By Liam Vickers

"I understand it's necessary, sir," the nurse spoke softly, "But a few more days and
she might be feeling a bit more herself . . ."

The man turned to his partner, conversation exchanged without a word spoken.

All three figures were faded and worn, sleep deprived features blending them
into the hollow background. The hallway was filled with gurneys and mobile life support
systems, patients sharing cramped rooms and even beds.

The nurse had no fight left in her, simply bowing her head and sighing.

Coughs rang out like the rhythmic tapping of leaky pipes, machines filing in the
gaps in sound.

"She refused eyepiece prosthetics," the nurse's voice carried an air of death,
"She's frequently violent with staff, and what few professionals we can manage to fly in.
Her mental state is deteriorating faster than her health, and . . . I know it's not my place,
agents, but I don't think you'll get the information you're looking for. Not from her."

"We understand," the first agent's skin was wind lashed and worn, his eyes a cold
dreary brown. "Simply put," He concluded, words sinking immediately to the floor,
"There aren't many options left."

"Of course," the nurse again let exhaustion seep into her resigned voice, "Room
108. I've restrained her to the bed, make sure you lock the door when you leave."

The men nodded solemnly, the nurse brushing past them as she walked like a
specter down the grime filled corridors.

"December 21st, 2034," text above the agents scrolled softly, "Welcome to St.
Parson's Hospital - Splice Emergency Unit"

The two lanky shadows walked carefully through the clusters of dying and dead,
black shoes brushing grey limbs. A suitcase trailed behind one of them, black beady
shell catching no reflected light.
 Only two other silhouettes stood to watch the agents approach, carefully
positioned outside room 108. The light inside the room was dim, seeping out from the
door like pale water.

ID's were checked, each man having his turn to nod silently, before the first
agent's hand slowly pressed against the cold metal handle.

The deadbolt creaked softly, cold air rushing out from the room in a decayed
whisper.

The figure inside was calmly lying face up, hands and legs bound with cloth that
lightly cut into her grey flesh. Her black hair trailed smoothly down her gaunt cheek
bones, yellow flashing in the darkness as the agents softly entered.

The skin around her empty eye sockets was mangled and malformed, gruesome
purple streaks trailing with infection. One mechanical yellow refractor filled the empty
void of her right eye, black gears shifting like insects. The other side of her face was still
wrapped in bloodied gauze several days old.

"Good evening Ms. Matthews," the agent spoke slowly as he closed the door
behind him, "We're sorry to disturb you so late. I'm agent Gomez, my partner here is
agent Trate. We just have a few questions if you'd like to help us."

Lilly didn't say anything, haunting mechanical eye unyielding in its stare.

"The nurses tell me you're upset," the agent continued after the silence dragged
on. He softly pulled up a chair and sat down with a heavy sigh, "tell me that . . . maybe
you're blaming yourself for all this?"

Lilly's skin bristled with hatred at the man's approach as he leaned at her bedside.

Her fingers twitched.

"13 cities around the world," He shook his head slowly, "All at once, the only
warning a seemingly joke broadcast put on by a sesame street charact-"

Lilly's hand strained against the strap with a harsh snap, the agent's words being
cut off.

"Sesame Street character." He concluded with a lengthy sigh, "You're too young
for that reference, anyway. The fact you saved yourself and a handful of others in your
condition makes you a hero, Lilly. I can't imagine how hard it must have been to
convince them the warning was real."
 Lilly's fingers softly scraped at the bed.

"They could have all burned for all I care." Words finally slithered from her lips
like bile.

Gomez was slightly taken aback, before he simply ducked his head, clasping his
fingers together.

"Of course . . . your brother." He spoke slowly.

He let the silence hang for some time before changing tactics.

"Let's get to the point, Ms. Matthews," he spoke, leaning back, "As I'm sure you're
aware, Ponder's demonstration cost the lives of millions, and with the epicenter of
several Splices in your home town, none of the other witnesses survived. We need to
talk about what you saw that day, the day your brother was taken."

"Like you give a damn," Lilly's hissing voice dripped, "I've already talked to
enough agents. You can't do a damn thing."

This time Gomez flashed a smirk, Lilly's eye narrowing slightly.

"You seem to have gotten us confused," he spoke slowly, reaching into his jacket
pocket, "I'm afraid we're a different agency than you've dealt with before."

The plastic coating of his badge shimmered lightly with blue hued AR encryption
as he softly held it up to Lilly.

"I don't care about what you were doing before or after the event, I don't give a
damn about the mimic you had contact with. We have bigger fish to fry." the man
tucked his badge away again, motioning to agent Trate who slowly stepped forwards.

"I want to know anything you can tell me about this . . ." He continued, Trate
carefully opening the suitcase and heaving upwards to lift a cylindrical plexiglass
container nearly a foot thick.

Lilly's eye widened, gears churning.

The metal insect leg inside rapped softly at the glass like an impatient hand
before intermittently lying motionless extended periods of time.

"We briefly spoke to another witness in urgent care before their passing," Gomez
continued, motioning again to Trate, "They mentioned that the puppet device
possessed several dozen metallic apertures that mimicked what they referred to as
"spider legs.""
 Lilly's eye was still wide, for the first time showing some signs of movement.

"This sample was picked up nearly two decades ago in 2016 after a seemingly
random Splice in the Pacific," Gomez nodded as Trate softly placed the heavy container
on the corner of the bed, "Can you confirm this is similar to what you saw two days
ago?"

Lilly tried to sit up, Gomez cataloging her reaction.

"You see," he continued, "We're not like the other agencies, Ms. Matthews. This
isn't new to us . . . We can get your brother back."

"No you can't." A crooked smile crawled across her face, metallic eye transfixed
on the leg.

Gomez sighed, moving to speak again, before Lilly cut him off.

"Because you don't want to. You won't do what's necessary," her smile dripped
saliva, dried blood on her bandages cracking as her face shifted into euphoria, "But I
will. There is nothing I will not become. Nothing I will not do."

Gomez's face deepened into worry, eyes flicking to a projected TV display barely
visible outside the room's foggy glass.

A puppet on it waved its arms in excitement, Lilly’s eyes narrowing in hatred as

she watched.

***

"And your partners are as follows!" Ponder's eyes widened on the TV screen, grin
splitting across his face.

John paled, eyes flashing nervously to the camera shakily scanning the
contestants.

"Step forward when your name is called," the puppet continued, "As last week's
winner, Malie and her partner will be spliced in first! The difference of 5 minutes here
will mean nearly an hour in your destination dimension, so order is important to
success! You will only learn the round goal once you've been spliced in, so be sure to
stay light on your feet and be prepared for anything!"
 Malie flickered, avoiding the eyes of the other contestants.

"The red players this round have already been chosen," Ponder grinned at the
camera, "You know who you are, but no one else does. Keep in mind that if you haven't
been tagged as Red in your UI, it doesn't necessarily mean your partner has . . . But the
chances are more likely."

John's eyes crawled along his UI.

He hadn't been tagged. Everything was blank.

"This is for your home dimension, everyone who has even given a single damn
about you in your entire life, plus the lives of billions of innocents," Ponder seemed to
narrow its nonexistent eyes, "There is no failing here. Only one can succeeded in the
end, and there will be blood. I wish you all the most mediocre of luck. Let's do this!"

Brilliant lights split from dark canisters overhead, flashing and swiveling as
Ponder played an audience applause track on a keyboard in front of him.

"And our first two players," The puppet called over the noise, an enormous dial of
lights and colors spilling into a projection screen behind him, "Malie and Door Guy!"

"Fuck yeah!" Door Guy cheered, pumping his fist, "Malie, my muse, we got this!
Damn, why are my partners always so amazing? How'd you get so cute, my turquoise
poltergeist? And smart too!"

