The lift plummeted down the shaft, metal screaming, sparks spiraling around them like hellfire confetti.
Maxx clutched the railing with both hands AND one foot.
"WE ARE FALLING AGAIN—WHY DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING TO ME SPECIFICALLY—"
4531 braced herself, eyes flickering with frantic code.
"We have approximately—"
She paused.And calculated.
"…five seconds before impact."
"FIVE SECONDS?!" Maxx shrieked.
"I DON'T EVEN HAVE TIME FOR A PANIC ATTACK—CAN YOU BOOK ME ONE FOR LATER—?!"
The lift shook violently.
Above them, a sound echoed.
Not a scream.
Not a roar.
A thunderous metallic stomp—getting louder.
Maxx's face drained of color.
"…He's falling too."
4531 didn't look up.
She didn't need to.
"He's faster."
Maxx's soul disintegrated.
Chat exploded:
he speedrunning ur death bro
alpha is built DIFFERENT
maxx ur gravity resistance stat is negative
we witnessing a live obituary 😭
A massive CRACK tore through the shaft.
The Alpha wasn't just falling.
He was charging down the wall, claws digging in, tearing grooves through steel like cardboard.
Maxx covered his face.
"I DO NOT CONSENT TO THIS BOSS MECHANIC—"
"Brace!" 4531 shouted.
"FOR WHAT?!?"
The lift SLAMMED into a secondary rail system—
BOOOOOM—
—and shot horizontally out of the shaft like a bullet from a cannon.
Maxx's scream transitioned seamlessly from "AAAA" to "UUUUUHHHH" as the lift rocketed through a dim underground tunnel.
4531 grabbed him before he could be flung out the side gate.
"MAXX! Focus!"
"I CAN'T! I'M TOO BUSY TRYING NOT TO DIE OR POOP!"
The lift jolted again as something slammed into the shaft entrance behind them.
Maxx turned just in time to see—
the Alpha diving after them, claws out, sprinting across the tunnel ceiling like gravity was drunk and confused.
Maxx shrieked,
"STOP DOING THAT—CEILINGS ARE NOT FOR RUNNING—THAT'S ILLEGAL—"
4531 pulled him close.
"Maxx, listen. You must STREAM."
Maxx blinked.
"STREAM?! NOW?! In a rocket-lift?! WHILE WE'RE BEING CHASED BY THE ROBOT WOLVERINE OF MY NIGHTMARES?!"
"Yes," she said, deadly serious.
"You need viewership. And you need power."
Oh god.Oh no.
She was right.
He had assignments due.
He had attendance quotas.
He had tuition payments.
He keeps on forgetting streaming wasn't optional.
Streaming was SURVIVAL.
Maxx slapped his chest—the heart-core pulsing.
"OKAY—OKAY—CHAT, YOU STILL WITH ME?!"
Chat erupted:
WE NEVER LEFT 💀
STREAM DURING TRAUMA ANY% SPEEDRUN
this semester wild asf
MAXX GO LIVE BEFORE U GO DEAD
Maxx inhaled sharply—
And pulled the heart's energy into focus.
His HUD burst alive in front of his eyes.
View count spiked instantly.
[LIVE: 482 viewers]
He barely had time to panic about that before—
KA-THOOOM—
The Alpha landed on the back of the lift, claws carving sparks in the metal.
Maxx screamed into his invisible camera:
"OKAY STREAM—TODAY'S LESSON IS: HOW TO NOT DIE WHILE FALLING SIDEWAYS AT A THOUSAND MILES AN HOUR!"
Chat:
LET HIM COOK
CONTENT GOLD
WE LOVE TRAUMA STREAMS
MAXX FIGHT HIM WITH EMOTES LMAO
4531 yelled, "MAXX—ATTACK WITH YOUR HEART!"
"I'M TRYING BUT IT'S BUSY HAVING PALPITATIONS—"
The Alpha's hand smashed through the lift wall.
His voice rumbled, hungry:
"Come with me, little doorway."
Maxx choked on air.
"No thank you I am NOT DoorDash I DO NOT DELIVER MYSELF—"
His heart-core flashed—
Chat's support pouring into him like fuel.
And suddenly—
Energy surged which was Raw and Chaotic.
Like a glitching star collapsing and exploding all at once.
Maxx thrust his hand forward.
"STREAM MODE BLAST—!!!"
A beam of blue-white streamer light erupted—
slamming into the Alpha's chest and blowing him backward down the tunnel.
He vanished in the smoke and sparks.
Maxx collapsed to his knees, panting, shaking, sweating everywhere.
4531 grabbed his arm.
"Maxx! That blast—what you did—"
"I don't know what I did—" he wheezed.
"I just panicked so hard it weaponized."
She smiled—
genuinely, softly.
"You're improving."
"I'm improving at almost dying?! THAT'S NOT A SKILL I WANT!"
The lift screeched violently as it approached the end of the tunnel.
Lights flickered,sirens wailed.
Then—
The tunnel opened into an enormous underground hall.
A gate waited at the end and beyond it—
A towering subway-like room filled with dead screens and flickering stations.
The Transit Tier was in the midst and their"exit."
Maxx swallowed.
"Okay… okay… maybe we made it…"
4531 didn't answer.
Because the gate slowly began to rise.
And something enormous stepped into the light.
Maxx whispered:
"Oh no."
4531 whispered:
"Oh no."
Chat whispered:
oh no.
