The sky above Nico had no color, neither gray nor black: a milky void that seemed to swallow the light itself.

  He frowned; he had already seen this place in his dreams while connected to the viewer, but it had been a long time since he had been here. Why now?

  He looked around cautiously: he was in the middle of a ruined city. He started walking, each step echoing in his temples as he walked over the remains of collapsed buildings, sinking into splinters and crumbled plaster. The air smelled of iron and rain.

  The horizon and the streets themselves were curved, deformed as if the city had folded in on itself. The windows, the broken signs, everything was inert, then he felt it, a presence he was looking for, that he knew he would find there, but this time he was determined to search, to face it, he no longer wanted to run away.

  His breath became short despite his desire to fight, and his heart began to pound in his chest. A shadow darted behind him, a movement around a corner, he darted but when he got there, there were only ruins.

  “Show yourself, coward!” he shouted, turning in all directions, then the space in front of him began to ripple like water and, out of nowhere, triangles of different sizes began to overlap.

  Nico took a few steps back, his heart pounding in his ears, stumbled and almost fell on a piece of rubble.

  A figure emerged from the distortion: it was human in shape, with shoulders, a torso, and arms, but its contours trembled and its face was blurred.

  Only its eyes were clear, not visually, but he could feel them on him, cold, intense, calculating.

  “Who are you?” Nico asked, surprised at how steady his voice was.

  The figure tilted its head unnaturally, a mechanical movement, then a beam of light passed through its body. For a fraction of a second, the skin dissolved, revealing luminous nodes connected by lines.

  “Are you Erebos?” Nico asked.

  The being straightened its head and took a step toward Nico.

  Nico blurted out, “Speak. What do you want from me? I thought they had eliminated you from my mind.”

  The being paused, then said in a deep, metallic voice, “I cannot be eliminated.” Then it attacked.

  Nico reached for the sword at his side, but he was unarmed.

  The space between Nico and the being compressed, reducing the distance between them. The being, with its cold eyes, stopped its blurred face a step away from Nico, then an invisible wave sent Nico crashing into the walls of a ruined building.

  The air exploded out of his lungs as his back hit the wall with a dull thud. Pain flared up everywhere, violent. He heard something creak and then break off just above his head. Despite the pain, he instinctively rolled to the side, avoiding a sign that had fallen right where he had been a moment before.

  He looked at the spot where the creature had been a second before, then it exploded into geometric fragments, triangles that evaporated into the air.

  He got up, looking for the creature, and saw a sword stuck in the ground behind him. He frowned; it hadn't been there before.

  Nico blurted out, “Speak. What do you want from me? I thought they had eliminated you from my mind.”

  The being paused, then said in a deep, metallic voice, “I cannot be eliminated.” Then it attacked. The being paused, then said in a deep, metallic voice, “I cannot be eliminated.” Then it attacked.

  Nico reached for the sword at his side, but he was unarmed.

  The space between Nico and the being compressed, reducing the distance between them. The being, with its cold eyes, stopped its blurred face a step away from Nico, then an invisible wave sent Nico crashing into the walls of a ruined building. The air exploded out of his lungs as his back hit the wall with a dull thud. Pain flared up everywhere, violent. He heard something creak and then break off just above his head. Despite the pain, he instinctively rolled to the side, avoiding a sign that had fallen right where he had been a moment before. He looked at the spot where the creature had been a second before, then it exploded into geometric fragments, triangles that evaporated into the air.

  He got up, looking for the creature, and saw a sword stuck in the ground behind him. He frowned; it hadn't been there before. “You must be eliminated.” Then it attacked.

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  Nico searched for the sword at his side, gasped, he was unarmed. The space between Nico and the creature compressed, reducing the distance between them. The creature, with its cold eyes, stopped its blurred face a step away from Nico, then a wave

  Nico gritted his teeth, spun around again looking for the creature, and swung the blade down with all his strength, feeling his muscles tense as the blade descended in a decisive arc, but once again, the blade only cut through the air.

  He turned to find the creature behind him, twisted his wrist in a horizontal, furious slash, but once again the blade cut through nothing.

  Nico, breathless and his heart pounding, roared, “Fight, coward! Fight!”

