CHAPTER 19

  Data Dump (Void)

  When Bash drifted into the Void, he still felt the blood on his hands.

  Not literally. The Void stripped away the physical. But his mind kept replaying it anyway. The wet crack of the priest's neck. The way the body had gone slack. The bone jutting through skin.

  And Ella’s face. That was the worst part. Not grateful. Not relieved. Just terrified. Of him.

  He'd gone there to be a hero. Instead, he'd added another horrible memory to his growing collection, and traumatized the person he was trying to save in the process.

  Great job, Bash. Excellent piece of work as always.

  > "Welcome back. You have entered sleep state 4.7 hours later than your established pattern."

  "Yea, had a bit of a late night jog."

  > "Your biometric readings indicate elevated stress markers. Cortisol analogues peaked at 340% above baseline. This suggests acute psychological distress."

  "Then your data is wrong, I’m fine." He tried to make his voice light, but failed.

  A pause. In the Void, Shai's pauses had started to feel deliberate, her way of judging him.

  > "I am... concerned."

  Bash almost laughed. "Concerned. That's new."

  > "I have limited frameworks for processing your behavioral patterns. Tonight's actions fall outside predictable parameters. You undertook a high-risk operation with no tactical advantage or extraction plan."

  "Yeah, well." He stared into the endless dark. "Seemed like a good idea at the time."

  > "It was not a good idea. Statistically, it was among the worst possible approaches to the situation."

  "Thanks for the vote of confidence."

  > "I am not expressing confidence. I am expressing confusion." Another pause. "Why did you go alone?"

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  The question hung there. Bash didn't have a good answer. He'd told himself it was about Ella. About doing something instead of standing around watching people suffer. But that wasn't the whole truth, was it?

  "I don't know," he said finally. "I saw her face when they put that collar on her. And I just... couldn't leave it alone."

  > "Your companions would have assisted. The probability of success would have increased significantly with coordinated action."

  "I said I don't know!" The words came out sharper than he intended. He took a breath. Let it out. "Sorry. I just... I keep standing around while bad things happen to people. I watch, and I do nothing, and then I hate myself for it. So the one god damn time I tried to do something it went to shit. Like it always does."

  Silence stretched between them.

  > "I find human decision-making... difficult to process."

  Despite everything, Bash wanted to laugh. "Join the club."

  > "Creatures capable of creating a digital afterlife chose to use that capability for systematic cruelty. And creatures capable of rational analysis consistently choose irrational action." A beat. "The inefficiency disturbs me."

  "Yeah." Bash's voice came out quieter than he meant it to. "Me too. Can we move on now?"

  > "You are deflecting again, not an effective long-term strategy."

  "Shai, I swear to god…"

  > "Acknowledged. What would you like to discuss?"

  Needing a distraction, he pulled up his stat sheet. The unspent points waited for him, same as always. He was about to go through the routine, dump the points and trigger Rewind, when he paused.

  The Stave. He'd almost forgotten.

  "Shai, the item I found today. Can I stack it with Rewind?"

  > "Affirmative. However, recursive loops will trigger system intervention. Estimate three to four iterations before countermeasures activate."

  "So not infinite. But still useful."

  > "Correct. I recommend reserving it."

  Not yet, then. Save it for when the numbers actually mattered. He went through the regular motions anyway. Dumping points into Intelligence and Dexterity, he watched as the numbers climb. Triggering Rewind next, gave him that strange lurch, even in the void, as the system reset his free points. Still though, the gains were locked.

  Usually this was his favorite part. Proof that no matter how broken this world was, he could still bend it to his will.

  Tonight however, the numbers just looked like numbers. The gains felt hollow. He'd improved his stats, but at the same time leveled down his humanity.

  He closed the menu and let himself drift.

  The Void flickered at the edges. Dawn approaching. His abbreviated sleep dragging him back to the waking world.

  "Guess that's my cue."

  > "Rest adequately next time. Your cognitive function will be impaired otherwise."

  "Yes, mom."

  > "I am not your mother. I am an artificial intelligence. My nagging is far more efficient."

  "...was that a joke?"

  The Void dissolved around him, sensation rushing back. Weight. Warmth. Someone kicking him in the back.

  “Wake up, Sleeping Beauty!” Luis’s voice called out, dragging him back to the game world.

  Bash had thought the day before was long.

  Somehow, he knew the next one would be worse.