It was supposed to be simple. All Carina had to do was use her knowledge of the past to right all the wrongs she had made. To right a single wrong. Allowing Ciro Adams to live.

  Everything had been going smoothly, she had been teleported to the area where she had been placed the first time around. Nothing had changed. She took a deep breath to calm herself. The first order of business was finding Alya, her best friend. The thought of her alone, clawing her way through the harsh dystopian planet, made her heart ache.

  She looked at the familiar screen she had become so accustomed to for all those years.

  [STATUS] Carina Melania Race: Earthling (Regressor) lvl 1

  HP: 10/10

  SE (Stigma Energy): 10/10

  STR: 3

  DEX: 3

  END: 2

  INT: 6

  PER: 7

  CHA: 4

  LCK: 1

  Her stats were low, but not too low, considering she’d get them back in due course. She had always thought that the Omniplex was for show; it had done nothing for her, during her time in The Exofront.

  Receiving the highest rarity stigmata, she believed she’d become a powerhouse. She’d free herself of the bondage that came with being fodder. She’d become the main character.

  To her dismay, all she accrued was an ability that didn’t work. Phoenix Rebirth, an ability that could only activate upon death. She thought that the ability was useless, but now, thanks to it, she had a chance at revenge.

  She looked below her stats page to see her stigmata screen. To her surprise, Phoenix Rebirth was still there.

  Stigmata:

  Phoenix Rebirth (Rarity: Mythic)

  Her finger hovered over the purple lettering before tapping it with her index.

  Phoenix Rebirth - Upon death, return to the past (LOCKED)

  So it’s permanently locked. She clicked her tongue. Figures they had a system in place to stop the ability being abused. I hate you damn arbiters. Carina ran a hand through her hair in frustration, her only valuable ability she had ever had, and she could only use it once.

  Her long, flowing hair billowed in the wind. Carina thought back to the last time she had grown her hair long. In The Exofront it simply got in the way. With the constant fighting and running, beauty was useless.

  She slowly walked through a tight network of alleyways. Broken-down walls surrounded her, broken glass lay under foot. The boots that the Arbiters had given them were sturdy enough, crushing the glass with a single step. She pulled at her gray suit, looking at herself from top to bottom. I’ll need to impress some sponsors, this suit won’t do anything.

  That begs the question. The Arbiters that were managing this planet, were they aware she was a regressor? They had control over the Omniplex that ran through all the participants’ blood. If they were to know, what would they do? They’d realize my potential as a storyline and make me a main character.

  An Arbiter’s job was simple, making The Exofront entertaining as possible. All the participants were their conduits, to be used as pawns to entertain the masses. If she could impress them, it’d make life on the Exofront easier for her. With the Arbiters backing her, she could protect her friends from the vicious aliens that ruled over The Exofront.

  But first she needed to find her friend. If she remembered correctly, Alya said she had been stuck on the roof of a broken building. Stricken with fear, she stood in place, before being found by Tyrese and the rest of the humans that banded together to survive.

  Just have to look out for rooftops with a pretty woman. How many could there be? She traversed through the destroyed city, not even stopping to appreciate the swirls of purple and green that filled the sky.

  The Arbiters weren’t completely heartless when designing the layout of this planet. The Arbiters divided the planet into zones. Within each zone, if she remembered correctly, there were two groups of people within it. Ensuring there’d be an equal chance of finding a friend or foe.

  She continued to scour looking upwards, when she heard talking in the distance. Taking cover behind an enormous pile of rubble, she peeked her head through to see who they were.

  A group of seven stood in a circle, discussing. They each had gray skin with slits for noses and what appeared to be like gills on the side of their necks. “Xyphons…” Carina whispered under her breath.

  The other party that had been placed in the zone along with the humans. The Xyphons. A race of gray humanoid aliens with snake-like features. Carina had praised the Arbiters only a while ago for fairness, but on reflection, it was the furthest thing from the truth. The Xyphons were part of The Founders. As such, they trained their entire lives to become Exofronteers.

  Carina narrowed her eyes, trying to listen in on their conversation. They seemed amid an argument.

  “Let’s hunt some prey!” One of the Xyphons screamed, his fists clenched.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “No Muriel, there is a waiting period for the first quest. Until then, sponsors may provide nothing. We have no weapons.”

  “Do you truly think those damn arbiters put us against a race that can compete against us? They would not risk harming our planet’s reputation and seeking strife with a Founder.” The one called Muriel shouted in reply.

  Gritting her teeth, Carina watched on. So the humans had been placed with the expectation of making the Xyphons look good.

  A loud argument broke out between the group of aliens. Amid the shouting and hissing from their gills, a single feminine voice sliced through the tension between the group.

  A Xyphon with a more feminine outline, curved waist and almost human-like eyes. The Xyphons porcelain white skin stuck out to Carina. She had heard that Xyphons found beauty among the palest of their kind. If that were the case, then this female Xyphon was comparable to a supermodel.

  “Enough Muriel, if you wish to hunt, so be it. But our group will no longer support you.” She spoke, her voice calm, yet her eyes locked on to the larger Xyphon. Daring him to question her.

  The larger Xyphon waved his hand before walking away from his group. “I don’t need you people. I will look to bring honor to Clan Kuta and our planet while you wait around and scheme like an Anoran.”

