"Zzz. Zzz."

  A perfect slumber. Peaceful. Quiet.

  Tack. Tack. Tack.

  The click of chess pieces echoed through the tunnel. Slow. Deliberate. Annoying.

  "Oh... I'm so alone. Bored. Playing chess all by myself," the voice croaked dramatically.

  I cracked an eye open.

  And there he was. Master. Bent over a chessboard that looked like it had aged with him, mumbling to himself like the senile old man he was.

  I sat up, blinking groggily.

  Clack. Clack. Something fell off my head. I turned towards it and saw a small piece with a rounded head, a quiet crack running through it like a fault line.

  A pawn? What was it doing on my head? My finger traced the line. That's a deep crack.

  I turned and looked at the chess pieces on Master's chess board. Each and every one of them was perfect and pristine. All except this pawn.

  My finger reached the edge. A splinter jutted out, unnoticed. I pressed my finger too deep without realizing it. A sharp crack left an injury on my finger. Blood welled and dripped onto the ground. I looked down at my injured finger. A wave of discomfort flooded through me. I shook my head and the uneasiness disappeared.

  Weird. But that's not important.

  I looked around and found the tunnel was empty. No Rona, no Isaac. No other children. Just me. Master. And his stupid chessboard.

  "Master? You're here?"

  "Of course I am. Ya blind, imp?"

  I ignored the jab. "Did you see a bunch of kids chained up by weird red zippy-zappy shackles?"

  Master perked up, eyes glinting with something far too excited. "Kids? Where? Oh, I love their chubby little cheeks and big round eyes."

  "They're my age, Master."

  "Imbeciles, they are," he coughed, spitting to the side like punctuation.

  I rolled my eyes. "Master. Be serious for once. Did you see them or not?"

  "Bah! None. I've been here all alone for centuries." He paused. "I feel like I've gone senile."

  "You are senile." I sat up fully, shooting back in a heartbeat.

  Before he could argue...

  "Llyne~ I missed you so much!"

  Lyndall. The little boy appeared and wrapped his arms around me. I smiled, warmth blooming in my chest.

  "My sweet dale. I missed you too." I hugged him back, pressing a kiss to his cheek.

  Master squinted. "Hah! Student surpasses the Master."

  Way to ruin the mood, Masta.

  I side-eyed him. "You really can't see him?"

  "No kid. No ghost. No nothin'." He tapped my forehead. "But inside there? Absolute chaos."

  I fell quiet. Now he's asking for it.

  I gave him a polite smile. "You okay, Master? You look like you're turning green."

  "Where?!" He fumbled for a pocket mirror from literal nowhere, inspecting his face.

  "Not now, but very soon. By my bare hands." I made strangling motions in the air.

  He gasped theatrically. "How rude! Don't ya know it's an unforgivable crime to strangle your Master?!"

  "Oh really?" I deadpanned. "I didn't know. I'M SENILE."

  And so, the verbal war began.

  "Huff. Puff. Wheeze."

  We both ran out of breath, glaring at each other.

  "I've never had such an insolent student."

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

  "Should be glad. Your life won't be dull ever again."

  After a long moment of pettiness, I glanced at the chessboard. "Who's winning?"

  "My second student," he said immediately.

  I raised my hand above my eyes and looked everywhere in sarcasm. "Really? Where?"

  Master blinked. "Oh, smackerm. Being with ya made me more senile."

  I ignored his statement and frowned. "You really can't see Lyndall?"

  Master flipped his almost balding hair. "My brain may be fried, but my eyes are still 20/20."

  "Master Khun and Master Asha couldn't see him either… but Master Jay could," I muttered. "Why?"

  "Do ya think I know everything?"

  Of course not. But...

  "Yes. You're by far the most knowledgeable, the handsomest, and the most heroic person I've ever met, Master." I gave him a finger heart.

  "Oh~ Do stop." He looked away, lips twitching despite himself.

  "Okay." I rolled my eyes.

  Master shot me a look, clearly screaming Why did ya stop?! Keep praising me!

  I kept my mouth shut and stared back. Beg for it!

  "Hmph." He sniffed. "Ungrateful brat."

  I raised a brow and he rubbed his chin with his skeleton finger.

  "Alright, alright, ya party pooper." He grunted. "I don't have an answer for you but..."

  He leaned in closer. So did I.

  Master whispered. "As for you…" He pointed at my head. "Inside ya little brain is a world gone mad."

  I clenched my fist so hard, my hands almost bled. I was so close. So close. To throttling Master into oblivion.

  Oui… Why did I ask Master? ...If only Iz was here…

  I tried calming myself using Iz's meditation technique that she forced me to learn. I shut my eyes, inhale, exhale and repeat. I centered myself, and Master's face blew it all away. Useless.

  I rolled my eyes and asked, "Anyway. Teach me about this place. Or I'll die before the next game."

  Master's grin sharpened. "Before that… I heard ya roasted somethin' ugly in the stadium."

