[Scene 1: Sanctuary Under Institutional Scrutiny]
The team's jump from the collapsing Rewind Alley was urgent and unplanned. They plunged into the nearest stable nexus: the silent, unnerving height of the Sleepwalker's Palace1. Here, suspended beds housed vulnerable dreamers, their unconscious minds a sea of raw psychic energy.
The Palace offered institutional protection, but also extreme risk—any conflict risked waking the dreamers and causing a catastrophic psychic shockwave2.
Zhao Ming, the stoic, disciplined agent of the Compliance Faction, was already waiting. He stood with perfect stillness, his hands clasped over his Worry Beads, his shaved head and dragon tattoo contrasting with the Palace's baroque elegance3. He was the physical manifestation of statistical order.
"Variables contained," Zhao Ming stated, his voice calm and reserved4. "Your unsanctioned temporal activity has reached critical mass, Team Sloth. The Time Echo is a violation of the Protocol's stability index. We require immediate negotiation."
[Scene 2: The Diplomat and the Gavel]
Dr. Sylvia Rook appeared, her presence immediate institutional authority. She recognized the severity of the standoff. This wasn't a skirmish; it was a diplomatic crisis over the team's very existence.
Sylvia raised her Naptime Gavel, the wood pulsing with a soft, authoritative golden light5. "Compliance will respect the Protocol. Is anyone here not an emergency? Fact: This team is sanctioned. We initiate a Naptime Negotiation. Tank Hayes and Leo Vance are at the center of the dispute."
Tank, still reeling from the psychic attack that targeted his self-worth, stood rigid. He knew the argument would be about his failure. "Let's smash AND grab! I hate talking when the truth needs smashing."
"Patience is power, Hayes," Zhao Ming said, echoing Tank's own internal conflict6. "The subject of your worth is now on the negotiation table."
[Scene 3: The Demand for Sacrifice]
Zhao Ming's demand was cold and precise. He didn't ask for the Lumina Clue. He targeted the team's heart.
"We demand the immediate, voluntary surrender of Mason 'Tank' Hayes," Zhao Ming stated. "The Carousel of Regrets trial has been adjusted by the Umbra Weaver to target his sense of worthlessness. He is now an Emotionally Unstable Variable that threatens to breach the trial and compromise the entire nexus."
Astrid immediately countered, her logic fiercely protective. "Facts first, feelings later! Fact: Tank Hayes's loyalty is a critical asset! His physical power is required for the upcoming Carousel trial's stability!"
Zhao Ming was unmoved. "His loyalty is a liability that masks his inner despair. His failure rate in this specific psychological trial is $99.9\%$. Statistical elimination is the safest path to order."
Leo stepped forward, his body still weak but his Consciousness sharp. He saw the cold, statistical efficiency of the Compliance Faction—their denial of all human flaw.
"You speak of stability, Zhao Ming," Leo whispered, his voice resonating with philosophical authority. "But you deny the equation. The flaw is the function."
[Scene 4: The Sloth King's Philosophical Defense]
Leo pushed a low-level Inertia Pulse outward, not to fight, but to project the absolute truth of his belief. He was using his power to force the rival to accept his core philosophy.
"You want to eliminate Tank's regret, but regret is what guides his courage. You want to eliminate my Sloth, but my Sloth is the Zeroness Anchor. Your order is a lie because it is built on denial!" Leo challenged.
Zhao Ming's composure fractured slightly. "Your philosophy is chaotic! It is inefficient! You rely on luck!"
"No, we rely on acceptance," Leo insisted, his compassion for his friend's struggle driving his philosophical strength. "We accepted the betrayal of Sanaa, and we accepted the prophecy of my self-erasure! You cannot calculate the strength of a team that fights for its weaknesses!"
Dr. Sylvia Rook slammed the Naptime Gavel hard. "Enough! The philosophical variables are too unstable!"
The energy of the argument—Leo's powerful acceptance versus Zhao Ming's denial—caused a massive spike in the Palace's ambient psychic energy.
[Scene 5: The Palace Collapse and The Clue]
The Sleepwalker's Palace began to groan. The suspended beds swayed violently. The vulnerable, trance-stricken NPCs began to twitch and murmur—the beginning of the catastrophic psychic shockwave.
Zhao Ming looked genuinely horrified. "The energy spike! The conflict is causing a psychic cascade! We must retreat!"
The psychic collapse was exactly what the Compliance Faction was trying to prevent. Their pursuit of order had led to chaos.
"Retreat, Crane!" Zhao Ming commanded through his comms. He looked at Leo with genuine, cold disdain. "Your chaos is contagious, Sloth King. You win the right to fail."
Zhao Ming melted into the shadow, but not before performing one final, methodical action. He tossed a tiny, intricately folded origami crane—a piece of subtle, non-psychic tech—onto the floor.
Astrid, her logic restored by the sheer necessity of the moment, grabbed the origami. "Data! He left us a final piece of intelligence!"
The origami crane contained a coded temporal signature. Petra, running remote diagnostics, shouted the chilling analysis.
"Laura! That code—it's a temporal fuse! The Carousel of Regrets trial isn't just designed to break Tank, it's primed! The psychic charge will detonate if he enters the final stage! It's a sacrifice trap!"
CLIFFHANGER:
The team scrambled for the exit, but the Palace was screaming. The psychic shockwave was accelerating, and the only exit led directly to the now-primed Carousel of Regrets.
Leo looked at the origami crane, then at Tank, who was standing rigid with fear, his fear now compounded by the knowledge that he was a statistical time bomb.
"We have to go to the Carousel, Tank," Leo said, his voice heavy with the inevitable. "We have to find your worth before that trial kills you."
Tank nodded, his Featherblade heavy in his hand.
Astrid looked at the data: the next trial demanded a fatal confrontation with Tank's weakness, and they had exactly ten minutes before the trial locked down. Their success depended entirely on stabilizing the Emotionally Unstable Variable before he exploded.
Zhao Ming's final, silent message echoed in the empty Palace: Patience is power. And now, they had no time left.