Malie flushed deep red, gaze jittering away in embarrassment.

The other girls in the contestant lineup rolled their eyes.

"Alright settle down, Door Guy," Ponder shook its head, "You only say that to
literally every partner you’ve had. Eventually people are going to catch on. Your round
starts now!"

"But this time I mean it," Door Guy again winked at Malie as they stepped
forwards, physically causing her pain as she drowned in embarrassment.

The two of them suddenly split from view with a soundless implosion of air, dirt
and char painting the ground.

"Next!" Ponder held up a tiny prop envelope, opening it only to turn it to the
camera and reveal that it was blank, "Halogen and Kali!"
 "Mmmmhuehuehue," Halogen giggled to herself, fanning her neck with her hand
and waltzing forwards, yellow raincoat billowing behind her, "A weapon of mass
destruction, how positively amusing."

Kali said nothing as she walked like a specter, chains rattling behind her with a
grizzly chorus of needles and metal.

"I am positively akdmonored," Halogen swooned closer to the creature, eyes

sparking a hideous glow, "I've never had such a ghastly servant, but I believe we can
make great impotants in due time with you protecting me. Hmmhuhu . . ."

"Player status . . ." Kali's cold voice seeped out slowly, "Red."

Halogen paled.

"Asa Fear, Siren queen of C-YH1," Kali's dead eyes and words fell to the floor with
needle tips, "I will be ending your life upon the beginning of this round."

"Wait . . . WAIT!" Halogen flailed, "WHAT?! Can she just admit that?! Yo- you- you,
don't tell me that! You insolent little parasite! You will not betray me!"

The creature kept its head bowed, chains beginning a terrifying screeching ring
as they vibrated with distortive waves of heat. The ground around it began to partially
liquefy.

"Ponder!" Halogen shrieked, throwing her arms down, "She can't do that, right?!
Is she lying?! Ponder?!"

"Well shit, good luck," The puppet shrugged, "It's technically not an illegal move
to admit your player status. It's not smart if you need the element of surprise . . . But I
think subject 12 will be okay without that, don't you think?"

"WHAT?!" Halogen grew faint, needles spilling from her wrist as she continued
backing away, "Ponder, I will not stand for this! I am a queen, I will rule you all! I demand
you-"

The two of them cracked from view with a violent fissure, silence rushing back
into the room.

"Well someone's boned," Ponder again giggled to itself, before re-grabbing its
same prop envelope, "Let's hope she can run fast and this round doesn't end too soon.
Who's next?"
 John, Sarah, and Cold all stood nervously, but a figure beside them couldn't seem
to contain itself, shaking with excitement.

"Me, me, me!" SKETCH jittered like an overcharged battery about to pee itself,
pink backpack flopping with jangling keychains, "Come onnnnnnn . . ."

Her ghastly blank eyes were filled with the lights of the room.

"SKETCH and Sarah!" Ponder called, SKETCH immediately jumping 360 and
letting out a shriek.

Sarah pulled back in disgust as the creature scurried across the floor in a blur of
grey, clawed hands clacking around her back as it hugged her.

"This is my chance!" The creature barely staggered as Sarah shoved her away, "I
know this game is hard for you, Sarah, maybe I can show you how to make it fun!"

Sarah frowned, steely eyes narrowing in hatred.

"John," she didn't even address the monster, "Find me if you can once the round
has started. I have something important to tell you. Watch out for that girl on your
right."

John's eyes widened, unasked questions going unanswered as SKETCH and her
exploded from existence.

Soot and ash rained from the fissure, settling down like snow on John's head and
the purple beanie of Cold beside him.

She seemed to be shivering slightly, eyes locked on the ground. Her skin pulsed
with death grey, gangly limbs swaddled in minuscule clothing. Her exposed stomach
bared several grueling scratches across its smooth emaciated surface, stick like legs
jutting into large pink boots. A thin layer of dried blood had settled over everything.

Suddenly, her limbs fell limp, her body sinking to the floor.

John recoiled in concern, the girl's head nearly cracking against the tile.

"Umph!" Her puppet flailed as it was trapped under her, John pressing his own to
the ground as he knelt down hesitantly.

"C- . . . Sarah? Cold?" He glanced curiously to the puppet at the podium who
simply stood watching, "Yoooooo, you alright?"
 The girl suddenly showed ragged signs of moment, chilling bones creaking as she
curled into a fetal position. The tears came first, hot water rolling slowly down her face
before her mouth curled wide to intercept their path.

Her body began convulsing, John's hand stopping in its track as he put it out to
help her.

Saliva rapidly split apart like spider webs inside her mouth as her grin carved
further, peeling back frigid flesh.

Then the laughter started.

The sickly noises were haunting and wrong, the girl's gaunt body seemingly
breaking just to force them out.

John's face fell in confused terror, backing up slightly.

Cold suddenly rolled onto her back, face twisted into unhinged laughter as her
pinprick eyes stared holes in the ceiling above her. Her hands and feet curled on the
floor, her face blushing a dark red.

"Woah, Alright then," Ponder finally spoke from the podium, "That's a character
introduction . . . I guess. Good luck with that one, John."

The world split from view.

***

"Sensor's been tripped," the man shrugged, Kevlar vest squeaking against his
helmet, "These cells are getting old though, the feeds don't even work."

"So what's inside?" The woman behind him hurried to catch up, assault rifle
clanking in her hands, "Without camera feeds, how can we see what we're walking into?
Just through the door latch?"

"Oh, no, there's nothing there, Andrews," the man shook his head, "This is D
block, the facility hasn't held any fallout in here for probably 20 years."

"So why are we armed?" Andrew's face was obscured by green metal, lights from
her helmet painting the hallways in front of her.
 "Grant's been breathing down my neck about following protocol," The man's own
weapon dangled casually in one hand, "We won't use them, but I'm tired of hearing his
shit. You know how it goes around here. Armed at all times, even when shits just
malfunctioning."

The dim green lights above flickered, stretching their shadows long along the
corridor.

A pair of double doors at the end lay obscured in shadow, padlocked to a

seemingly absurd degree.

The doors had no windows, but a large metal latch seemed to act as a portal.

"Keys, Hacket?" Andrews spoke curiously, "Was I meant to have those?"

"Nope," he muttered absentmindedly, presenting a bundle of archaic metal keys

around a silver ring.

"Block D." A sign above the doors read, "Eastern Ward - Splice fallout
containment unit 48."

"Do a quick check through the door portal," Hacket nudged Andrews, gesturing
to the cameras watching them, "Again, there's nothin’ in there, but I ain't gettin'
reprimanded again for letting you greenhorns be lax."

"Absolutely sir," Andrews nodded, sliding a large deadbolt to the side, the old
warped metal screeching in protest.

"Just wave your flashlight around in there a bit," Hacket muttered as he checked
through the various keys, "Jesus fuck, how many damn stupid keys does this place
need?"

Andrews slowly pulled back the latch about eye level on the heavy metal door, a
small slit beneath it allowing someone to peer through.

She softly brought up the flashlight attached to her rifle, peering through the
dark slash.

"Fucking hell," Hacket sighed, as he kneeled down and tried the same key for the
third time, "I'm about to break these locks off with my damn head, help me look
through these things. Ya done yet?"

"Someone . . . inside . . ." Andrew's voice was weak and faint, uncharacteristic fear
having overtaken her voice.
 "No, these keys," Hacket clearly didn't hear her, "I said are ya done?"

"Hacket . . ." Andrews began to slowly back up, "Don't unlock that door . . ."

He finally slide the correct key into a massive hole connecting the various strands
of padlocks.

"Hacket stop!" Andrews suddenly rushed forwards, kicking his hand away with
her steel toed combat boot.

Hacket cursed loudly, waving his gloved hand in agony and shooting to his feet.