  Roasted? The memories flashed past so fast like it was outrunning a curse. I winced. I don't think we can eat burn stuff.

  So I did. I told him how we "accidentally" set Monica, the monstrous mascot, on fire.

  "Gyahahaha!" He slapped his knee. "Didn't think ya had it in ya."

  "It wasn't intentional," I muttered. "But if the whole stadium burned down, maybe the games would stop."

  He scoffed. "They'd rebuild it by sundown."

  Remembering Iz's house and our new school building. "True." I groaned.

  "Alright." He leaned back like he was about to lecture me about human evolution. I pinched my thigh just in case I yawn. "Ya know about Eden and The Valley?"

  "Eden's above. The Valley's below." I replied with confidence.

  "Correct. But do ya know why The Valley exists?"

  I recalled what Isaac said before, confidence faltering. "To hide?"

  "Half right." His tone darkened. "If ya want the rest, answer me this."

  Better not be riddles, I hate riddles. I hate using my brain.

  He leaned forward, eyes sharp. "What do ya think a human life is?"

  I leaned my head on my hand, pondered for a moment. "...Baby. School. Job. Old. Dead. Boring."

  "Exactly." A cold smile crept in. "That was before THE SYSTEM."

  The gears in my brain began to turn, involuntarily. "THE SYSTEM? Like laws? Government?"

  "Sure. Different flavors. Same bones underneath." He tapped the board once. Tack. "Rotten."

  He paused.

  The air felt heavier. My breathing felt harder. I stiffened. Rotten? That's not a good word, I suppose.

  "No one knows who built THE SYSTEM." His voice deepened. "Not even Scorpion."

  …Scorpion? What's that?

  As if knowing my thoughts, Master replied, "An assassin syndicate. The best there is." He paused a beat. "Even they couldn't dig deep enough."

  That made me go still.

  The Valley. The SYSTEM. Scorpion. Assassins. Ugh… My head began to ache. There was too much information all at once. I bet this was barely the surface. No. It couldn't be.

  "So what?…You're saying THE SYSTEM is like an AI? Rogue program? You been watching too much dystopia, Master."

  Please tell me you're joking. Please...!

  Master looked at me with disdain. "Think," he said quietly. "Those prodigies who vanished. Scientists who died young."

  My throat tightened. My eyes winced at the thought. A memory surfaced of our house television reporting news about missing geniuses around the world. I looked at Ma's face. I couldn't remember what her expression looked like back then, only that I'd been scared of her long enough to start crying.

  "…Yeah. I saw those headlines."

  He didn't answer.

  He didn't need to.

  Could it be...

  I stopped my thoughts from forming further. "...Maybe they just had bad luck…" I muttered.

  "Denial." His voice cut sharp, twist formed in my chest. "Don't insult your brain like that."

  My lips trembling, struggling to mutter the word out. "You think… THE SYSTEM killed them?"

  He smiled thinly. "What do you think?"

  Ugh... I always hated it when the adults asked back instead of answering. But... I guess I don't mind not getting an answer this time.

  My mouth went dry.

  "Our ancestors saw the truth." His gaze hardened. "They paid for it."

  Paid... with their lives? The thought pinched the side of my head. Let's keep that thought to myself.

  I struggled to swallow a saliva. But once I did, it felt like a glass rolling down my throat. Tss...!

  "So they ran," I whispered.

  He nodded once. "To survive."

  Silence settled heavy between us.

  Survive. A simple word, yet it carried so much weight.

  "And now?" I asked quietly. "It just lets The Valley exist?"

  "It tested us once." His jaw tightened. "It sent an army."

  My body subconsciously leaned forward. "...And?"

  "Our gate held. Then it stopped."

  A chill crept up my spine.

  Stop. That could mean one thing. It was waiting.

  "…Why'd it stop?" I whispered.

  He looked away. "Maybe we're not worth erasing yet."

  Erasing... Ma's cold lifeless body flashed through my mind. I jerked my head sideway, trying to suppress the memories. I hesitated. "Then why let Scorpion exist?"

  Master didn't answer.

  "Master..."

  "Time's up, imp." He stood and dusted off his cloak like the conversation just now did not happen.

  I straightened my back. "What? You can't just..."

  "Here's your hint for the next game," he cut in. "Keep things hush, hush, and ya live. If not, onto the next life ya go. Oh, and make sure ya don't burn the whole place down, ay?"

  He grinned, flicking his finger.

  RUMBLE.

  The tunnel shook violently. My heart leapt into my throat.

  "W-What?!" I staggered as the walls cracked. "Lyndall?! Where are you?!" I spun, but he was gone.

  No footsteps. No answer. Just silence.

  The ground quaked again. I grabbed the wall, tried to steady myself, but there was no escape. No exit. Just stone and chaos.

  I kicked at the wall. Harder. Harder.

  CRASH.

  The ceiling caved in.

  And then, everything went black.

  This is the first glimpse of how deep The System runs.

  The Valley’s history, and the silence above, will make more sense once you see what the next game demands.