Page 21 of 8-Bit & Cat

It’s just a test. It’s just virtual.

She kicked her way out of the blankets with a who the fuck are you kidding!

Nothing about it had felt virtual.

She paced along the bed as the line between real and simulated grew thinner and thinner. Way, way, way too thin. And it wasn’t just the physicality of it. It was the way they spoke to her, the way they unraveled her. Every lesson was digging into something she wasn’t prepared for. She thought she was learning how to give pain, how to be what Ethan needed, but she was learning something else too, something dangerous.

Omnis was teaching her about power and Zero… Zero was showing her exactly how much she craved it. It was like she was Ethan needing to be saved and they were doing it, only she didn’t know she was ever lost. “Not like that,” she whispered, thumbnail crammed between her teeth as she marched blindly about.

Ethan. Ethan, Ethan. This is for Ethan. This is for him.

She eyed her phone on the bedside table and her pulse picked up.

Would they message again?

Did Ethan message?

With slow, careful movements, she reached for it, flipping it over.

She searched the latest messages, heart pounding.

Her stomach released.

Nothing.

God, she needed to get a grip.

They’re both Ethan.

They’re both Ethan.

They’re both Ethan.

****

The control room pulsed with the low hum of data cycling through its endless loops. Omnis sat at the console, fingers poised over the keys, eyes locked on the glowing screen.Zero stood behind him, arms crossed, gaze sharp. The numbers hadn’t changed.

Deviation confirmed.

Entanglement:Stabilizing.

But not in a way they could control.

Zero exhaled sharply, muscles edged with an urge he didn’t have a name for. “Tell me we have a way out of this.”

Omnis didn’t look away from the screen. “We have three choices.”

Zero’s jaw flexed. “List them.”

Omnis executed the next sequence. The results scrolled in clean, digital precision.

“Option One: Shut it down. Full severance. Risk of fragmentation: 63.7%. Ethan destabilization probability: 87.9%. Systemic deterioration: inevitable.”

Zero’s expression didn’t change. “So a guaranteed break.”

Omnis nodded. “Yes.”

Zero said, “Next.”

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