"Fucking Christ, Andrews!" He barked, "Are you daft? What is-"

A sudden knock came casually from the door.

Three soft raps.

Hacket stopped cold, eyes slowly swiveling from Andrew's reflective helmet to
the dark door.

"Grant? This is Hacket," he slowly spoke into the radio at his shoulder, "Are you
getting this?"

The line fizzled with shrieking static.

"Grant?" Hacket tried again, pulling the device from his shoulder and holding it in
front of him, "We've got something in block D. I repeat, we've go-"

"You fucking moron," a voice at the other side of the door called out, "It's me you
numb skull. Open up."

"Grant?" Hacket froze in fear, eyes darting to Andrews as he rapidly motioned for
her to try her own radio, "Repeat that."

"Oh, you more deaf than usual today?" Grant knocked at the door again, "Cut the
chatter."

"This is Agent Andrews," Andrews spoke into her radio, flashlight beam looking
through the slit, but coming up with nothing but black, "We've got a situation at D
block. Confirm Grant's location in headquarters?"

"How about I confirm my location here," The voice at the other side of the door
called out, "Oh for fuck's sake, Andrews, you're new here, I get it, but if you want to stick
around, do a fallout check quickly and let me in."
 "Confirm that radio call?" Hacket repeated, again coming up with static, "We've
got a situation down at-"

"Confirmed-" a female voice suddenly spoke out, "This is Circe Parson's. We read
you, Hacket and Andrews."

The line fizzled again.

"We've got Agent Grant on a service request at D Block East Ward," the line
returned to focus, "I repeat, Agent Grant is currently fulfilling a service request in the
east ward of D block. Do you confirm, Hacket?"

"Confirmed," Hacket's eyes narrowed, gaze darting to again motion Andrews to

check through the door latch.

"Repeat that, Parsons," Andrews shook her head, "I'm seeing something blocking
view of the latch. This might be fallout."

"Received and noted," Parson's voice crackled, "Proceed with standard fallout
check. However, note that we have no record of fallout in your area. Headquarters is
giving you a go ahead."

"This isn't right," Hacket muttered to himself slowly, "Something is off here . . ."

"Entity in question," Andrews nervously stammered, trying to remember

memorized words, "What are you claiming to be?"

"Agent Grant Charles," the voice on the other side spoke, "And I won't jump over
your next 10 standard questions, Andrews, but please go through them fast. I was off an
hour ago."

"Mother's maiden name?" Andrews fumbled to pull out a clipboard with names
and information listed.

"Gunnison," the voice sighed.

Andrews stared quietly at the clipboard.

She flinched nervously as Hacket tried to look over her shoulder.

"I'm going to need face to face confirmation of your update, Parson's," Hacket
pushed, "You know protocol. We should have been informed of this in person prior to
coming down here."

He slid the door latch closed, motioning to Andrews.

 "Come on, we're going," his finger now rested on the trigger of his weapon,
"Something is wrong here."

"Noted, Hacket," his radio crackled, "Confirm your safe departure from potentially
hazardous situation for headquarters."

"Confirmed," Hacket nodded, picking back up the keys, "If I had to guess, I'd say
Ghoul in East Ward, D Block. But Andrews and I are unharmed and safely returning to
headquarters."

"Confirmed," the radio sizzled.

"Your security is pretty tight, alright," Andrews wiped at her helmet visor as she
walked beside him, freckled face barely visible beneath, "I didn't think you guys knew so
much."

Hacket's eyes suddenly flicked to his radio, seeing faint tendrils of turquoise
smoke softly rising from it.

"Andrews," he suddenly froze, "This isn't right. This almost looks like . . . Oh shit!
Poltergeist in the system! Drop everything, we've got to-"

His eyes flashed back to Andrews only to see a mangled smile of needle teeth
peering out from behind the visor.

His torso split open with a devastating crunch.

The girl's skin slowly flayed off as she wiggled her hooked fingers inside his
sternum, giggles rocking her body as his eyes bulged in agony.

"Oh my! This is going to be a tough one!" SKETCH cooed, slowly raking outwards
as her other hand pressed his head to the wall, "you guys know all about us!"

"Appreciate you confirming your safety," the voice came through his radio again,
device beginning to heat up, "But in a change of plans, we're going to need you to stay
there, actually. I'm so sorry."

Hacket coughed up blood, hand falling limp as his gun clattered to the floor
along with his flaying entrails.

SKETCH finally slashed his hollowed body from the wall, playfully plopping down
and quickly working the membranes from his small intestine in order to wind it together
into a braid.
 "SKETCH, yo!" The voice on the other side of the door slithered, "If ya get a
chance, I'd much appreciate you holding up your end of the deal."

"Okay, yeah!" SKETCH bounded to her feet, armor now far too large for her little
girl form as she wobbled her way like a penguin over to the door, dragging intestines
and the keys behind her.

The locks fell to the floor after she spent several seconds jangling the proper key
into place.

"Well these guys aren't going to let us out easy," Door Guy yawned as he
stretched and stepped into the hallway, merely a shadow along the walls.

SKETCH immediately plopped back down and continued braiding.

"Thanks cutie," Door Guy winked at the camera watching him, turquoise glow
painting the lens.

It quickly swiveled away, red light blinking.

"N- . . . No problem." Malie's voice squeaked from Hackett’s radio.

***

John tumbled across the floor as a pressure wave split out from around him. He
finally rolled to a stop only after impacting a wall.

With everything pitch black, he blinked with wincing pain, red lights slowly
warming up and spilling from his UI.

A hospital? No . . . A prison? Why was the inbound splice so much less destructive
than usual?

Reflective flooring and beds surrounded him, though the attached tables lay
scattered with gruesome tools like something out of a mad scientist's lair. Red and blue
lights rhythmically flickered on and off, several large dome shaped wall protrusions
glimmering with dull chrome.

Massive plexiglass walls divided each space, only fitted with tiny air holes at the
top.
 "Round Begin!" His UI flashed faintly in the corner of his vision, "Gaze for 2
seconds to view round goal."

John's eyes slowly built up the slider bar until the menu opened, only a single line
of text spilling into view.

"Escape the containment facility alive." It read.

As John continued looking, his eyes suddenly fell on a tattered corpse across his
room, a mangled figure with black hair and twisted limbs.

As his light reached it, however, it suddenly stirred to life, limbs slashing at the
ground as it scrambled forwards out of nowhere.

John flailed, backing up only to have it lunge with horrific speed, pinning him to
the ground as saliva speckled his face.

The giggles started again, hair trailing down from its gaunt skin and sweeping
along John's eyes.

"You came back . . ." Cold's words were like poisonous tar, her bloody hands
clutching at his wrists as she held him down, "You came back for me."

John's heart pumped enough blood to let him run for several years, breaths
struggling as her weight pressed against him.

"H- . . . Hey," he choked, red light highlighting her body as he scanned her in
panic, "Uh, oh, hey Cold . . ."

"After everything I did to you?" She slithered down to lie on top of him, tearful
hysterics continuing to shake her, "I will make it up to you, I promise. Cold promises,
okay?"

"Uh, er," he nervously tried to wiggle free, "Sure, okay. And what exactly did you
do to me again? Just er . . . For the record."

Her dead irises sparked with something indescribable, head shaking as she
flushed further red. She sunk yet closer, head burying in his chest, hands clawing at his
wrists hard enough to draw blood.

"I killed you," she whispered softly.

John winced as her nails raked along his veins, mind racing.
 "In my home dimension. But only because you didn't love me back," she tried to
keep his eyes in hers, hands only gripping tighter as John tried to free himself, "I wanted
you to match my feelings, to be there and hold me, to smile and say everything was
okay. You gave that to me in death."

