353rd Daisy Trials, Round of 64.
As her form materialized in the factory, Cassie looked around, momentarily disoriented. For a brief second, she thought she was back in the hangar. The high ceilings, the metal beams, the industrial atmosphere—it all felt familiar.
But the illusion shattered quickly.
Rust, broken tiles, and heaps of discarded junk reminded her where she really was. This wasn’t home. This was still the exams.
She steadied herself. The momentary dizziness passed, and she found her bearings. Her eyes were immediately drawn to a window high on the wall, offering a glimpse of the night sky. A few scattered stars were visible. Clear skies. She tilted her head back, trying to gauge how much of the sky was obscured by the ceiling. Too much.
After the pine woodland, the quarry, and the desert, she hadn’t expected Daisy to throw them into an indoor space. This complicated things. Many of her most expensive upgrades were designed for open-sky capture.
She approached the window, but halfway there, she bumped into something invisible. A barrier. Her brow furrowed.
So that’s how it was going to be.
Daisy always did this—offering a glimpse of freedom, then locking the door. A dangling carrot just out of reach, while the stick poked at their heels. For the life of her, Cassie couldn’t understand why Daisy didn’t just let them leave. Supplying them the rocket fuel they needed would’ve caused far less environmental damage than stranding them here.
She exhaled. Letting frustration get the better of her wouldn’t help. Anger was inefficient. She took a deep breath, centered herself, and turned away from the wall.
Focus on the goal.
If the arena center was outdoors, she’d head there. If not, she’d find a workaround—anything to gain visibility of the night sky.
The spawn location resembled a decommissioned factory. Machines lay collapsed under their own rust. Every surface was corroded beyond recognition, as if acid rain had poured for years. Compared to the pristine order of the great hangar in her sector, this place was a tomb.
She began moving.
“Inventory,” she called, and the floating window appeared. She pulled out two glass spheres.
At 1:59:00, she hurled the first one forward. It shattered with a sharp bang and a burst of light. A flash bomb—meant to blind her opponent and buy her time. At 1:58:30, she threw the second.
One full minute of breathing room. She would make it count.
She reached the central laboratory not long after. A smile pulled at the corners of her lips. Of all places, a lab.
The tools were shattered. The benches, overturned. The machines, useless. The whole place looked like it had been looted by scavengers. Just like the rest of the planet.
It felt familiar, but only just. She had spent more time in a lab than anywhere else. But comparing to their fuel lab, this one was a sad joke.
For decades her people had been working on a fuel that could power a rocket and pass Daisy’s scrutiny. When the formula wasn’t clean enough, Daisy stormed in with cyber monkeys and confiscated everything. It had happened more than once.
Shaking her head, Cassie focused on the task at hand. She spotted a toolbox beneath a bench and knelt to open it, but her hands passed right through.
A prop. Not real.
Undeterred, she raised her camera and snapped a photo of it. Whatever its original purpose, she’d figure it out later.
She always did.
Capture successful!
Tries left: 19 of 20.
Toolbox ?? (Uncommon)
1 of 4
HP: 3
VP: 1
Thankfully, her opponent hadn’t yet found this place. She needed to move fast while that was still true.
Continuing her exploration, Cassie discovered a second room connected to the lab. At its center stood a silvery engine, enclosed in a glass case like a museum artifact. The sight of it sparked both excitement and anger.
The arrangement of spark plugs, the exhaust manifold, the precision fuel injection system—this was an internal combustion engine. A real one. She’d studied this exact technology back in her sector while developing rocket fuel formulations.
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So why was it here?
Why would Daisy showcase a banned technology—one her people had once relied on, one they craved?
Was she trying to get inside Cassie’s head? Was this some kind of cruel joke?
Cassie’s eyes narrowed. She didn’t know Daisy’s intentions, but she knew her own. She was familiar with this engine—intimately so. If Daisy was baiting her, fine. She’d take the bait and turn it into an advantage.
She raised her camera and started taking pictures.
Capture successful!
Tries left: 18 of 20.
Combustion Engine ?? (Rare)
1 of 2
HP: 5
VP: 2
Capture successful!
Tries left: 17 of 20.
The victory points weren’t impressive, but she could work with it. There had to be something in this factory that synergized with the card. She scanned the lab for more useful targets, but all she found were barrels marked with radioactive warnings—barely tucked into the corner like an afterthought.
Just in case, she snapped two pictures of them.
Capture successful!
Tries left: 16 of 20.
Radioactive Waste ???? (Uncommon)
1 of 3
HP: 2
VP: 2
Capture successful!
Tries left: 15 of 20.
After exploring the place thoroughly, Cassie made her way toward the arena’s outer rim, using her map and compass to navigate. The arena seemed to be a circle within a square, but there had to be a spot—maybe a window or a gap in the ceiling—large enough for her to do what she needed.
