I wiped my face. The cold steel of my arms again felt alien. Then I looked at the blade protruding from my right arm. I did this to myself. Why? To live? Why do I want to live? Because I don’t want to die? Has that always been my problem? Is that why I kept stealing cell phones? To not die?

I stared at Bark’s corpse. His body covered in frost, and the surrounding blood was frozen over. As twisted as his logic was, he had a purpose. He had a goal—a reason to live. All he wanted to do was help his people. His life’s mission was to escape the Nexus. But the ends don’t justify the means. He attacked me and Killa all in the hope of something that, if, by some slim chance, worked, he stood a better chance of succeeding. But that, in the end, killed him. I can’t live with that same recklessness. His first attempt to gather friends and work together to climb the Nexus was far more honorable. And one I would have happily helped him with.

Killa’s body was still frozen and pinned to the wall. She really is gone, frozen solid. I’m tempted just to use my wish to bring her back if I can reach the top. Just one more hug. I miss you already.

A tear rolled down my face as I turned away. The ache in my heart intensified the longer I looked at her. They say it’s better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all. It sure doesn’t feel that way. For the first time in my life, I had friends. Now they’ve been taken from me. I’m alone again. Is that the fate of my existence? Am I supposed to be alone forever? Maybe it’s for the best. That way, nobody else will get hurt when that body-snatching creature comes after me again.

I turned to the only other one in the room, Gary. His head was heavily damaged. One of the lights for his eyes had an icicle in it. Hundreds of gouges, dents, and scratches also decorated his little robotic head.

“Are you alright, Gary?”

“I’m performing…” he trailed off. There was a lot more static in his voice. “It seems some functions are in suboptimal…”

Yet another that suffered at that things hands. “I’m sorry that this happened to you. But can you still answer questions?”

“You have nothing to apologize…” There was a moment of static. “Yes, I will answer questions as long as I… One inquiry at a…”

I nodded. “Do you know what that thing was that possessed that demonic-looking woman?”

There was a long pause. Did he stop working? The light’s still on.

“It is an intruder like… Its ability to hijack a body from a soul shouldn’t be… The Soul Nexus’s system should prevent such… If perhaps the event should take place outside of the… But I don’t know how it can escape the punishment for dying in the…”

I licked my lips and swallowed hard. “He’s taking other people’s lives just to get at me. I can’t let him do that again.” But how do I stop it? Do I climb faster than it and hope to reach the top? “No, I have to kill it for good. Do you know how I can do that?”

“I have several possible… Unless somehow the being’s soul is tied to the body through a stronger method than the system, it will escape the…” I was about to ask another question, but Gary continued. “The fifth floor has another terminal like… The terminal will point you in the direction of one who knows who can help…”

“So I’m back to climbing the Nexus. I’m back to where I started.” I rolled my head back and stared at the ceiling. “Well, I guess I’ve got to get started if I want to be ready for when it comes back.” I looked back at Gary. “Thanks for everything.”

“It is my responsibility to answer…” But there was a change in his tone that I noticed even through the static. “Did Bark ever succeed in finding a way to release…”

“Release what, you?” I asked.

“Correct.”

I sighed. “If he did, he took that information to his grave.” Bark, you idiot! How can one stupid decision ruin all the good you could have done? “Did he tell you anything about it?”

“He didn’t share any information with…” There was so much regret in his voice.

I closed my eyes and clenched my fist. “Is there a way you could, I don’t know, piggyback on my nanites? Could Orange download you or something?”

No.

“The entity controlling your nanites would not permit communication with… It holds more authority in the system than…”

That’s something… I’ll have to ask Orange later. Maybe when I get back, clean up, and repair my clothes, I can spend some time talking to her. Now that I know what questions to ask.

I looked around the room and noticed that there was only one light source: the demon’s eyes. Right, without Killa, I don’t have a light source. I looked at my energy and saw that it was dangerously close to being empty. Might as well eat the rest of the food now.