She laughed, curling like a cat as her eyes flashed up to stare into his.

"But now you're here," she whispered, fingers playing with the gashes she
opened up, "Because you want to be with me again, even after your body rotted and fell
away."

"Get off me, ya damn psycho!" Her puppet muffled out from under her, "Have a
yandere breakdown elsewhere!"

"I'm a red!" Cold suddenly shook her head, finger pressing to John's lip to silence
his nonexistent talking, "But I won't do anything to hurt you, John! Cold would never!
Not so long as you love me!"

"Well you, er," John choked out as he finally was able to turn the tables and grab
her hands off him, "That's quite a bit of incentive for specific feelings, I guess."

He rubbed his head as Cold finally dropped her hands and allowed him to sit up
slightly, still sitting on his stomach.

"At least for this round," he winced, "but I gotta be honest with you Cold, I don't
even know you, and I don't think I'm the same John you killed."

Cold jumped to her feet, hand splaying out to help him up.

John took several seconds to look at her outstretched limb before nervously
taking it and hoisting himself up.

"Sure you are," she cooed as she kept a hold of his hand and pressed against
him, "And I love you. Do you love me back?"

"If I say no, will you rearrange my face again?" John cringed, letting out a small
laugh.

Cold's smile rotted away, eyes horrific disks of cobalt as she thumbed a large
blade in her pocket.

"Why would you say that?" She whispered, eyes darting away, "I don't understand
. . ."
 "Okay, Cold," John winced, "See that reaction? Not what I'm looking for. This isn't
really going to work, this whole crazy person thing. I don't-"

A flash of silver nearly severed John's windpipe as Cold slated him against a
plexiglass wall, gangly limbs angling to press the cold steel against his flesh.

"I love you," she whispered softly, "You don't understand. You don't-"

Her eyes widened as John suddenly pivoted, slamming the blade from her hand.
She squeaked, John's own hand grabbing her wrist and slashing it against the plexiglass
wall with a hard crack.

The blade clattered to the floor before his foot kicked it upwards, puppeted hand
catching it in its mouth.

"No, YOU don't understand!" He hissed, tone suddenly much darker, "My home,
my sister, my dimension, EVERYTHING I care about is being undone by this game, and
the longer I spend in these stupid rounds, the further I get from being able to stop it."

Cold's eyes were starched wide and unblinking.

"Don't threaten me," John barely winced as Cold's own puppet flayed out metallic
pincers, "If the John you knew in your dimension would just lie there and let you
manipulate him, he's not the same as me."

Cold flushed.

"I'm glad you like me, Cold," he continued, quickly loosening his grip and sighing,
"I- . . . I'm sorry, but I have too much to fight for to let you be my enemy here. I want to
work together, would that be okay?"

His puppet spit the knife out into his hand, where he slowly thumbed it around
and presented it to Cold.

"If you're red, it means I could also win the round by killing you." He continued,
watching her simply stare at the blade, "But I'm not going to do that. I want to save
people, Cold, not betray them. Red or blue, that's not how I do things."

He urged the handle of the blade forwards.

"You're right that I don't understand," he finally just pressed it into her hand, "But
you have to understand me too, alright? If you think you love me, I can't reciprocate that
because I don't know you. But if you help me out here, if we can find a way out of this
together . . . I don't know, we can go see a movie in my dimension or something later,
alright?"

Cold shook slightly, knife immediately falling from her hand again.

John sighed, eyes dropping to watch it clatter across the floor.

"Listen," he took a deep breath as he bent down to pick it up, "I really am going
to need your help, okay? I know it's hard to hear, but this is a good opportunity for a
clean slate. I won't judge you for your past crimes, I don't care about who you were
before this . . . I just hope we can do the right thing here and now."

He grabbed the knife off the floor, fingers scraping on the blood dried to its
surface.

"What do you say?" He urged, eyes looking back up, "I'm sorry about everything,
I hope we can work toge-"

He was nearly pushed backwards as Cold's hands swaddled his waist and she
forcefully kissed him.

"Gah!" He flailed back, "Jesus Christ! What did I JUST say?"

"That was me kissing you," she blushed, immediately letting go and sinking back,
"You said we could work together and if I do my best, you'll love me."

"Very VERY wrong paraphrasing," John face palmed.

"I will do my best," she continued, "Cold will do her best. She will protect John
until the end. She will be so valuable, talented, and dedicated that John will have to love
her back."

Her eyes fell, face blushing profusely. "Then maybe eventually," she continued
quietly after a short pause, "You will be the one to kiss me."

John sighed heavily.

"Alright, whatever," he responded, "That's fine, Cold. Seems to me like you're

throwing your life away, but if you truly think so much of me, I'll-"

The room rumbled softly, a suddenly distorted flash of blue enveloping the space.

The light faded as soon as it began, John left staring in confusion at nothing.

"Wha . . ." He shook his head, "What the heck was that?"
 "Every ten minutes," Cold's face was still red, smiling faintly, "all injuries sustained
by still living contestants are healed."

The lights flickered overhead.

"Right, of course," John shook his head, "why not, I suppose that makes about as
much sense as everything else. Either way, we're the last to splice in, meaning we're
already behind everyone else. We've gotta get out of here. You ready, Cold?"

Cold's smile reached new heights, ghastly hand softly reaching for the blade in
his hand.

Somewhere distant, an explosion rocked the facility.

***

"You lowly monster!" Halogen shrieked as the explosion dissipated around her,
hood fluttering behind her as she darted away in panic, "Just you wait, I'll- I'll- I'll get
back at you for this! I'll make yo-"

She shrieked, rolling to the ground to avoid a tile being lobbed in a blur of speed.

The material shattered against the wall with a deafening crack, immediately being
followed by many more tiles.

She scrambled in fear, a haunting figure walking slowly after her, tendrils of
distorted air slashing outwards. Its ghastly pale skin seemed to shift with heat waves,
searing green eyes quavering in the wind.

"You're ruining any element of stealth, you brute!" Halogen cried, face red with
frustration as she pressed her hands against her sides, "You might want to win by
homiciding me, but you cannot brutalize a queen! I own you!"

She again flailed to the side as the ceiling was lacerated with cuts of air, gas lines
spilling ooze overhead.

The hallway was wreathed in flames with another volatile explosion, Halogen's
needle teeth gritting as she shielded her face with the puppet.

The flames bent around the fuzzy creature as if water.

 "MY PATIENCE HAS RECENTLY BEEN TAMPERED WITH!" Halogen screamed over
the echoing repercussions, bathed in obscuring smoke, "Your insolence is applauding!
Enough is enough!"

Her non-puppeted hand thrashed outwards, razor thin wire slicing from her wrist
like unspooling hair. The line glistened in the dim light, Halogen's discolored eyes
lighting up.

Kali slowly lifted a hand, head still bowed as the smoke flatted against the walls
with unnatural wind to clear her view. Her chains slithered softly behind her, shrieking
and glowing red hot.

Halogen slowly came into view through the haze, standing directly in the center
of the hallway, head tilted as if broken. A grizzly smile split across her face.

"What variety of WMD takes such intervals to kill one person?" Halogen's voice
slithered out coyly, laced with toxic poison that dripped to her feet, "Are your godlike
overpowered abilities not suspect for ya?"

The ground by Kali's feet vaporized, tiles vaulting upwards in a chorus of

shrieking metal as countless slashes of air tore forwards like knives.

Halogen gracefully parried to the side, waving her puppet to absorb the
distortions and slashing a tile back at Kali with her large yellow rain boot.

"Gonna have to get closer for that," Halogen’s tongue slithered, eyes narrowing
in amusement as the tile shattered into dust in front of Kali, "Distortions aren't going to
be gantry anymore, you poor soul."

