PHASE TWO

PART ONE: THE NEW PARAMETERS

The system tone didn't ring this time.

It screamed.

A sharp metallic shriek tore through the sector, making everyone flinch as crimson warning lights erupted across the walls.

The registration screens on their wrist devices flashed blood-red.

Even the automated voice sounded different now.

Less human.

Less corporate.

Colder.

More machine than ever.

"PHASE ONE COMPLETE."

"UNIT BOUNDS LOCKED."

"TOTAL REGISTRATIONS: 7 TEAMS."

"COMPRISING 48 TOTAL CANDIDATES."

"DISQUALIFICATION RATE FOR PHASE ONE: 72%."

"UNAFFILIATED CANDIDATES HAVE BEEN PURGED FROM THE SECTOR."

Silence.

Even Red stopped talking.

Riku slowly blinked.

Then whistled.

Which immediately turned into a wince as Sleepy Girl shifted lazily on his back, her chin digging into his collarbone.

"Seventy-two percent?"

He looked around.

The ruined dead zone suddenly felt a lot bigger.

"Just how many unfortunate people did you send to the hospital?"

Nobody laughed.

The number was too high.

Seventy-two percent.

Nearly three out of every four candidates were gone.

Just gone.

"Wait," Pretty Face said quietly. "Gone gone? Like — sent home?"

Glasses was already reading ahead on her own display, and whatever she found made her eyes go hard and still.

"No. 'Purged from the sector' doesn't mean released. It means their access is revoked and they're moved to a holding zone until the barrier drops. Same as anyone who fails after them." She looked up. "Nobody's walking out of here early. Not the ones who lost. Not us."

That landed harder than the seventy-two percent had.

The realization settled heavily over the group.

Then the system continued.

"ATTENTION CANDIDATES."

"YOU HAVE ENTERED THE ELIMINATION STAGE."

"THE RULES IN THIS SECTOR ARE NOW GOVERNED BY THE FOLLOWING PARAMETERS."

Blue holographic screens exploded into existence from every wrist device simultaneously.

The pale light illuminated blood-stained concrete, damaged armor, and exhausted faces.

Everyone immediately began reading.

PARAMETER ONE THE UNKNOWN HOUR

The stage operates on irregular randomized timers.

When a timer concludes, the unit with the lowest Node Neutralization Count will be immediately disqualified.

No warnings will be issued.

Riku stared.

"...What?"

Glasses adjusted her glasses.

"It means exactly what it says."

Riku.

"We don't know how long we have?"

Glasses.

"No."

Riku.

"When does the timer start?"

Glasses.

"We don't know."

Riku.

"When does it end?"

Glasses sighed.

"Can you stop with the dumb questions?.....We don't know."

"..."

Riku pointed.

"Well, excuse me if I'm the only one who thinks this is a little bit much for a test."

"You're excused."

PARAMETER TWO THE REPLACEMENT CLAUSE

Unit sizes are locked at their current capacity.

Units may only decrease in size.

To recruit a higher-value candidate from another team, an existing member must first be eliminated via disqualification.

Red's eyes widened.

"...Wait."

Pretty Face immediately understood.

"...That means they...."

Ice-Cold crossed his arms.

"Will have to disqualify a teammate by force."

That sounded worse.

Much worse.

Riku rubbed his face.

"Wow."

He looked around.

"Nothing says team bonding like knowing your teammates can gang up on you and knock you out."

PARAMETER THREE ENGAGEMENT PROTOCOL

All tactical maneuvers are authorized.

Permanent bodily harm and murderous intent remain prohibited.

Anything else goes.

"...Anything else?" Riku repeated.

"Anything else," Glasses confirmed.

"That's definitely not concerning."

"Agreed."

It was the first time she'd voluntarily agreed with him all day.

That somehow made it worse.

Then another screen appeared.

"EVALUATION CATEGORIES ARE NOW LIVE."

"INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE GRADING ACTIVE."

"ALL CANDIDATE METRICS ARE NOW VISIBLE FACILITY-WIDE."

Everyone's displays expanded.

Radar charts.

Numbers.

Letter grades.

Rankings.

Metrics.

Statistics.

"Facility-wide," Emo Girl repeated, scrolling. "Not just our team."

She tilted her screen so the others could see. A full roster had populated underneath their own seven names — team after team, every candidate's numbers sitting open for anyone to read.

"So every team can see exactly what we've got," Ice-Cold said. "And we can see theirs."

"Guess that makes the replacement clause a lot less theoretical," Red muttered.

The system was dissecting them.

Judging them.

Reducing them to data, in front of everyone.

Riku immediately regretted looking.

RIKU ALISON — CANDIDATE 516

INDIVIDUAL SCORE: 0

SPEED — C

STRENGTH — B

OFFENSE — D

DEFENSE — C

STAMINA — D

TECH — F

STRATEGY — D

SUPPORT — D

LEADERSHIP — F

"..."

Riku stared.

Then stared harder.

"...F?"

Nobody answered.

"F?"

Still nothing.

"I got an F....... Jeez, I haven't even gotten this in school... And here I got two Fs."

Emo Girl didn't even look up.

"It's not wrong."

"How?"

"You lack any form of technical competence."

"I can operate a smartphone."

"Precisely why u got that score."

"Wow."

"I'm only stating the fact."

Riku placed a hand over his chest.

"I just got roasted by a pretty looking shadow."

Nearby, Ice-Cold checked his own display.

ICE-COLD — CANDIDATE 512

SPEED — S

STRENGTH — B

OFFENSE — B

DEFENSE — B

STAMINA — C

TECH — C

STRATEGY — A

SUPPORT — C

LEADERSHIP — D

Riku immediately looked away.

He didn't really like comparison. It was pointless from his perspective.

Because everyone had something.

Ice-Cold was combat.

Glasses had S-rank Strategy.

Nervous Dude had S-rank Technicality.

Emo Girl had A-rank Tech.

Red had monstrous offensive scores.

Smiley had Leadership.

Pretty Face's whole sheet was unremarkable except for one line sitting well above everyone else's — SUPPORT — A — the only category she led the entire unit in.

Then he looked at Sleepy Girl.

Every category was simply:

???

???

???

???

???

Riku pointed.

"What the hell is that?"

Sleepy Girl yawned.

"Hmmn... Oh, I didn't feel like writing any numbers today."

"You can't possibly get off with that explanation."

"The system accepted it."

"..."

Riku stared at the ceiling.

No one in this group obeyed common sense.

Ice-Cold looked toward the corridor.

"We don't know when the timer's gonna start or end, and we are way behind. I suggest we start moving."

Glasses checked her datapad.

"Agreed. There seems to be a node not too far from here, somewhere in Sector 04. The stats look good."

Smiley nodded.

"Okay, team. Then that's where we'll go."

Red cringed slightly.

"Dude.... There's no need for you to go all in on the team thing. This isn't a movie."

They all started heading toward Sector 04 — Riku hitching Sleepy Girl higher on his back with a grunt, since nobody had once suggested he put her down.