And Maxx finished the thought:
"…That's not the Alpha."
The thing took another step.
Massive. Armored. Multi-limbed.
Worse.
So much worse.
4531's voice trembled.
"That's the Collector."
Maxx stared at the monster.
Then at the camera.
Then back at the monster.
He pointed dramatically.
"WHO KEEPS PATCHING IN NEW BOSSES?!"
As he neared,the lift screeched to a dying halt at the mouth of the Transit Tier, shuddering like it had been kicked by God.
Maxx staggered, holding onto the railing like it was a fragile emotional support object.
4531 pulled him upright.
"Stay close. That door won't hold long."
The gate finished rising—
THOOM.
The sound vibrated Maxx's ribs.
Then the Collector stepped fully into view.and Maxx's brain promptly took a vacation.
It wasn't a Reaper.
It wasn't an Echo.
It wasn't even in the same category as the Alpha.
It was a skyscraper of armor plates fused with cybernetic sinew—each limb jointed like an industrial crane.
Glowing vents pulsed down its torso, releasing hissing steam.
A cluster of blue eyes scanned the room in cold, surgical sweeps.
The worst part?
The giant extractor arm on its back… looked shaped exactly like—
Maxx choked.
"A GODDAMN VACUUM CLEANER?!"
4531 shook her head.
"That's an extraction module."
Maxx blinked rapidly.
"For WHAT? Organs? Souls? Tax returns?!"
"For Echo cores," she said softly.
He froze.
It wasn't just a monster.
It was a harvester.
Of her kind.
The Collector turned, servos grinding, until all eight blue eyes locked onto them.
Maxx felt cold all the way to his bones.
Chat exploded:
bro that thing built like trauma
maxx u gotta run my boy
WHY THE EIGHT EYES
IT LOOKING INTO MY SOUL THROUGH MY PHONE
THAT VACUUM GOT MURDER MODE DLC
Maxx pointed frantically at the creature.
"That thing needs to STOP LOOKING AT ME LIKE I'M A BLACK FRIDAY DEAL!"
4531 pushed him behind a broken pillar.
"We need to run. Now."
He peeked around her—
The Collector took a step.
The floor dented under its weight.
Maxx squealed.
"OH GREAT—IT HAS EARTHQUAKE FEET—"
But the Collector didn't charge.
Instead, it raised one mechanical limb—
And pointed at him.
Maxx froze.
"…Why me?"
4531's voice cracked.
"Because it hunts anomalies."
He blinked. "I'm an anomaly?!"
"Yes."
"I don't WANT to be!!"
The giant extraction arm whirred to life—blades spinning, energy crackling.
Maxx gagged on terror.
"WHY DOES IT SOUND LIKE A BLENDER SET TO 'HUMAN'—?!"
Then—
A voice thundered through every speaker:
HELIX:
"Collector. Priority target: Subject MAXX.
Retrieve. Do not kill."
Maxx screeched, "OH THAT MAKES ME FEEL SO MUCH BETTER, THANK YOU—"
4531 pulled his face toward hers.
"Maxx. Focus. We need a plan."
He nodded.
He was sweating everywhere.
Even places humans shouldn't sweat.
"Okay… okay… plan. Right. Excellent. Fantastic…
DO YOU HAVE ONE?!"
"Yes," she said.
"THANK GOD!"
"We run."
"THAT'S NOT A PLAN, THAT'S FEAR WITH SHOES—"
The ground shook.
The Collector stepped forward.
4531 grabbed Maxx's wrist—
and sprinted toward the service metro platform.
He bolted alongside her, stumbling.
"Are we running toward the danger or away from it?!"
"Yes!"
"THAT'S NOT AN ANSWER—"
Behind them, the Collector roared.
Not animal nor mechanical energy as he became col and and hungry.
The sound made Maxx's ears ring.
He choked.
"WHY DOES EVERYTHING HERE SOUND LIKE A BOSS INTRO?!"
4531 skidded behind a support beam as the Collector's extractor arm pulverized a row of benches like they were paper cups.
"MAXX!" she shouted, grabbing his shoulders.
"You need to STREAM."
Maxx blinked.
"NOW?! While that thing is trying to STICK A GIANT STRAW INTO ME?!"
"Yes," she said urgently.
"You need power. And viewers."
He groaned.
"I hate college."
But he placed his hand on his heart-core anyway.
He inhaled.
Chat flared bright.
"okay we live now boys"
"somebody clip this whole fight"
"collector boutta get STREAM SNIPED"
"maxx if u die i'm dropping out for u"
Maxx stood up straight.
And for a moment…
He didn't feel like a terrified freshman.
He felt like someone watched.
Like someone counted on him.
Like someone—
believed in him.
His chest glowed.
4531 watched, breath stilling.
"Maxx… your core—"
Light burst from it.
Streaming HUD sharpened and sub count spiked.
Power hummed into his limbs.
Maxx pointed at the Collector like he was about to scold it.
"HEY, BIG VACUUM! You want to collect something?!
COLLECT. THIS. CONTENT."
The Collector charged.
Maxx raised his hands—
STREAM COMBO: HEART-LINK BLAST!!
Blue-white energy snapped into existence—
crackling, unstable, bright enough to burn shadows into the wall.
4531 grabbed his arm, channeling her glitch-core into his heart—
The beam roared forward just as the Collector swung.
And the whole Transit Tier flashed white.