Kali's eyes sparked into view as she slowly lifted her head, chains rising beside her
laser focused gaze. She stopped walking, teeth gnashing.

"In a fair sphere . . ." Halogen soothed, thumbing with the zipper of her coat as
she licked her lips, "I wasn't the one who started this compiled thing. You're the red
player here."

The world fell into liquefied blurs as Kali suddenly darted forwards, floor
exploding out behind her.

"But me?" Halogen held her ground, softly biting at her hand, "Oh, I guess I'm
just the . . . INNOCENT BLUE!"
 Kali's leg was nearly cleaved from its socket as it contacted paralyzing razor wire
stung between the walls, more of the shimmering string spilling from Halogen's wrist as
she thrashed it like a lasso.

The creature rolled to the ground in a flurry of metal, Halogen cackling madly as
she darted forwards with, razor wire loops tangling in the flurry of chains and slicing
through Kali's flesh as she yanked tighter.

"What's this?!" Halogen's saliva spilled like water as her mouth stayed wide with
hysterical laughter, "Paralyzed so soon?! Shame you won't be able to move when I-"

Halogen screamed in agony, explosion of gore leaving her to tumble backwards.

Kali calmly got back to her feet, shimmering wire vaporizing around her.

On the ground, Halogen rolled in excruciating pain, screams ripping outwards

and she wrenched out the tile shard embedded in her left eye.

"You cannot paralyze a corpse." Kali's voice was emotionless and plain, "My
muscles are controlled through matter distortion, not metabolic processes. I am curious
as to your thought process."

"I'm so ailed of you ghastly monsters!" Halogen hissed, more wire spinning out as
she dropped the bloodied tile behind her and tried to stagger to her feet.

She barely got upright again before Kali was suddenly feet from her, chains
cracking with terminal velocity as they lashed forwards.

"Fulfilling Red player task now," She spoke coldly.

Halogen's non-puppeted arm was sheered from its socket, but the chain meant
to impact her skull was deflected to the side harmlessly as she threw her puppet in front
of herself.

She stumbled back in soundless shock, frantically staggers quickly devolving to

further tumbles as her arm socket gushed sticky blood.

Kali rushed forwards again, before suddenly flinching as a massive crack left light
to flash in front of her face.

The bullet deflected back down the hallway, hole punching the armed guard in
the face.

Down the hall, lights and laser sights suddenly painted Kali’s form and countless
more agents ran into view.
 "Fallout possesses bullet redirection!" voices rang out, "Incendiary rounds, front
line! Class 4+ parasite!"

Kali hissed, eyes narrowing.

"FIRE!" A voice commanded, the hallway immediately being painted with blinding
light as Halogen dropped to the ground and frantically crawled away.

***

Gunfire echoed far too close for comfort, John flinching back against the wall.

"Subject 12," Cold whispered, eyes nervously scanning the security cameras in
front of them, "She's close. She's the only one who would attract so much attention."

"Kali?" John echoed nervously, stepping forwards as the camera swiveled, "The
Weapon of Mass Destruction?"

"The parasite," Cold nodded, rushing past John to the next safe spot, "We must
be sure we never cross paths with something so-"

A figured staggered out from a door just behind them, directly into line with the
cameras.

They collapsed in a pool of gore, breaths fast and frantic before shakily standing
up again.

John flinched, whirling around and hesitating in panic.

"Leave her," Cold hissed in a whisper, "She'll distract the cameras, let’s go."

"W- wait," John staggered, "Who is-"

"Injuries are healed by the puppets every ten minutes!" Cold hissed, "Remember?
It should be any minute now! She'll be fine, but we won't if we stay here!"

The gunfire grew closer, screams echoing out. The figure again collapsed.

"John!" Cold snapped, "Now is our chance!"

"Who is that . . ." John looked sick, eyes flashing between the hallway ahead and
the dying form.
 The figure rolled to its side in agony, spitting up blood and revealing its hideous
empty eye socket.

John's feet clacked against the ground as he darted out into the open.

Cold's eyes exploded wide, teeth gnashing.

"We can't leave her!" John shook his head as he hastily wrestled Halogen's bulky
and bloodied coat off to be able to lift her, "We'll just drag her until she hea-"

"WAIT STOP! That's a Siren!" Cold cried, "Don't touch her bare ski-"

John flinched as blood pooled beneath his fingers, rough shark like skin hidden
beneath the girl's seemingly porcelain flesh.

Toxic sweat immediately began leaching between their contacting skin, John's
blood discoloring.

An explosion shook the hallway, light visible down the adjacent corner.

Halogen's words slurred, but a paled grin suddenly worked up her face.

***

"So where's Sarah, though?" Door Guy whistled whimsically as he strolled down
the corridor, "SKETCH, what happened to that partner of yours? And why are you still
wearing that dumb suit?"

The little girl bounded beside him, clawed hand pressing against her lip as she
looked up to the ceiling.

"I think she's distracting guards," she giggled, "probably. I don't know, she's
slow."

"Oh really now?" Door Guy cocked an eyebrow, glowing eyes narrowing slightly,
"And why would-"

His silhouette suddenly shuttered with black vapors as he grew nervous, eyes
flashing down an adjacent hallway.

"Malie?!" He hissed, "What's going on?"

 Footsteps began rounding the corner at the end of the hallway, lights painting
the walls.

"Ah shits!" Door Guy flailed, "We've got company! SKETCH, we've gotta go!"

"Oh . . . Do we now?" SKETCH paused, eyes flicking up curiously as she put her
finger to her lip again.

"I don't know where they came from!" Malie cried in Door Guy's UI, "I wasn't
getting anything in my feeds! They must know I'm in the system! Someone ratted us
out!"

SKETCH'S spine began to shift.

Armed men spilled around the corner, laser sights immediately painting Door
Guy as he flailed.

Suddenly, however, a foot swiped his legs out from under him, bullets littering his
back from point blank range.

Black sludge painted the tiles as he tumbled across the floor and SKETCH
continued to shoot, having again assumed Andrew's skin.

Her freckled face was flushed with terror as she ran to the approaching armada,
throwing up her hands.

One last turn of her head gave a snarky wink to DOOR GUY.

"Sorry champ," she giggled under her breath for him to hear, "Only one team is
winning this thing. Funny prank, no?"

Sarah stood amongst the army, steely eyes narrowed. She was handcuffed, yet
appeared very much in control.

"I highly recommend killing that ghoul now," she spoke coldly to several nervous
scientists beside her, "That thing is not on my team."

Door Guy spat up black goo, bullet punctures slowly spilling ooze and closing
shut like putty as he lay paralyzed.

***
 Kali flinched backwards, heels scrapping back along tiles as volatile explosions
shattered her vision apart.

"Volley one!" A voice screamed above the gunfire. A block of figures 8 wide and 3
deep formed an intimidating silhouette to block off the hallway. Men with dark green
helmets and piercing head mounted flashlights sprayed bullets with sinister persistence.

Blinding flashes of detonating incendiary rounds continued to form a glowing

sphere of energy around the creature. Her dark eyes danced with the orange fireworks,
before everything suddenly cut off, several dark grey masses dropping in their arc. The
creature glanced up with disinterest.

Grenades.

Her lids narrowed absentmindedly, posture devolving further before she

suddenly scrambled forwards at the last minute. A blinding flurry of metallic slices left
the girl on one knee as shrapnel scattered like dust, firing pins punctured from the
perforated shells.

The diffused hunks of now useless metal clattered like stones around her, her
ghastly form slowly standing upright as her mouth began to curl unnaturally upwards.

"Volley two!" The voice again screamed, "This one's been trained! Begin
cautiously retreating, and keep that fire u-"

The creature cackled, lips splitting wide in hysterics.

Her legs snapped against the ground to rupture tiles in every direction as she
tore across the hallway.

