally caught sight of Coach, she couldn’t help but let out an exhausted breath.

This was more than she could chew. She knew she shouldn’t have gone on that tour.