Goodbye Nova

When Amber got into her room, the first thing she did was take a shower. Not even covering up the cameras anymore, she didn't have the energy. After what was admittedly a great few minutes, she put her dried clothes back on, and lay on her bed.

And then came a knock on the door.

She opened it, and Vanessa was on the other side.

"May I come in?" She asked, her voice stern, her arms crossed.

"Sure?" Amber replied, being more confused at the new attitude. Vanessa sat on Akemi's old bed, gesturing her to sit on hers, which she obliged.

"Quick question, what the hell are you doing working with Micah?" She asked.

"We…have a good business relationship." Amber asserted calmly.

"Business? So what, he worked with you on Rosethorn stuff?"

"Not exactly. He just said he could offer me things outside of the game." Okay, how could she explain her relation to Micah without outing him as the mole? This wasn't exactly great, but what could she do, exactly?

"Things? Just things?" Vanessa asked. "Did he ever say what those things were, exactly?"

"He…didn't. But it's probably related to his crime, that didn't get revealed yet."

"Yeah, definitely." Vanessa snapped back. "Look, Micah lies! He lied to Yun to get her to vote off Huang! He lied to you to get further in the game!"

She looked at the door, and then back at Amber, lowering her voice.

"We need to kill Micah."

"We…do?" Amber replied, trying to stifle the awkward chuckle building up in her throat.

"Look, if you wanna keep him, you can. But if you let him live, he'll probably stab us in the back. But I know for a fact you can provide me with what I need."

"Which would be?"

"People. Look, once we get out, I'll try to get as many Ishtarites to join you as I can. I've made an alliance with Valentina already, and once we get people ready, then we're breaking this damn city down."

"Breaking down…what the hell are you talking about?"

"There are cities out there! Mountains, lakes, possibly even people! The entirety of the old world has been out there for forty years, and we need to break out!"

"Look, Vanessa. I get that the Ishtarites get excited over things like this, but everything is destroyed out there. We'd last a couple weeks, maybe?"

"We get people from the Outfarms to help us!" Vanessa retorted quickly. "They can grow things! They have everything we need!"

"Okay, Vanessa. Vanessa." Amber interrupted before she could continue. "As ambitious as this plan of yours is, the Rosethorns can't pull it off. And besides, I'm pretty sure Valentina's group hates me."

"Look, all we need to this to work is us and Valentina. If you want to get the others killed, we can do that."

"Okay, I'm gonna need you to get out." Amber sighed, shooing her out of her room. Once she was out, she inspected her profile on her watch. Eighteen years old. She was probably just some naïve kid with a crush on her. But still, all the shit Micah was trying to pull, mole or not, was ridiculous. And she had a point, too. He made all these promises but didn't have any proof he could keep them. But still, outright wanting him dead? Not as much as anyone else here. And the whole thing about breaking out of Nova…was that even possible? If it was, it might be best to keep Vanessa alive, especially after what happened to her.

And as for Micah…if he couldn't prove anything, she'd leave him for dead.

The door opened to Silvia's room, and she stumbled in. She looked at the bed that Seeta once slept in, that would remain unused until the next time all this shit begins. Whatever. She was near the halfway point. Only seven other people to outdo, and then she would win, take her new housing, and get her brother into Brickwall. Simple enough. Even though her main allies were dead.

She was… really bad at this.

So now the big question. Who to ally with until she wins? Someone who's powerful, but she could betray, and they wouldn't notice until it was too late. Ulrich, maybe? Guy's powerful enough, but if she tried to jump him, she'd probably win. Andrei? He's dumb muscle who got fooled before, but if he felt like killing her, he could. Micah and Amber? It's possible. Micah fits her description, but Amber could and would kill her if anything happened.

One thing was for sure. Timothy and Seeta were eliminated, and she sure as hell wasn't ready to join them. She lit one of her cigars, slowly blowing smoke into the ceiling.

Sorry Seeta, but her winning was step one to Nova's liberation.

Ulrich tried unlocking the door to his room, his shaking hand slipping off the scanner, causing an error message each time. After a few tries, he gripped his other hand across his wrist, forcing it in place for the few seconds it took to open the door. Afterwards, he lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling as it slowly started to spin.

He was out.

He was finally out of this goddamn game. It took a while and the death of another person to achieve it, but he was finally out. His head was mainly rushing with emotions and thoughts. Was everyone okay? Last time he saw them he was grabbed by a god before being rushed into that goddamn meeting room. Nothing else to do, he decided to take a final nap in this bed, he needed to be in top condition before seeing Zeb again.

Then he heard a knock.

This was it. He was ready to go. He rushed over to the door. His legs tired, but ready to walk as much as it took. He opened the door, and Leonie was there, hands behind her back, her posture more slouched and relaxed than he had ever seen from her. Although she looked like a discarded doll, so she was probably faking it.

"So, you're really leaving, huh?" She asked, dejected, sombrely walking into his room.

"Yeah, I'm out of here." Ulrich replied quickly.

"But…do you not have anyone you want to protect?" Leonie asked, dramatically grabbing the collar of his hoodie while draping her hand over her head. "Amber could die without you!"

"Look, lady. I don't give a shit what happens to Amber. Or anyone else here, to be perfectly honest. I just want to go home."

"Okay, okay, I get it." Leonie sobbed, tears welling up in her eyes. "But…"

Ulrich ignited his finger before she could finish her sentence. "I feel the need to mention that if I burn you, nothing will happen to me."

"Alright, alright." Leonie sighed with a quick step back. "I just…wanted to give you something, for all the entertainment you brought the people of Nova City this past week."

She lifted her dress, taking a small purple card off her garters, and handing it to Ulrich. Ulrich wiped it off his hoodie and looked at the card. In the middle was a small ring. Looked expensive, with a purple jewel and a fine spiral pattern along the edge. On the card was that goddamn rabbit, smiling at him with 'Thanks for your service!' written underneath in yellow text, with quite possibly the ugliest font he had ever seen, laden with spirals to the point it was almost unreadable. He burned the card without his brain even telling his hands to burn it.

"Okay, okay, I get it." Leonie sighed. "Kalea will get you in a few hours, I need to set some things up."

She silently left the room, and Ulrich was once again left on his own. He threw the ring against the wall hoping to break the thing, but it was resilient. A shot of fire didn't do anything either. Left with even more confusion, Ulrich decided to take that nap. One last nap, and he was ready to go.

Goodbye, Nova.