"Fire fire fire!" The voice jumped up an octave of fear, "Push it back!"

The first men in the line splayed out like insects the minute Kali was in range
despite the commander's orders.

The first body stabbed to the floor exploded with distortions before he could get
a shot off, his arm spewing hot blood like a paintbrush as the creature wrenched it in an
arc towards her.

Two other fleeing members saw their torsos leave their legs milliseconds before
metal spears ruptured through their mangled bodies to carve them lengthways.

The creature softly reached out its emaciated hand, a severed arm falling to the
wayside as her chain retracted a gun into her possession.
 Her finger curled around the trigger. The screaming blurs before her erupted into
a frenzy and more guns clattered to the floor.

Diffused grenades fell around the creature the minute they were lobbed, the only
explosions resulting from shells she intentionally deflected back or disregarded
completely. Limbs sprayed like discarded laundry as she sprinted forwards, the fastest
and most panicked runners not nearly fast enough.

The creature ignored most of them, however.

She had her target.

***

"Drop the bayonet, human," Halogen giggled, blowing a puff of air to move hair
from her eye. Her puppet pressed closer to John's neck, countless spines wreathing his
flesh with metal.

"We don't have time for this!" John struggled, "Halogen, just stop! You can't kill
me without being eliminated, and if the facility guards find us here, we'll all die! We
helped you until you healed, let me go!"

Cold's eyes were starched wide with absolute horror, teeth gnashed together. Her
grip on the knife was so tight the handle nearly cracked.

"Oh we'll exit," Halogen narrowed her eyes to match Cold's gaze, neither of them
flinching as they stood in the middle of the hallway, "Just as soon as your acquaintance
here disarms herself."

"Don't . . ." Cold's hands began to shake, "Don't touch him . . ."

"Okay, chance delivery of the final!" Halogen hissed, ghastly mouth spilling toxic
saliva onto John's shirt, "Kali is catching up! There's no way I'm getting past these
guards without a human hostage, so gravity the blade and let us pass, or John losses his
windpipe!"

"She won't kill me!" John snapped, "She won't risk losing this game!"

He struggled again.
 "Halogen," he snapped, "I'll help you willingly, there's no need for this! I want to
work together!

"Fighting for audience's favor?" Halogen scoffed, "Being nice to avoid getting
voted off is only going to get you killed here and now!"

Metallic spines pressed in closer to halt his movements.

Cold quivered slightly with a dead grey complexion, fingers slowly sliding to
readjust her grip. Her eyes were a calculated dull hue.

"No, you don't understand!" John cried in frustration, "Let me go, Halogen, I'll
help you!"

"Oh sure!" Halogen laughed, "I'm sure yo-"

A brutal shriek escaped her lips as a crack of silver slashed at her shoulder, knife
spilling out the other side of her flesh.

She spun backwards in agony, John jerking free as the spines scraped past his
neck.

Halogen barely had time to glance at the knife in her muscles before Cold was
inches away, foot hacking sideways with violent speed.

Halogen's jaw partially dislocated, eyes starched wide as her skull cracked against
the wall with Cold's bloodied boot.

Wall tiles scattered to the floor as Halogen staggered, puppeted hand limply
flailing to get a grip before Cold's hand slashed at the blade in her shoulder, tearing it
sideways and wrenching the girl to the ground with another horrific impact.

Paralyzing wires split it from Halogen like party streamers, Cold dodging with
frightening aptitude and immediately thrashing her puppet at the girl's neck.

The serrated orca teeth glimmered towards Halogen's soft flesh, before suddenly
being wrenched back.

"Stop!" John's own foot kicked the puppet away, hand rushing to grab Cold's
wrist.

She flinched, fighting as John tried to drag her back.

"If you kill her, you die too!" John cried, "Just leave her!"
 Halogen lie face up, breathing ragged breaths as her pinprick eyes vibrated with
terror. They slowly slid to watch John fight with Cold as she continuously slashed at her,
blurring silver inches away.

That's when shouting voices began to round a distant corner ahead of them, the
sound of jangling weapons all too apparent.

"Ah shit!" John flailed

Then, from just behind them, blood spilled into the hallway with a massive
explosion. The sound of rattling chains could be heard. A facility-wide siren booted up.

"AH SHIT!" John repeated far louder, not even finishing before Cold rapidly
darted to a locked door a ways down the hallway, motioning him along.

Her puppet whirred to life, tiny armatures spilling into the handle and
immediately clicking the lock free.

The voices were almost upon them, lights beginning to paint the floor.

John was quick to run after cold as she kicked the door open, holding it for him.

He barely took two steps, however, before his limbs suddenly locked up,
shimmering razor wire snapping against his ankle.

He crashed to the ground with a soundless cry, Halogen cackling as she promptly
took off in the opposite direction.

Cold's eyes exploded wide, flinching and closing the door as armed agents came
into view, immediately beginning to fire at Halogen before she disappeared around a
corner, John's dragged body following suit.

***

"Malie, stop this." Sarah hissed, "This won't solve anything!"

"L- l- like hell it won't!" Turquoise text flashed across the UI of every member in
the firing squad, "That's my partner, you sick . . . Horrible person!"

The armada stood with their sights still on Door Guy, his smile all but absent as
he kneeled before them in the middle of the hallway.
 "WARNING - Block A power supply unresponsive" red text flashed on every
screen that could display images, siren indicating a small countdown in the corner.

"Kill him and this entire place goes dark!" Turquoise text ran across it, the
countdown jumping down several minutes, leaving only 30 seconds, "Good luck getting
back your fallout specimens from block A! Drop your weapons!"

"Don't negotiate with her!" Sarah snapped, "The only way you can end this is by
letting Andrews and I outside! If you leave that Ghoul alive, he will do everything in his
power to stop that from happening!"

"If I can get a word in?" Door Guy put up a finger, cocking an eyebrow, "What
exactly did you tell them, Sarah?"

"The truth," she responded, "They know everything."

His finger flopped downwards, eyes squinting.

"And they believed you?" He frowned, before laughing, "Ha! Doubt they would
have bought it coming from me. That's some racism right there . . . speciesism? What
kind of crackpot organization is this?"

10 seconds left. 9 seconds . . . 8

"Fine, Malie!" Sarah finally gnashed, "You get your wish!"

Her teeth gritted, eyes flashing to the men beside her.

"Stand down," she spoke, "Leave him be for now, what's important is that
Andrews and I get outside."

She was met by countless uncertain gazes, but one more siren wail finally caused
hands to shuffle, red laser sight dots scurrying along the floor away from Door Guy.

"If you want us all to go, you'll take Andrews and I right out those front doors,"
Sarah commanded, lifting up her puppeted hand.

“Andrews, we have confirmed your location and identity,” one of the members
spoke, “Are the things this fallout is saying true?”

“She’s human fallout,” Andrews nodded with a soft grin as she ran to catch up,
“She’s telling the truth. Walk and talk with me.”
 The guns hesitantly trained on Sarah as the entire group began shifting down the
hallway. Feet clacked and lights flickered, silence finally falling over everything as Door
Guy let out a large sigh.

He stood up after some time, giving a big stretch and yawning.

"Thanks girl," he stretched out, "I guess I should have seen that one coming, this
one's on me. Thanks for the impromptu ultimatum."

"W- . . . What do we do now?" Text nervously typed, "Sarah and SKETCH are
going to win for sure . . ."

"Yeah, who ever thought telling the truth would get you anywhere," Door Guy
slumped, "Only one contestant here could take on that many armed dudes to stop her
now."

His eyes widened.

"Malie, check the roster," he snapped his fingers, turning around and tearing
down the hallway, "Check who Kali's partner is! We haven't lost yet!"

***

John twitched slightly, eyes wrenching from the ceiling to glare daggers at
Halogen.