  “Goodbye.” The female Xyphon replied before ushering the group away. Muriel walked the opposite way, looking towards one building in the distance. Spotting something, he ran towards it.

  Carina was finally alone.

  She breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully, they didn’t spot her, and she had gained some intel, but whether it would be useful remained to be seen. Learning that the sponsors could not yet provide anything meant that the humans were even more helpless before the physically superior Xyphons.

  In her mind, the need to find Alya sky rocketed. She frantically searched, but to no avail. I hope I don’t regret this. She closed her eyes in contemplation before launching into a scream. “Alya! Where are you?”

  She heard a scream in response in the distance. That tone. That sweet tone. Even on this perilous planet. She knew it was her. She rushed towards the scream, finding a half torn building. Its facade seemed to quiver under the wind, fractured and crumbling, the structure had no sense of safety.

  The upper levels had been laid bare, the interior split wide open to the sky, the long-ago looted contents strewn about. The only signs of life were the sad, neglected curtains that waved beneath the open spaces. Within the structure was a vast vault of rot and decay—old, tender wood that had gone soft, skeletal framing that revealed insulation long past its use.

  Precariously suspended from what was left of the ceiling, the steel girders swayed with each tremor that passed through the unstable ground. Parts of the interior had been taken over by moss and creeping ivy, which had worked their way through the building’s cracks into the now-abandoned space and had curled themselves around the few remaining fixtures. The air was thick with the almost-sweet scent of mildew and the pungent smell of charred wood.

  Carina realized that this kind of place was a window into the past, an upright office chair with its arms burned nearly clean off; the grid of a sign, neon in color, that once warned people of some danger but now just dangled from a single chain; a staircase that spiraled upward, ending abruptly in empty space. This was once a place of normalcy, so similar to her own planet, now destroyed. Just as time had killed the Earth.

  “Were you the one who called my name!?” A voice shouted from above. Carina looked to see her. Alya, her hair styled more elaborately than she had ever seen it, but her eyes; her eyes were still there. So full of life. Tears slowly streamed from Carina’s face, an overwhelming happiness knowing her friend was alive.

  “Hey! What’s wrong with you?”

  Her reverie shattered upon Alya's desperate screams. She sat on a metre-long platform, her quivering knees tucked in and her head peeking out from the rubble.

  “It’s okay Alya, I’m here to save you!”

  Alya’s eyes squinted with suspicion. “How do you know my name?”

  Carina’s mind raced, forgetting there could be any sense of mistrust between them. She smiled warmly. “Just come down, Alya. I’ll explain everything!”

  “No!” Alya shook her head. “I don’t trust you.”

  Running her fingertips through her hair, she pulled her fringe back in frustration. “Look Alya, I’m like you. I’m from Earth…” Seeing Alya’s blank face, she realized she didn’t seem convincing enough. She went on. “You see that blue screen in front of you, that you always see. I have one too. It was given to us both before we got here. Please trust me.”

  It seemed like talking about the system increased her credibility.

  “What is the Omniplex?”

  “Come down and I’ll tell you,” replied Carina, rolling her eyes.

  “Fine.” Alya stood up from the platform before leaping down from the second storey to the first, then landing on the ground in front of her.

  Without warning, Carina grabbed Alya by the hand and ran. “Quickly, we’re not safe here. We could be found by many things out in the open like this.” Carina felt some resistance, but she forced her forward. “I’ll explain later. Trust me.”

  Alya frowned, but didn’t resist any further. They ran through several buildings and alleys before arriving at a dark tunnel. Carina and her group in the past used this tunnel as a base in the past. It served them well then and it will serve them well now. She pushed Alya into the tunnel.

  “Hey, I trusted you. And you’ve explained nothing.”

  “Shut it and get in,” Carina hissed.

  In the tunnel, Alya stumbled on the floor, scrambling to get away from Carina. “I should’ve never trusted you.” Her back hit the walls of the tunnel.

  With nowhere to escape, Carina crouched down next to her. She caressed her cheek, stroking her braids. “Listen to me Alya, me and you. We’re the only ones that can trust each other. Everyone else, they're all just idiots. All we need is each other.”

  “I don’t even know your name.”

  “My name is Carina Melania.” She smiled, grabbing Alya by the chin. Realizing she promised some answers, she continued, “We’ve been injected with a serum. It’s called the Omniplex. That blue screen you see is one thing it does. With it, we’ll be able to survive out here.”

  “How about home?” Alya asked, unconvinced by the explanation.

  “We’ll be home soon. All we have to do is survive.” Carina lied. If she told her the truth now, she may completely crumble.

  “Alright Carina, I’ll trust you, for now.” Alya replied.

  A brief silence fell over them before they heard a stomach rumble.

  “You hungry?” Carina asked.

  “Maybe.”

  “I’ll get us something to eat.” Standing up from the damp ground and wiping off the dirt that clung to her suit. Carina prepared to venture back out and scavenge for anything that could be useful. “Make sure you stay put.” She ordered. As she was about to leave, she turned back to her friend. She kneeled back down before planting her lips on Alya’s cheek.

  “It’s good to see you again, Alya.” she whispered, before running into the light, leaving Alya alone in the tunnel.

  What is her deal? Alya thought to herself, shivering alone in the darkness.