  The creature stood still, motionless, and Nico could feel those cold, piercing eyes on him.

  “You're not ready for the center yet.”

  Nico frowned. What did that mean? He took a deep breath, then lunged forward and struck a blow aimed directly at his opponent's chest, quick and linear.

  For a moment, he had the illusion of having hit him, but it wasn't the silhouette that broke into triangles. His sword scattered in the air like fragments of glass.

  Nico lost his balance and the being disappeared, reappearing to his right.

  “Enough playing,” hissed the metallic voice in his ear.

  Nico turned, his trembling hands clenched into fists as a tightening in his stomach reminded him that once again he was powerless. His breath shortened as every fiber of his body screamed in frustration.

  Then Nico screamed: the sound exploded from his chest like a shock wave spreading in every direction. Amidst the trembling rubble and buildings collapsing with a dull roar, the creature was hurled away, and Nico, in the chaos that surrounded him, saw flashes of light appearing between symbols, numbers, and strands of light dancing in the air.

  When the dust settled, Nico, his eyes wide, noticed that a circle of paving stones around him had remained intact, free of rubble. Everything else was a landscape of ruins and debris, more devastated than before, immersed in a silence broken only by the slow fall of fragments in the distance.

  Nico stood still, incredulous, while the being, not far away, watched him.

  “Did you see it?” asked the being, its voice vibrating with metallic excitement. “Did you see the code?”

  Nico was bewildered: what he had just seen were codes?

  “Tell me who you are,” Nico roared.

  The creature lunged at Nico. He tried to move aside to avoid it, but it was too late: the space between them curved and the creature touched him with its palm, pushing him upward and hurling him into the sky. Nico was in the air, his heart pounding, fearing that this was the end.

  He tried to observe his surroundings as his body continued to shoot upward as if an invisible force were pulling him higher and higher. He tried to find those codes, but all he could see was a colorless sky. Then Nico saw the being dart towards him. It reached him, lashing him downwards, and Nico began to fall.

  He screamed, not knowing what to do, trying to push his palms towards the ground as he somersaulted, falling further and further down.

  The being darted towards him quickly and said, “Look for the code.”

  Nico was agitated: his hair was blowing in his face, his clothes were fluttering. He forced himself to close his eyes and think that he was in a game. The being said, “The rules can be bent.”

  Nico, with his eyes closed, felt his body flip over as the wind whipped him, until suddenly he stopped... but he had not yet touched the ground.

  He looked around, believing he had accomplished something incredible, but the being was in front of him, just a step away. With one palm, it threw him against a nearby wall: the air exploded from his lungs. Nico clenched his fists in frustration, stood up, and, more out of anger than conviction, threw a palm forward toward the being. A burst of light energy exploded from Nico's hand, which only rippled the ground around him. The creature tilted its head unnaturally; Nico felt its cold eyes fixed on him.

  The creature lunged at Nico and the lashes began to rain down all at once. Nico was tossed about and could only see the creature moving from side to side. Every time Nico was thrown to the right, the creature would reach him with a distortion of space and hit him in another direction. Nico was hit from different directions and felt his body go limp, as if he were giving in to the pain and his inability to fight back.

  Then, the pain and frustration turned to anger. As the creature distorted space to reach Nico and hit him, Nico threw a punch. It didn't generate a lash, but it hit the creature, which didn't deform into triangles, but was still thrown away.

  The sky exploded in a shower of bright strings and the ground shattered beneath his feet.

  ? Exit game

  said the woman's voice, glitching metallically.

  The creature looked up at the sky and said, “Do not fear memories. They are the path.”

  ? Return to reality.

  He woke up with a start.

  He could see only darkness, his heart beating fast. He brought his hands to his face and found the visor. He took it off, threw it next to him on the bed, and took a deep breath, his eyes closed, trying to calm down. He sat up and ran a hand over his face. His forehead was beaded with sweat.

  He thought back to the words spoken by that being: the center, the memories, the structure beneath the surface.

  He shook his head, bringing his hands to his face. Part of him wanted to convince himself that what had happened, what he had experienced, was just a dream, but it wasn't just his imagination.

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