The girl responded with a haughty grin, eyes narrowing in amusement as she
smoothed down the ruffles on her dress. Beneath her, an agent lay in a crumpled mess,
two puncture wounds in his neck spilling blood softly in a massive pool around him.

"Mmmhuehue," Halogen giggled, zipping back up her coat and licking her lips,
"Are you ready to end this round, Mr. Matthews?"

John's hands twitched against paralysis, frown growing.

"W- . . . Wait . . ." His voice was hardly recognizable as he had to force out every
breath, "Are . . . kidding me?!"

Even his puppet lay with a stupid smile starched into its face, metallic apertures
dangling limply.
 "Oh what a keygen," Halogen fanned herself with a giggle, slinking forwards
slowly like a cat and crawling over his body, "And let's not have you conversing when
I'm trying to unruffle things over with the facility, shall we?"

Her lips parted as she sunk downwards, black saliva splitting apart in sticky
strands as John's numb arm barely even registered Halogen's jagged black spine being
forced up the flesh of his wrist

"You've already got some of me in your bloodstream," her voice slithered,

"Swallow this, and your brain turns to mush. Spit it out, and you lose your head."

She leaned forwards, puppet reforming a ghastly vice around his neck as her eyes
narrowed to wicked sickles and she kissed him. Saliva spilled to the floor in black viscous
blobs, steaming softly.

She giggled again with a flushed face, rolling off him and reaching for the agent's
corpse with her other hand.

"Let's play dress up," her voice bubbled with toxicity, "What a fun toy . . ."

***

Behind the door at the other end of the hall, Cold's eyes flinched, skin paling.

Soldiers softly worked past her shimmering eyes as she spun around to glance
out the fogged glass.

Her pastel hands steadily mangled the handle of the knife, stabbing gaze darting
to where Halogen and John had disappeared.

Suddenly, a flashlight beam split though the glass, her hair blurring as she
slammed against the wall to avoid it. Her eyes narrowed, muscles tensing.

"You see this?" A muffled voice spoke outside of the room, "Voyer, I could have
just sworn . . ."

Cold's lids softly sunk closed, chest rising and falling three long times as her
mind's eye navigated the sounds outside, her composure growing.
 "Who has access to these rooms?" The voice continued slowly, several clanking
uniforms sounding out as shadows approached the glass, one faded green visor
pressing in close to look through, "If this block is suppos-"

His head snapped back as the door slammed open, the man furthest back not
even having time to flinch before a flash of silver split out from the dark room. The
sheering blade twirled end over end before impacting the flesh between his neck plates
as if cutting through butter.

The other agents squirmed to lift their weapons before a blur of white slashed
forwards and Cold slammed her puppet against the closest man's neck. Its teeth slashed
clean through, countless spiny apertures rushing out before Cold's arc was even
completed.

Three shots were fired into the ground as a last ditch attempt before the five
agents crumpled to pieces.

The other agents down the hall spun to open fire immediately, but Cold had
already claimed two of the men's assault rifles, one firmly in her hand, supported by the
puppet whose apertures gripped another like it was a toy.

The explosion of bullets came before they even fully turned, blood scattering the
ground as boiling shell casings vaulted behind her.

The agents scattered like calves, those able to scramble over their comrades’
dropping corpses quickly ducking around a corner to return fire.

The return volley largely deflected around Cold’s puppet, before ricocheted
bullets began to slice far too close for comfort. And yet, her aim remained frighteningly
impeccable, as did the puppet’s - one bullet per head. Cold's boots clacked against the
ground as she walked steadily forwards, ignoring the stray bullets beginning to pool
blood on her shirt.

***

"Okay, jubilant we go," Halogen tilted her head high, through her hood was down
to bury her face, "Play along now, won't you statesman?"

John struggled, metallic pincers pressed against the space between his neck
plates as he desperately tried not swallow or spit up the foul sludge in his mouth.
 His limbs were slowly regaining functionality, though everything seemed several
seconds delayed.

Finally able to catch his finger on a sharp edge of the uniform, ruby liquid began
pooling out as he fought Halogen's pull and hastily scrawled on the ground.

"Won't work"

"Shoot you"

Halogen frowned, scoffing and yanking him upwards as more razor string softly
spooled from beneath her coat.

"Want to be paralyzed repeatable?" She scoffed, "My plans are unable of failing.
Ever. Got it?!"

She grew more frustrated despite John's lack of a response. He was saving up
energy.

"I rule you!" Her face was hot, blue and gold eyes darkening, "I'm sick of this
insolent dimension! Perform like a proper captive and no more blood drawing!
Especially not the sass kind!"

She wrenched John up, kicking down the door.

As soon as the metal slab cracked into the hallway and Halogen stepped out,
shouting voices rang out from the cowering agents spraying fire down the hallway at
Cold.

"On your 6!" Someone shouted, several of the agents immediately diverting their
fire to Halogen's widening eyes.

"Shoot and your friend loses their head!" She frantically hissed, "I don't want to
harm anyo-"

Bullets tore forwards, Halogen letting out a shriek as John threw his puppet up in
front of her head. The volley splintered around the rabbit, stray led steaks littering
John's Kevlar vest and punching several holes in the floor around them.

This was short lived, however, the agents suddenly slamming to the floor with
torrents of gore as a gangly figure stepped into view from around the corner, exposed
stomach baring several bullet holes that flowed dark rivers down her pale legs.
 Her eyes were narrowed into sickles on Halogen, her emotionless form not
changing pace or blinking once as magazines dropped from the weapons dangling at
her sides.

An aperture of the puppet stabbed up another body as she seamlessly swapped

out weapons, lifting the pistol to her eye line.

"Wait!" Halogen backed up in absolute terror, "Don't come any-"

Cold fired, Halogen's throat rupturing outwards with a deafening explosion of hot
liquid.

She immediately went limp, puppet falling from John's throat as her eyes rolled
back in her head. Her body cracked against the tiles, limbs spasming and curling at
nothing.

Cold still didn't stop, eyes steely and frozen as she rushed her puppet forwards.
Two of the rabbit's longer hooked armatures cut down to cleave into Halogen's eye
sockets, tearing flesh from bone. Halogen's mouth was agape with numb shock as she
failed again and again to breathe, limbs dragging limply behind her as Cold yanked her
across the floor.

John's eyes were wide with horror, wrenching the helmet from his head as he
scrambled after her.

"If you kill her, you'll be eliminated too!" He cried in protest after spitting out
Halogen’s saliva, "Cold what are you doing?!"

Cold didn't even look at him, set in her path as she softly counted down to
Halogen's death under her breath.

"59 . . . 58 . . . 57 . . ."

Finally, as she rounded the corner and fired off one more shot at a strangler
agent who was bleeding out against a wall, she suddenly threw her puppeted hand with
all her strength, sliding Halogen's near corpse across the slick blood soaked floor.

Her empty eye sockets spilled out nerves out like rubber bands, Cold's
countdown jumping down several seconds.

"20 . . . 19 . . ." She mumbled just as Kali came around the corner.

John finally understood, eyes widening.

 "This round is yours, subject 12" Cold's voice slithered out, throwing Halogen's
eyes against the wall to her right where they stuck like wet play-dough.

The creature took several seconds to glance down, hidden green eyes running
calculations behind them.

Her chains softly slithered, face still covered with black hair before she casually
looked up. Her lifeless mouth seemed to almost curl upwards.

"Statistically, based on my calculated chances," Her voice spilled to the floor with
warping distortions, "Halogen presents no threat to me."

Cold's eyes widened, skin paling.

"I would far rather see you eliminated than win this round myself," the creature
cocked its head, "You present a far greater threat to me. After weighing the options . . . I
will let Halogen bleed out. I apologize for the inconvenience."