She passed through an old cargo bay, piles of discarded garbage scattered throughout, then moved through a dilapidated office space. Finally, she phased through a wall and stepped outside.
The landscape around her was littered with scrap. She ignored all of it. Her eyes fixed on the sky above.
It was early morning—a perfect time to spot Mercury. She turned toward the horizon, took out her camera, and activated the telescopic lens. Slowly, she scanned the sky. After a few moments, she found it. The small, bright speck of Mercury shone like a beacon.
Capture successful!
Tries left: 14 of 20.
Mercury ?? (Legendary)
1 of 1
HP: 0
VP: 10
That leaves Jupiter.
It was the wrong time of night to capture it, but that wasn’t a problem.
“Inventory,” she called out, her voice steady.
Her window opened, and she reached for the hourglass.
She flipped it over, letting the sand spill from one bulb to the other. The sky around her began to darken as the flow of time reversed. The moon, nearly gone a moment ago, grew brighter against the black backdrop, and the small stars appeared once more. She watched as the time on the stage shifted, bringing her to the heart of the night.
Satisfied, she grabbed her camera. She adjusted her camera, aiming it at the Aries constellation. After a brief search, she found it. Her heart quickened slightly as she lowered the camera, locking her lens onto the bright planet. She zoomed in as much as she could, then snapped the shot.
Capture successful!
Tries left: 13 of 20.
Jupiter ?? (Uncommon)
1 of 1
HP: 0
VP: 4
With this, she had all seven planets.
I can’t wait to see the upgrade I’ll get from this.
She turned her attention to the constellations. She repositioned her camera, aimed it at Aries again, and snapped a picture.
Capture failed.
Cassie clicked her tongue in frustration. Why could she capture planets but not constellations? It didn’t make sense.
There has to be an upgrade I’m missing.
She shrugged off the failure and walked back toward the factory’s wall, trying to focus on the task at hand. As she moved, her attention was drawn to something else—a white geometric pattern reflecting the moonlight. Curious, she approached, discovering a spider resting in its web.
Cassie raised her camera and aimed it at the spider.
Capture failed.
“What? Another failure?” she muttered, annoyed. This was the second failed shot of the round. Had her opponent been here already? Biting her lip, she scanned the area for something her opponent might have missed.
Her eyes landed on the delicate glistening drops of dew scattered across the spider’s web. Perfect. She zoomed in on one of the dewdrops and snapped the photo.
Capture successful!
Tries left: 10 of 20.
Water ?? (Uncommon)
HP: 3
VP: 1
Cassie let out a quiet sigh. Another photo down. She took one final glance at the web, and as her gaze lingered on the sparkling threads, her mind began to wander.
She couldn’t help but think of Alex, that handsome boy from the sector across the wall. His smile … She’d never imagined she’d be thinking of him during the trial. Yet, here she was.
When they first met, she felt sorry for him. He lived according to Daisy’s rules, unaware that there was another way—a way to break free. They’d had many conversations, and Cassie had tried to open his eyes. She remembered one night when she’d compared Daisy to a spider, trapping humans in her web. The flies fell because they couldn’t see it, she told him. She had then told Alex that he, too, couldn’t see the web—and that by choosing to follow Daisy’s path, he was living as a prisoner.
The look on his face when she said that...
He didn’t take offense, though. He listened. Alex came to visit often, and they continued their conversations about life and Daisy. Cassie had to admit she enjoyed his company—and had grown attached to him.
Then, one day, Alex told her he loved her. He planned to risk it all and ask for asylum, hoping Daisy would exile him to her sector. He wanted to be with her, no matter the cost. Cassie had been stunned. That’s not what she wanted. It was lunacy.
Despite her protests, he followed through with his plan. She never saw him again after that.
For weeks, she returned to the Wall, hoping for a glimpse of him. Instead, it was during one of those visits that she saw his friend again. Thinking of what Kai had said that night, she felt a blush creep up her cheeks. He hadn’t been wrong.
She missed Alex. Where had he ended up? Could he really have forgotten her? Was he happier now?
She quieted the bitterness rising in her chest, forcing herself to focus on the task at hand. A good result was crucial. The spaceship project was more important than anything, and manpower was in short supply.
They needed more engineers, mechanics, chemists, and physicists. They needed to finish building the ship that would let them leave this forsaken planet.
And the responsibility of bringing more workers to the hangar? That fell on her shoulders this year.
Cassie turned around and disappeared into the abandoned factory.
[Curiosity ??] + [Future ??]
?? | HP: 2 → 2
?? | HP: 1 → 0
Crafting successful! You’ve crafted [Early Access ????].
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