"Halt, boy."
An officer clad in high-grade, advanced tech armor stopped him just before the towering gates of NexaTech's Tech Division. A whole other world of innovation stood beyond.
The officer extended a gloved hand toward Zane.
He quickly reached into his jacket and produced the identification chip. The officer scanned it against the monitor on his wrist, and a holographic display lit up instantly.
User: Zane Everhart
Role: Invited Test Subject
Compatibility with Requirements: 90%
Officer's eyes flicked from the screen to Zane.
"Are you afraid, boy?" he asked.
Zane blinked. Is this some kind of test?
"To some extent... yes, sir," he replied, steadying his voice.
The officer studied him for a moment too long. Zane shifted uncomfortably under the scrutiny.
"Alright, hotshot. I'll take you where you need to be."
Phew.
After enduring countless security scans and the cold, unblinking eyes of a thousand guards, Zane and the officer finally arrived at what looked like a warehouse but it wasn't. Not really.
It was a facility.
"Go in there. You'll find what you seek."
Zane stood at the entrance, breath fogging in the chilled air. The structure towered over him, silent and massive, humming with unseen energy. The outer walls shimmered faintly, coated in security fields only detectable by the subconscious.
He stepped forward.
As soon as his boot touched the inner floor, the lights responded as soft blue lines rippled along the walls like a pulse. The doors behind him hissed shut.
No turning back now.
The corridor stretched ahead, more sterile and eerily quiet. It felt less like a hallway and more like an observation tube, designed to monitor everything down to his heartbeat.
A voice echoed from the walls, synthetic yet smooth.
"Good evening. Are you test subject Zane Everhart?"
"Yes." He wasn't sure if answering calmly or shouting would make a difference to an AI.
"Please proceed forward. We've been awaiting your arrival."
Awaiting?
That word stuck with him.
A door at the end of the corridor hissed open as he neared. He paused, torn between stepping through or backing out. After a breath, he clenched his fists and walked in.
"Shit."
The room buzzed with movement. Scientists in pristine lab suits crossed paths with others in sleek exoskeleton rigs. Zane barely had time to take it all in before a man in a white coat approached.
"You must be Zane Everhart?" the man asked, offering a hand.
Zane nodded, still caught off guard, and shook it in silence.
"Please, come with me."
The man guided him through a reinforced security door labeled RESTRICTED TESTING ZONE. Inside, rows of seats were already filled. Some subjects looked nervous. Others sat in stoic silence. A few seemed like they had nothing left to lose.
Zane found an empty seat and sank into it quietly, head lowered.
A tall figure soon stepped up to the front of the room. His black lab coat shimmered with the NexaTech emblem, burning like fire across his chest.
"Good evening," he began. "I am Dr. Ray. Welcome to the Ascension Protocol."
Silence swept through the room like a cold wind.
"Here's what you need to know. This is a test. One that has never succeeded."
He let that hang in the air for a while.
"You are here because you meet the survival threshold. But make no mistake… we do not guarantee your safety. Once the protocol begins, we do not interfere. You fight. You survive. Or you don't."
Above them, a digital contract materialized, floating midair.
"Sign if you accept. If you don't you are free to walk out. Now."
Zane's eyes combed through the document. The fine print was ruthless:
You waive your rights. You accept the risk. NexaTech will not be held accountable.
But one clause pulled him in.
He raised his hand.
"If I survive… will NexaTech take care of my guardian?"
Dr. Ray didn't even blink.
"Yes. That much we promise. Survive, and you earn favor. Favor brings protection for whoever you name in the contract."
Zane nodded, typed in his mother's name, and signed.
A second message followed:
The Last One Standing
Will be granted the attention and favor of CORE, the sentient AI that governs the Protocol.
"Now, listen carefully," Dr. Ray continued. "There are rules. First: Do not run from your opponent….I repeat do not.No matter how terrifying. Your objective is to defeat the entity. That is your mission."
"Or else what?" one of the braver candidates asked.
Dr. Ray's expression didn't change.
"We can't say exactly what will happen. But we know this, it's game over."
A nervous murmur spread across the room.
Zane observed them, half-interested, half-detached. If it's about survival, then fine. But defeating whatever we're facing... that's something else entirely.
"The one to defeat the entity will merge with CORE. It will become your guide, your partner. Trust me, we're doing you a favor by programming it this way."
"What are our chances?" someone asked. Zane recognized him, the stranger he had shared the carpod with earlier. The guy looked pale now.
Dr Ray shrugged.
"One in ten... or ten in a hundred... or a hundred in a thousand. Give or take."
Zane raised a brow. Such a brutal game of survival.
"Any more questions?"
The room quieted. Everyone exchanged uneasy glances. Whispers rose, then fell again into silence.
"In the absence of any," Ray said, "please proceed to the Test Zone."
All of them rose and followed another suited man through the final corridor. The new room was so white it was almost blinding. Walls and floor blended into one.Zane couldn't even tell where one ended and the other began.
