Maxx didn't run often.
He sprinted now like the universe was behind him with a spatula.
Because it was.
The Root Scout hit the ground with a wet, digital thud — a collapsing wave of corrupted code rippling outward. Its body shifted constantly: too many legs, too many joints, too many eyes blinking in patterns that made Maxx want to uninstall his own brain.
"WHY DOES IT LOOK LIKE A FAILED SCIENCE PROJECT THAT LEARNED HOW TO HUNT?!" Maxx shouted, feet slapping against broken glitch-floor.
4531 yanked him sideways just in time as a jagged limb smashed down where his head had been.
"Less screaming, more moving!" she barked.
Lyra grabbed his wrist and pulled him smoother, faster, her movements graceful even as the ground flickered and fractured beneath them.
Maxx stumbled.
"Lyra, you're A LOT faster than usual—!"
"I optimized myself," she said through clenched teeth. "Temporarily."
Maxx panted.
"TEMPORARILY?! WHY IS EVERYTHING IN MY LIFE TEMPORARY?!"
A ground-shake made him trip.
Lyra caught him before he face-planted into a floating data cube.
Behind them, the Scout screeched — a multi-tonal glitch scream that made the air bend.
4531 spun around, blades extended from her forearms, carving three bright streaks of blue code into the creature's face.
It barely flinched.
4531 gritted her teeth.
"Of course. It's a Root construct. Physical damage is… limited."
Maxx screamed:
"WHY WOULD YOU OPEN WITH THAT NOW?!"
The Scout lunged.
Lyra pulled Maxx through a collapsing corridor of floating code platforms.
Maxx nearly vomited.
"Why is the ground behaving like a puzzle game on HARD MODE?!"
Lyra's voice was tight.
"This sector is reacting to your presence. You're destabilizing it just by being here."
Maxx nearly tripped again.
"SO I'M A WALKING EARTHQUAKE NOW?! GREAT. AMAZING. LOVE THAT FOR ME."
The corridor ahead broke apart — cubes falling into a dark void.
"NOPE," Maxx snapped, turning instantly. "I am NOT jumping over a pit of nonexistence!"
4531 grabbed him by the hood like a misbehaving cat, hoisted him up, and leapt.
Maxx screamed all the way across.
Lyra floated beside them, landing lightly.
The Scout slammed into the platform behind them, sending a shockwave through the entire sector — the glitch-world trembling like it was seconds from collapsing.
4531 scanned rapidly.
"We can't outrun it. We must exit the layer."
Lyra nodded.
"There's an anchor point nearby. I can feel it."
Maxx gasped.
"YES. GOOD. TELEPORTATION. LET'S DO THAT. I VOLUNTEER."
The Scout screeched — louder, sharper — and its limbs extended unnaturally, stretching across the void like roots burrowing through reality.
4531 cursed under her breath.
"It's accelerating. It wants you badly."
Maxx rolled his eyes mid-run.
"YES, THANK YOU, I NOTICED THE GIANT CODE DEMON'S ENTHUSIASM."
They jumped onto another drifting platform.
The creature followed — climbing and twisting toward them like a spider made of corrupted memory.
Lyra suddenly halted.
4531 skidded beside her.
Maxx crashed into both of them.
"WHY ARE WE STOPPING?! THIS IS A VERY BAD TIME FOR A BREAK!"
Lyra held up her hand — glowing brilliantly.
"There. Ahead."
Maxx followed her gaze.
A floating sphere of pure white-blue light hovered above a cracked pillar of old data.
An anchor point and their way out.
Maxx's whole soul lit up with hope.
"Yes. YES. Let's go! Grab me! Throw me! Catapult me! I'll roll into it if I have to—"
4531 stepped forward and even Lyra too.
Both tense and both ready.
But the Scout lunged again — closing the distance with horrifying speed.
Lyra shouted, "Maxx, MOVE!"
4531 shoved him forward immediately.
Maxx stumbled toward the anchor point.
The Scout's limbs burst from the floor, grabbing for him—
—and the Root's voice echoed through the whole collapsing world:
"RETURN TO ME, VESSEL."
The command hit Maxx like a punch in the lungs.
He dropped to his knees, gasping, vision flickering into violet.
Lyra screamed his name.
4531 charged the creature.
Maxx clawed at the ground, trying to pull himself toward the anchor point—
But the world blurred at this point in time as
reality flickered.
The Root's voice drilled deeper:
"YOU WERE MINE THE MOMENT YOU ENDED."
Maxx felt his body being dragged backward—
Until a warm hand snatched his wrist.
Lyra.
Her eyes blazing with determination and fear.
"Maxx," she whispered, voice breaking, "stay with me."
4531 shouted behind them, "GO NOW!"
Maxx stared at Lyra, barely conscious.
She pulled him in, holding him close.
Then—
She threw him into the anchor point.
Light exploded.
The Old Layer vanished at this moment .