Cold's hand began to shake in horror as the creature remained absolutely still,
Halogen's blood beginning to dry to the floor.

"5 . . . 4 . . . 3 . . ." Cold’s voice fell in defeat.

"Oh fuck no, you don't!" John suddenly hissed, "That's my partner, you fuck!"

His hand slapped against Cold's to wrench the gun from her shaking grasp
before darting forwards and slashing his puppet against Halogen's corpse to yank it
upwards in front of him.

His hand slammed the trigger back, sights directly between Kali's eyes.

The creature flinched backwards, bullet exploding with brilliant orange light as it
deflected back at John . . .

. . . Impacting Halogen's skull with a shattering crunch.

The girl's puppet hissed with a massive pressure release, slumping to the floor as
Halogen's eyeless corpse sunk to the ground and ceased to breathe.

Kali was baffled, wide eyes still attempting to track what had happened as John
pushed Halogen to the ground and backed up beside Cold.

Cold's face convulsed into a bright red pool of shock, insanity ridden smile eating
away her flesh as her hand fumbled for John's.
 "Technically," John's puppet whirred to life as it spit out bits of Halogen's flesh,
"You fired the shot."

"But it was you who acted last on the projectile that killed her," Kali's puppet
glanced up to her, "As a red player this round, you are pronounce the wi-"

"HEY KALI, I NEED YOUR HELP!" Door guy flailed into view down the hallway,
"SARAH IS BEING A MASSIVE DOUCHE AND I NEED YOU TO-"

His eyes widened, gaze suddenly so captivated with the carnage before him that
he smacked directly into the adjacent wall.

"Ow fuck me!" He flailed back, having left a dent in the tiles with his head. He
collapse to the floor, attempting unsuccessfully to get back to his feet on the slippery
blood.

"Malie," he frowned with a pouty face, staring up at the ceiling, "What happened
here? Did we still win?"

"Shut up." His puppet crossed its arms.

"ROUND WINNER - KALI" flashed across all of their views.

". . . So is that a yes?" Door Guy glanced around, "What's happening? I can't
read."

***

"GOOD JOB OUT THERE EVERYONE!" Ponder cackled, clapping its little soft
hands, "We've had an on-site casualty! Asa Fear, also known as Halogen, has been
betrayed by her red partner, Kali Aimes before anyone successfully escaped the facility
to complete the round goal!"

The 7 remaining contestants stood in a strict semi-circle, facing a massive circular

projection behind Ponder. The puppet seemed to not be controlled by any hand at all as
it rested atop a podium like a misplaced sock.

"Cold, get away from him," the puppet snapped as the girl crept slightly closer to
John, "Get a room you two, Jesus."

Her face exploded with red, hastily slinking back to her place.
 "Welcome to endGAME!" The puppet continued, a pitiful fireworks display
crapping out behind it, "One of you here will be now be eliminated by popular vote!"

Ponder slowly turned to the camera, rubbing its paws together.

"Hope you all gained some sort of audience favor this week," it continued, talking
directly to the lens, "Because you're about to have a real shit time if you didn't."

More fireworks suddenly split out behind Ponder, clearly a misfire. It frowned and
slapped at a control panel in front of it.

"Anyway," it slicked its fuzzy ears back with its tiny hand, "Let's go around the
room and say what you did this week that should make the audience decide to keep
you on for the next round! Your reasons better be good! Let's start with you, Kali!"

"Based on this game’s rules and regulations," the creature stood stoically, "You
cannot vote me off this week. No reasons are required at present time."

"Holy shit that's a good reason!" Ponder nodded approvingly, "Next!"

"HI GUYS!" SKETCH cheered, intestine necklace bouncing up and down as she
jumped, "This week I tricked a whole bunch of people, even my friend, Door Guy, who I
really like! He takes my pranks in stride! This game would be so boring without a mimic
like me! Plus, anyone who doesn't vote me off gets a free coupon for limited edition T-
shirts that have my pretty little face on them!"

"That's illegal," Ponder frowned, "Also a dumb incentive."

"And your pranks suck," Door Guy muttered under his breath, "They're not even
that funny. Especially when they happen to me."

SKETCH just giggled, waving her mangled grey hand.

"Thanks guys!" She sunk back, twirling her skirt.

"Next." Ponder sighed.

"Listen," Sarah turned to the cameras, eyes filled with frustration, "Ponder has
rigged this game! Some characters got more screen time than others, some were cast in
a villainous light simply because everything is told from a subjective standpoint! He
knows who you are going to vote off! Everything is c#rafted to subcons##ciously fit a__n
overarch________________ narra?###e_____________!"

"Sarah," Ponder shook its head, "Sarah, Sarah, Sarah. You and your whole ‘not
following the question prompt’ thing is getting rather tiring."
 "He is trying to eliminate the players who have information that could stop this
game!" Sarah cried, "You have to listen! Why do ##yo_____________ thi##nk I #was barely
in this rou__________? If you eliminate me, Ponder wi#__________##______##"

"Or maybe you don't get much screen time because you're kinda annoying?"
Ponder softly tapped at its pursed mouth, "You're a pretty boring character also. If I put
you in the round more, the audience would probably kill themselves before I got a
chance to blow up their dimension."

"No!" Sarah yelled, "Please you have to believe me#_ I'm the only one here
wh___##____________?#___##_______________"

"And that's enough from you," Ponder waved its arm, Sarah's puppet slashing
several metallic incisors against her throat, "Not because you're onto some conspiracy
or anything, but pretty much just because I'm bored now. Moving on!"

"If you don't vote me off, I'll tell you my real name," Door Guy cocked an
eyebrow, "Also I'm totally lying. I won’t do that unless I win this whole thing. You vote
for whoever you want, don’t let me run your life. You're chill, audience. I trust ya."

"It's cool how he just rolls with it," Ponder clapped excitedly, "Isn't it great? The
rolling part? Anyway, next!"

"M- . . . I'm sorry," Malie's hologram flickered as she covered her face, "I messed
up so much this week . . . I'm so . . . I'm sorry I'm so disappointing . . . I- . . . I-"

"Careful Malie," Ponder rolled its nonexistent eyes, "If you keep that up, you're
going to sound full of yourself."

"Hey, it was my fault," Door Guy shook his head, "Dream team wasn't any good
without me pulling my weight. Easy on yourself, Malie, I'll try harder next time for you,
okay?"

"Gross," Ponder shook its head as Malie flushed, "I should ban B-plot romances,
I'm going to vomit. Next please."

"I . . . If you're going to vote John off, please vote me off instead," Cold's eyes
dragged along the floor as she fiddled with her hands, "I am nothing."

"What did I JUST say?!" Ponder gaged, "That literally didn't follow my question at
all! John, please for fuck's sake, say something intelligent to end this thing on a good
note."
 "If you're going to vote off Cold, I guess vote me off instead," he shrugged, "Only
seems fair. Fuck you, Ponder."

"GAH!" Ponder gnashed, "I CAN'T FUCKING WAIT TO DESTROY ONE OF YOU
FUCKERS! I CAN'T- . . ."

It paused, suddenly laughing and throwing up its hands.

"Nah, J kidding," It swooned, "I couldn't give less of a shit about any of you. The
day you get under my skin is the day I'll know I've hit rock bottom. Say what you want
John, you're so cute."

He slowly brought up a large felt button, turning back to the camera.

"As per usual," his grin widened, "Let's end this episode with a bang. And not the
John and Cold gross kind, I mean an explosion."

His hand circled the button, Halogen's dimension pooling to view through the
hologram in the background.

"Go to http://PuppetGAME.LiamVickers.com to vote for this week's loser" it

continued, "I'll kill 'em and blow the shit out if their dimension next week, so choose
wisely!"

His hand slammed down the button.

***End Part 3