After scrounging around through all of our packs, I grabbed all the food and stuffed it down my throat. There was even a potion that looked identical to the “Meal in a Bottle” that I chugged from that pack earlier today. It didn’t go to waste. When all was said and done, my energy had filled to about two-thirds.

My eyes fell on Killa's crystalline form. Gently, I reached out and touched Killa's hand. The moment my fingers made contact, a shiver ran down my spine. But Killa's hand shattered like glass, raining icy shards to the ground at my feet.

I gasped. I stared at the ice shards shimmering on the ground. I pulled my hand to my chest. Tears welled up in my eyes. "Killa..."

The sound of my friend's name hung in the air. She's completely frozen. There's no coming back from being a statue. Somehow, she looked like a monument to her own existence, albeit a temporary one. My hand groaned as I clenched my fist, unwilling to touch it again.

Near the door, I saw Killa’s bag of holding full of clothes. I was torn. That many clothes were impractical, but I couldn’t just get rid of them. Also, the bag weighed more than I was expecting. Despite the increase in my power making me stronger, the bag had to weigh close to twenty pounds. I still stuffed it in my bag for sentimental reasons. I just can’t let her go. Not like that.

After consolidating what I could into one pack, I stood over the demoness’s head. Now what do I do about this? Wasn’t there a Greek myth about cutting Medusa’s head off to use as a weapon against another monster? When in Rome…

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I pulled the demon by the hair and used my arm blade to decapitate her. There was a lot more blood, and I barely kept from dry-heaving. But the most surprising part was her eyes still illuminated despite the condition of her face. Somehow, I never crushed them. I don’t know if that’s lucky or something else entirely.

I held the head up like a flashlight and began my hike back through the dungeon. My mind wandered as I walked through the dungeon. There is something wrong with me, mentally, at least. Or is it emotionally? It shouldn’t have been that easy for me to cut off someone’s head and use their eyes as flashlights. This blade is scary sharp, but that’s not what I’m worried about. This is so very messed up. No, stop.

I stopped the train of thought before I could fall into darker thoughts. It was hard since I had a stark reminder in my hand the entire way. Even for just a moment, I distracted myself by updating my status by putting all the points in resilience. It didn’t last nearly long enough.

Name:

Rina Lone

Level:

16

Augments:

Agility:

175

Cellular Regeneration

Arcane:

105

Synthetic eyes: lvl 1

Power:

63

HUD

Quickness:

260

Epidermal plating (arms) lvl 1

Resilience:

115

Epidermal plating (hands) lvl 1

Toughness:

130

Arm blade (right)

Unassigned Points:

0

Shards:

50389

The walk was longer than I wanted. It probably didn’t help when I kept trying to distance myself from my emotions and what I was feeling. But after a long, long walk, I found myself finally staring up at the night sky and the millions of tiny, twinkling little stars. The air was colder, but it just felt so much better than in that stuffy dungeon. My head cleared up dramatically, but my emotions still threatened to derail me.

I pushed my emotions back down again and started back to town. I could feel the cold, but it wasn’t bad anymore. It was bearable. Yeah, I’ve gained ten whole levels, replaced the skin on my arms, and grown a blade from my arm while I was down there. Things will feel different.

The surrounding air tingled, and I started thinking about the shaylip town where I met Killa. The world shifted as I saw the town walls. It wasn’t that far to the gate, and two shaylips were standing there. One of them nodded to the other and pointed to me.

The shaylip that walked towards me was far more muscular than anything else. “You don’t look so good. Rough night?”

I arched an eyebrow. “It’s been a rough few days.”

He nodded, then pointed to the head I had forgotten I was still holding. “Do you want to explain that?”

I looked at the head and then tossed it behind me. “Not really.”

The shaylip shrugged. “Fair. I’m sure there’s a story for that one that I’d love to hear over some drinks.”

I stared at his feet. “Or we could not.”