In another while
Maxx's consciousness returned like a cheap horror movie jump scare.
No gentle fade-in.
No peaceful ambience.
Just—
SLAM — gasp — sit up — instant regret.
His head spun. His throat burned. His bones felt like someone had microwaved them.
"UGH—why does teleportation feel like emotional AND physical trauma at the same time—"
He stopped ,blinked once then twice as it finally hit him.
The room around him was… wrong.
Not broken or glitching.
Not a rooftop or a void or a collapsing dimension.
Instead—
Warm wooden floors with a ticking analog clock on the wall.
A shelf full of old books and mismatched trinkets.
A bed with thick blankets and soft wooden lamp light.
And outside the window, a calm morning sky.
Maxx whispered:
"…Where the hell am I? Did I teleport into someone's grandma's house?!"
Then a voice behind him answered:
"No. You're in my room."
Maxx jolted so hard he nearly launched himself out of the bed.
He turned—and froze.
Standing beside the door, one hand lightly resting on the frame, was:
Maya.
But not the Maya he knew on his old campus.
This one wore soft pajamas, hair tied up messily, glasses slightly crooked, eyes tired but warm. She looked… different. More real. More human. Like she wasn't performing or guarding herself.
Maxx's jaw dropped.
"You—you—HOW—WHAT—why am I IN YOUR ROOM?!"
Maya sighed like someone who had just survived three consecutive disasters and was too tired to pretend otherwise.
"You crashed into the anchor point," she said. "Lyra managed to toss you through before the Root Scout reached you. I… caught you on my end."
Maxx blinked.
"You caught me?"
She rubbed her wrist.
"Well—more like you fell through my ceiling. But yes. Catching-adjacent."
Maxx flopped back onto the pillow.
"Oh my god. I owe your landlord an apology and probably financial compensation."
Maya walked closer, adjusting her glasses.
"Relax. No landlord. Off-campus housing. My space. My rules."
She looked… nervous. Almost shy.
Then her eyes flicked over him, checking for injuries.
"You're not supposed to be here, though," she added quietly. "Anchor points don't usually open into personal quarters. Unless…"
She swallowed.
Maxx frowned.
"Unless what?"
Maya hesitated.
Then she sat down beside his bed, voice soft:
"Unless the person on the other side is… your linked tether."
Silence.
Maxx blinked.
"Tether? Like—Wi-Fi?"
Maya stared.
"No, Maxx. Not like Wi-Fi."
"Oh."
"…Maybe a little like Wi-Fi," she admitted.
"Oh."
Maya sighed into her hands.
"It means your energy defaults to me. When you're unstable, damaged, or lost… you return to my coordinates."
Maxx stared at her, eyes wide.
"Wait—so you're like… my safe point?"
A tiny embarrassed smile flickered across her lips.
"…Yes."
Maxx's heart did something weird.
Like a soft panic attack but pleasant?
Then—
The door behind Maya slammed open.
Maxx jumped.
Standing there were Lyra and 4531—both battered, both furious, both sparking from damage—but alive.
Lyra locked onto Maxx immediately.
4531 scanned him protectively.
Both spoke at the same time:
"MAXX."
Maya tensed.
Maxx stared at the three girls now in the same room.
His brain short-circuited.
"…Oh no," he whispered. "My respawn point caused a relationship side quest."
Lyra stepped forward, voice trembling.
"I told you not to leave my sight—"
4531 cut in sharply.
"You require protection at all times—"
Maya raised her chin.
"He's safe here. With me."
Maxx slowly lowered his head into the pillow.
"Why do I feel like I'm about to get killed by THREE different women who are all trying to save me?"
Lyra and 4531 froze—both suddenly noticing the cozy room.
Maya crossed her arms.
"So," she said softly but dangerously, "who wants to explain why Maxx was being hunted by a Root Scout?"
Lyra and 4531 glanced at each other.
Maxx groaned.
"Oh good," he muttered. "We're doing an exposition boss fight."
The Root's whisper echoed faintly in his memory:
"Return to me, vessel."
Maxx shivered and Maya noticed but sat closer instead.
"Maxx… what did it say to you?"
He swallowed.
"It said I belong to it."
Lyra's eyes dimmed in fear and 4531's fists clenched.
Maya's expression hardened.
Then Maya stood up and said the one thing none of them expected:
"Then we stop running."
Maxx stared.
"…What?"
Maya looked at all of them.
"We stop reacting. We stop panicking. And we start planning."
She lifted her glasses, fire behind her eyes.
"If the Root wants Maxx… then we're going to figure out why—before it comes again."
Maxx blinked.
"…Wait, so I'm not running anymore?"
Lyra: "No."
4531: "Never again."
Maya: "You have a team now, idiot."
Maxx's heart thudded.
He glanced around at all three of them.
His new team,his apparently safe tether and realized his now chaos was better than his old life and he had an entire new life.
"…Okay," he whispered. "Let's plan."