Until the AI broke his chain of thought.
{Subject 007: Zane Everhart
Please proceed to Pod E—17AC.
Subject 008: Sarah...}
A soldier waited beside the pod, holding out a suit. It was seamless, black, and tight-fitting. Too tight, in fact. As soon as Zane slipped into it, he grimaced because it hugged everything, including areas he wished it didn't.
"Get in the pod, sire," the soldier grunted. His voice was cold, almost annoyed. Zane couldn't tell if the man hated his job… or just hated himself.
He lay into the pod with a deep sigh, blue eyes staring up into the blinding white. The lid lowered slowly, sealing him in with a soft hiss.
A thin bionic arm extended, no larger than a finger, placing two flat chips on either side of his face just above the ears.
Through the pod window, he could still see the other subjects prepping for launch.
Immediately everyone was secured and ready to go,the soldiers marched out of the room while technicians scrambled around, securing final settings.
Behind the glass up front, the managers were watching. He could tell,the structure of the room wasn't normal compared to what he had been seeing since birth.
A voice echoed through the speakers,the voice seemed odd, probably one of the upper brass.
"Remember... this is a great leap you're taking for humanity. Do not waste it, my friends. Ascend, and never descend. With good faith."
Then the hum began.Power switch clicked on as each pod lit with life.
A deep, resonating vibration filled the room with power.
"Beginning the Protocol in 10 seconds." One of the engineers called out to us.
{10... 9... 8... 7... 6... 5...
4…3…2…1…}
A soft chime echoed through the white chamber then followed by silence.
Zane's body tensed. The pod's interior filled with a faint gas. His breath slowed. He could hear his heartbeat pulsing in his ears, slowing with every passing second.
His pupils dilated.
Then his eyes closed slowly like one on sleeping pills.
A white flash and everything disappeared.
Darkness.
Then a sudden pull, like gravity bending in every direction. His mind reeled. His senses twisted. A sharp ringing noise filled his skull. He tried to scream, but no voice followed.
He opened his eyes.
But he wasn't in the pod anymore.
He was standing on soil. Cold, damp earth beneath his boots. Thick fog clung to the air. A blood-red sky churned above, thunder rumbling softly in the distance. Trees taller than skyscrapers loomed on the horizon, their leaves sharp like blades, swaying unnaturally slow.
What the hell is this place?
Zane blinked again, trying to adjust.
Then he noticed others. People…spread out around him. Fifteen in total, including himself. Each one was disoriented, glancing around just like he was. He caught sight of faint holographic tags floating just above their heads.
Player 2 – Rika
Player 3 – Juno
Player 4 – Mason
Player 5 – Silva
…
Everyone was dressed in the same skin-tight black suit, each tagged with their number. Some stood still, and others muttered nervously. One guy knelt to the ground, touching the dirt.
"This… This isn't code-generated," he whispered.
Zane agreed silently. He couldn't explain it, but everything felt too real. The air burned when he inhaled. His skin prickled from the cold wind. The trees swayed like they were watching.
Then, a sudden flicker.
A pulsing orb appeared above them, glitching and reforming rapidly until it stabilized into a single glowing eye.
A voice echoed, calm and unfeeling.
"Welcome, candidates. I am CORE, your guide through the Ascension Sequence."
Everyone turned toward the voice.
"You are currently inside the Neurolink Field, stabilized by your neural pod signatures. Your consciousness has been transferred to a shared digital plane; a safe, contained reality."
Someone raised their hand. "Why does it feel so real then?"
The AI paused.
"Because what you feel is real. Your pain, your fear, your deaths…they will be felt. This is the price of ascension."
Zane swallowed hard.
{Your goal is simple,
Survive. Evolve and Ascend. You will be given tasks which involve defeating your Enemies. }
Then the orb flickered… twitched unnaturally.
A strange, static distortion rippled through the sky.
Then it spoke again but this time, the voice changed.
It wasn't the same cold, robotic tone anymore. This one was glitched deeper, layered with something that sounded… alive.
{But know this… not everything in this realm is under my control.}
Zane's eyes narrowed. "Wait….what?"
The ground beneath them suddenly shifted.
A loud, organic groan echoed from the distance, like something ancient had just awakened.
The trees in the distance began moving. Something was walking through them.
The AI flickered again.
{Begin your preparation. Your first trial approaches. Get ready to ascend}
And just like that, the orb vanished.
Then, a monstrous roar split the sky.
Zane turned toward the sound, breath caught in his throat. This wasn't just a simulation anymore.
The ground began pulsing like it could breathe some even fell from the impact. But no.
Something was trying to escape beneath, a clawed hand clutched through the soil. The fangs were no joke.
"Mother fucking..." One of the players cursed.
Their HUD glowed a message. Zane clicked his first like he had a time limit, followed by the others.
{Goal: Survive for 15 minutes}
Countdown initiating...…Begin!