He stood right in front of me, his hands on his hips. “Why are you so glum? I’m guessing you just returned from a dungeon. You’re alive, so it must have been successful. Don’t you want to celebrate?”

I tried to walk around him, but he stepped in front of me. “If it’s all the same to you, I don’t feel like celebrating. Not after seeing my friends die. Instead of badgering me, could you just let me in? I want to be alone right now.”

The muscle-bound idiot snorted. “That’s what you get for being attached to your friends. And it looks like you learned your lesson.” I learned something alright. “Temporary allies are useful, but you shouldn’t get attached.”

“Are you going to let me in or not?” I glared at the shaylip. “I don’t have all night.”

He held out one hand. “After you pay the toll.”

I narrowed my eyes. “There wasn’t a toll last time.”

“That’s because it wasn’t me who greeted you.” He nodded to his hand. “Pay up; thousand shards should cover it.”

I noticed that the other shaylip was circling around as the bigger guy tried to keep my attention. “If I don’t pay, you’ll do what? Kill me?”

He shrugged. “If you don’t leave, maybe. There’s nothing anyone will do if I kill you.”

I clenched my fist. From the footsteps behind me, the other guy was likely in position. “Does that go for you two too?” I earned those shards, and they were given to me by Killa. These two can’t have them. If I want a chance to defeat them, I have to make the first move.

His eyes went wide, and he went to draw a sword from his hip, but his movements were pathetically slow. I swiped my arm blade and cut the inside of his leg. While the big shaylip was falling to his knees, I darted past him while pulling my gun from my pocket with my left hand. There was a grinding sound as the second guy had his four daggers drawn as he chased after me. I aimed my gun at him, and he froze.

“Do you always try to rob people who try to enter the city?” I took a step back so that they were both within my vision and I was out of their reach.

“What does it matter to you?” the smaller of the two shaylips asked.

That’s confirmation enough. “Because theft should be a last resort. But seeing you two, it’s just to feed your greed. Since nobody else will do anything about you, I don’t want to do this.”

“Then don't," the muscle shaylip started to say.

“You can’t judge us.” The smaller shaylip lunged for me. “You sniveling little..."

I interrupted the smaller shaylip by shooting him in the head. I gained three thousand eight hundred and thirty-four shards, but no stats from him. The bigger shaylip stared as he watched his partner collapse, dead. He turned to me, just as I aimed at his head.

“Let me in.” My voice felt hollow.

He stood up and pushed on the gate, opening a small crack. “You’ll be sorry.”

He’s a threat. He opened his mouth, but I fired before he could get another word out. His death earned me two thousand one hundred and sixteen shards, but no stats.

There was a hollow feeling in my heart as I watched them bleed out on the sand. They were criminals stealing from others. The irony of my thought hit me hard. I wasn’t that bad, was I? Did I really hurt others like that with what I did? But I had no other choice. I tried everything else. They were just lazy and greedy. I’m not like them.

I looked down at the gun in my hand—the murder weapon. But I just killed them. I’m not like them; I’m worse. I took things into my own hands and decided that they needed to die. Now their souls were claimed by the Nexus. This isn’t a game. There are real stakes with real consequences. Even if it makes me a hypocrite, I can’t let anyone take my hard work away from me. If I’m to stop that creature hunting me, I need everything I can get.

I put my gun back in my pocket and walked through the gate. But now that I can make my own way in this world, I don’t have to resort to petty theft to live. I will earn my life, whatever life that is. But first things first, I need to stop that monster from hurting others to get to me.

Step one: take a bath. Step two: fix my clothes. Step three: get as much food as I can. Step four: head to the next level, and work my way until I reach the fifth floor.

Thankfully, the streets were empty. Making my way through the streets to Killa’s house was much less eventful compared to the last time I walked through the streets at night. I stumbled into Killa’s house and filled the bathtub. I didn’t even take my clothes off, as I let it fill up. With the tub full, I leaned back and relaxed.

Orange, is there a way we can talk, you know, face-to-copied face?

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