Chapter 9: The Path to Exit
The Watcher stood still, its glowing lines dimmed to a soft blue. The plaza, once threatening and cold, now felt like a paused scene—frozen just before something important could happen. Zayn Arif stood at the center, hand still slightly raised from issuing the override.
Max leaned on a pillar, arms crossed, watching him carefully.
"Catalyst," he said slowly. "That's what the system called you now."
Zayn nodded.
"I don't know what it means yet. But I think it's more than just a label."
[System Status: Catalyst Thread Active]
[Access Permissions Expanded: Root Layer Unlocked]
[Navigation Update Available – Would You Like to View?]
Zayn selected yes.
A translucent map unfurled before his eyes. It was unlike any in the normal game—a spiraling structure of connected nodes and spaces, floating like a tower of data. Each node glowed with a faint color—red for locked zones, green for accessible ones, gray for corrupted or unknown sectors.
At the top of the spiral was a flickering symbol.
An open door.
[Label: Core Exit Gate – Status: Hidden / Locked]
[Requirements to Access: 40% System Progression + All Root Data Fragments Recovered]
"Of course," Zayn muttered. "It's never that easy."
Max stepped beside him. "The fragments are scattered. Some deep in the Graveyard. Some in unreleased zones. And some… inside players who haven't died yet."
Zayn frowned. "Players?"
Max nodded. "Living echoes. Not everyone who gets trapped here fades. Some adapt. Become part of the simulation. If we want the full truth, we'll need their help—or their data."
Zayn clenched his fist.
"I'll get it."
[New Quest: Memory Hunt – Fragments Remaining: 7]
[Optional Objective: Locate Other Catalysts – Progression Unknown]
Zayn turned back to the Watcher.
"Can you help us?"
The machine did not speak, but its chest opened and emitted a soft light.
A pulse shot into Zayn's interface.
[Skill Acquired: Watcher's Sight – View System Anomalies Within Limited Radius]
[Cooldown: 5 Minutes]
The map updated with a faint pulse—like a sonar wave—marking a faint blue light far in the east, past the Graveyard and beyond the mountains.
[Memory Fragment Detected – Hostile Territory – Old Training Arena Sector 4]
Zayn took a breath. "Then that's where we go next."
But before he could take a step—
[Incoming System Message]
[Alert: Player Entity "Nova.Sigma" Has Entered Lobby\_0X1-ROOT]
[Status: Alpha Thread – Observation Required]
Max's eyes widened.
"Nova's here?"
Zayn looked confused. "Who is she?"
Max's voice was quiet. Careful.
"She's like you. Another test subject. But she didn't ask to escape."
A ripple echoed across the plaza. From the far end, where broken archways led deeper into the server's heart, a silhouette appeared—graceful, fluid, with faint light trailing her steps.
She wore a hooded jacket, neon-lined. Her face was partly covered by a visor. Around her floated three small drones, orbiting like satellites.
Nova stopped several paces away, arms folded.
"I thought this place was locked."
Zayn straightened. "It was. I unlocked it."
Nova tilted her head.
"You're the Delta Thread, then."
He nodded. "Zayn."
She gave a small smile—half amused, half pitying.
"I heard of you. The one who kept respawning where he shouldn't. Some of us thought you were a glitch."
"Some of you?"
Nova's expression didn't change. "There are others like me. Failed syncs. Ghosts. Data shadows."
Max spoke up. "We call them Survivors. They adapted. Became part of the structure. Unlike me."
Nova looked at him. "You're a shell, Max. Just a shadow built from someone's last login. Zayn is still alive."
She turned back to him.
"But barely."
Zayn felt a chill.
"You know how to get to the Core Gate?"
Nova nodded. "I've seen it. But I'm not interested in leaving. The world out there—whatever it was—it chose to forget us. In here, we're remembered. We matter."
Zayn took a step forward. "That's not life. That's limbo."
Nova's eyes narrowed. "You think you're here to escape. I think you're here to choose."
The air between them grew tense.
[System Message: Memory Fragment Detected – Contained Within Player "Nova.Sigma"]
[Extraction Method: Voluntary Sharing OR Combat Interface Override]
[Warning: Forcing May Result in Data Corruption or Hostile Engagement]
Zayn didn't move.
"You have one of the fragments," he said gently.
Nova nodded. "Yes. From the first cycle. When I still remembered my name. My brother's voice. The pain when the sync first failed."
"I need it," Zayn said. "Please."
Nova looked at him for a long moment.
Then, to Max's surprise, she raised her hand.
One of her drones detached and floated to Zayn, glowing.
[Fragment Transferred – Memory: "Home Call"]
[Progress: 14%]
The drone returned.
Nova exhaled. "That's the only one I'll give freely. After this… we may not be on the same side."
She turned and walked away into the broken shadows of the lobby.
Zayn didn't try to stop her.
"She'll be back," Max said.
"Yeah," Zayn whispered. "I think she's watching the same storm I am."
—
Later, they left the root lobby.
Through the Watcher's gate, they returned to the outside world.
The wind in the real game was harsher now.
The server had noticed Zayn's presence.
Sky flickers. Random lag pulses. Distant thunder that didn't belong to any weather system.
The simulation was reacting.
[Next Destination: Old Training Arena – Eastern Sector]
[Travel Time: 2.2 hours – Terrain: Hostile – Anomalies Present]
Max looked to Zayn.
"You still want to keep going?"
Zayn looked at the horizon.
The skies shimmered with false clouds. In the distance, something large circled overhead—a glitch-dragon or leftover render, twitching between reality and code.
"Yes," he said.
"Because I think the real fight…"
He tapped his chest.
"…is to stay me until the very end."