Stage Two begins now.
Darkness swallowed the storage room the moment the hatch clanged shut behind them.
The only light came from a dying ceiling strip flickering in and out like it was trying to Morse code its last will.
Maxx slumped against a crate, chest heaving, sparks still crawling under his skin like disobedient neon worms.
NPC-4531 crouched in front of him, her glitchy pink eyes scanning his face with frantic micro-animations.
"Your pulse is irregular," she murmured. "Your body temperature is up. Your readings are—"
"Yeah, yeah, everything about me is having a meltdown," Maxx groaned. "Honestly same."
A soft static laugh escaped her — then glitched halfway into a digital hiccup.
He frowned.
"Are you… okay?"
She blinked rapidly, pixels fluttering across her cheeks.
"I don't know," she whispered — and for the first time since they met, she looked scared for herself, not just him.
Maxx forced himself to sit straighter.
"Talk to me," he said. "What's going on?"
She hesitated, fingers tightening around her broom like it was the only constant in her world.
"…I shouldn't be like this," she said finally.
Her voice was small. Too human. Too fragile.
"Like what?"
She looked down.
"Afraid. Happy. Angry. Attached. These things— NPCs aren't allowed to feel them. We're not coded for it."
Her fingers touched her chest lightly.
"But lately… I feel too much."
Maxx blinked.
"That sounds like an upgrade, not a bug."
"It's not."
She shook her head hard.
"At least—not according to the system."
She sucked in a sharp breath — a habit she shouldn't even have.
"Maxx… sometimes I remember things I shouldn't. I dream about places I've never seen. I hear a voice calling me by a name that isn't mine."
She looked directly into his eyes, her voice breaking.
"NPC-4531 isn't my real name. I… I don't think I was meant to be just a cleaning unit."
Maxx's chest tightened painfully — not anomaly pain, just crushing empathy.
"Then who are you?"
She shook her head helplessly.
"I don't know."
A beat of silence.
Then—
She leaned in slightly.
"When you touched me in the Arena… something changed in me. Something woke up. And when you lost control just now—"
She placed her hand where his heart had pulsed wild and violent minutes ago.
"—I felt something again. Like my code… synced with you. Like I could steady you."
Maxx went still.
"…So we're connected?"
Her breath hitched.
"I think so."
He swallowed.
This… this was way bigger than he expected.
And before he could process it—
CLANG.
A metallic thud hit the hallway just outside the storage room.
Both of them froze.
The faint hum of scanners drifted through the air.
Drones — not the small ones. Heavy ones. The kind that only came out when someone pressed the Oh No We're All Gonna Die button.
4531 shivered.
"They're sweeping the maintenance sectors," she whispered. "They'll reach this room in less than three minutes."
Maxx's heart dropped.
"So uh, tiny cleaning unit with ninja instincts… do we run? Hide? Become crates? What's our move?"
She bit her lip.
"I don't know. I've never escaped a kill order before."
"Great," Maxx muttered. "Love that for us."
The scanner hum grew louder.
4531 grabbed his hand.
"Stay close to me. And—"
She hesitated.
"Please don't lose control again. Your energy spikes are like beacons."
"Oh cool," Maxx said. "So I'm basically a walking flashlight of doom."
She squeezed his hand.
"You're alive. That's what matters."
Maxx stared at her — and realized…
This wasn't just an NPC anymore.
She was becoming someone.
Someone real.
Someone scared.
Someone who trusted him.
He opened his mouth to respond—
BEEP.
A tiny device near the floor lit up.
Maxx flinched.
"What the—?!"
4531 dragged him back, broom raised like a weapon.
A voice crackled softly through the hidden speaker.
"Kaito?" Maxx whispered.
The doctor's irritated sigh confirmed it.
"You two are absolute disasters," he muttered. "Don't move. I'm rerouting the sweep path to buy you sixty seconds."
"Sixty seconds?" Maxx hissed. "Bro, I can't even tie my shoes in sixty seconds—"
"Good. Then don't waste time tying your shoes."
Maxx scowled. "Okay, rude—"
"Listen carefully," Kaito cut him off.
His tone was low, urgent — completely unlike his usual emotionally-dead sarcasm.
"Director Helix ordered Stage Two. The entire Arena is closing in on you. Drones, Reapers, Containment squads—he's mobilizing everything."
4531's pixels dimmed.
"You're risking your job helping us," she whispered.
Kaito paused.
"My job stopped mattering the moment Helix ordered your deletion."
Maxx blinked.
"…Kaito… you care?"
"Absolutely not," Kaito snapped instantly. "I simply dislike unnecessary waste of potential."
Maxx grinned.
"Oh yeah, he cares."
"Shut up," Kaito said.
"Now listen. There's an old maintenance elevator three rooms down. It'll take you to the abandoned Transit Tier."
"What's there?" Maxx asked.
"Somewhere to hide."
"And after that?"
Kaito hesitated.
"…Let's survive this hour first."
The device flickered out.
Silence.
Maxx let out a slow breath.
4531 touched his arm gently.
"We should go. The drones will be here any second."
Maxx nodded…
but stopped when he noticed something.
Her hand was glowing faintly.
"Um… is your hand supposed to be doing that?"
She jerked back, startled.
"I—I don't know. I've never glowed before."
Maxx stared.
"Okay, seriously, are we sure you're not the chosen one? Because I feel like I should be glowing…"
She cracked a tiny smile.
"You glow enough for both of us."
Deep in the control chamber, Director Helix watched the drone feed as it swept closer to the storage rooms.
Technicians scrambled around him like terrified ants.
"Sir, the anomaly signatures are fluctuating—"
"Contain them," Helix said.
"Sir, the NPC unit is still with him—"
"Erase her."
A trembling operator gulped.
"S-sir… Kaito seems to be interfering with the sweep path—"
Helix's eyes narrowed.
"Then add him to the purge list."
The room fell silent.
Helix leaned closer to the main monitor.
His expression unreadable.
"He's evolving faster than anticipated," he murmured.
The cloaked figure beside him smiled darkly.
"Shall we proceed?"
Helix's answer was quiet.
"Begin Stage Three preparations.
If he escapes this sector… we'll need the Reaper."
Back In the Hallway
The hallway lights flashed red while a heavy drone shadow appeared outside the storage room door.
Maxx's heart jumped to his throat.
4531 grabbed his wrist.
"Run."
And together—
They bolted into the darkness.