Cosmo popped out of the bottle shop. "I heard screaming. Everything okay?"

  "All good," Chaz said. "We got jumpscared by a body is all."

  Cosmo held up some disposable cups. "Would some juice help?"

  "It would, actually! Can I get mango?"

  As Cosmo handed out drinks, I crouched by the corpse and checked it out. I wasn't really a corpse guy, but he looked like he'd been dead for a while. There was a lot of dry blood.

  He had no Zettamall gear, just clothes and a lanyard. I pulled at it until I could read it.

  "Huge W," I said, patting his pockets. "This guy was Assistant Manager there."

  Lex looked ill. "I-I didn't see anything like this..."

  Kara leaned in. "Still looking for ID?"

  "I think it's the right thing to do. Someone might want to know what happened to..." I flipped open his wallet. "...Blayden Clarke. Alright."

  "If you're done, maybe we should try the escalators," Troy said anxiously. He clearly wanted to leave as quickly as possible.

  "We can clean the elevator later, give this man some dignity," Cosmo said, handing me a cup.

  I accepted it gratefully. It was really good juice, actually. "Thanks. Yeah, let's go."

  Lex covered us on the way up. Snakpak's Smak Rak created a force field in the direction she pointed her hand—it wouldn't last long in a real fight, but she could at least prevent an ambush. It wasn't necessary though. Both upper floors were quiet now, and nobody shot at us.

  The escalator dropped us off on the northwest side, in front of a phone store. Level Two had the same layout as One, including the westward corridor to our southwest with a force field blocking it; this one had completely bisected a pop-up t-shirt kiosk. Most of its owner was slumped against the other side, but their severed arm was on ours.

  [ For your convenience, access is unavailable until Day 2. ]

  I scanned the plaza first. The rest of this level was mostly clothing and beauty stores with wide, worringly open entrances, except for the phone store and a Games Warlock. There wasn't a living soul in sight, not even the shoplins that had been throwing stuff at us a few hours ago, and most of the bodies had been hurled downstairs to complete the shoplins' ASS project.

  Kara frowned. "It's everywhere..."

  Chaz patted his bulging backpack. "Don't worry, I brought tools to clean up. I've got disposable gloves, air freshener, wet wipes, lavender oil, paper bags if you need to hurl."

  "I threw up in the bathroom," Kara said. "Let's check for survivors. Which way?"

  I looked at Lex. "Which stores did you check?"

  Lex pointed to the stores on the south wall. "I just ran through here and grabbed stuff."

  "Then let's leave Huge W for last," Kara said. "I don't want any surprises..."

  We did a loop of the plaza, starting with the phone store and working our way around. Having Val and the others following us really sped things up, but we slowed it down again by taking fucking everything.

  Val started it in the phone store. "We should grab chargers for everyone, right? And spare phones, just in case."

  "You can toss 'em in Snakpak," Lex offered. "There's room. It's like a warehouse in there."

  "Great! Red, help me pick some phones..."

  Kara kept it going as we passed the shirt kiosk. "New clothes would be good too. I'm getting blood everywhere."

  "Snakpak can take some. I already took some clothes anyway."

  Chaz spoke as we reached the Games Warlock. "We've got kids downstairs, so video games might—"

  "Okay, who are we saying this for?" I asked. "Does anyone here actually object if Snakpak eats this whole place out?"

  The group looked at each other.

  "I do when you phrase it like that," Kara said.

  Val shrugged. "It's not like we'll get arrested."

  "As a Christian I'd normally frown on such acts, but needs must when the Devil drives," Khan said.

  I looked at my hand-maw. "You... you're Christian? How."

  "All the best kings were crowned by God," Khan said.

  "You are a robot."

  "We prefer 'synthetic.'"

  "I think you're an alien!"

  "So is God. He can't be from Earth if he created it, can he?"

  I didn't know enough theology to argue, so I dropped it. "...Fair enough. Anyway, there should be enough games for everyone, yeah?"

  Our search continued. We turned up absolutely nothing until we got to the northeast corner, where the elevator sat beside a long corridor leading to the toilets. There were staff-only doors down there too, sealed by enormous metal plates and a wild amount of caution tape.

  I frowned at it. "What's the tape there for? It's not like we can open it."

  "Who cares?" Troy said. "I'm gonna take a shit."

  "We should probably go as a group," Chaz said. "You know, in case of toilet ghosts or whatever this place has for us."

  "I'll keep watch, thanks," I said.

  I leaned on the wall by the elevator and watched Huge W.

  It had a single wide entrance in the middle, currently shuttered. A glass wall sat on its left, covered in taped-up bedsheets on the inside, and the right was mostly blocked by a huge advertising screen set into the floor. Normally it would play Huge W ads, but now it played Zettamall's.

  [ This tutorial is sponsored by: WARCRIMES

  Tip: Each area of the mall is subcontracted to a different shoplin company with its own Lair. ]

  [ Drink Slurp Nurse: New Slurp!

  That taste you love, now with less horse aroma! ]

  [ Need a challenge? Try this one!

  It's Blood Friday Somewhere

  Kill a customer on Day One.

  Reward: 2 Crate Keys ]

  [ Today is the first day of the rest of your life.

  ZETTAMALL?: Forever Mall!

  TIME: Day 1, 10:55 PM

  CUSTOMERS: 716/1167

  ODDBOTZ: 129/716 ]

  One of the numbers changed as I was looking at it.

  [ CUSTOMERS: 715/1167 ]

  The screen cycled back to the first ad so quickly that I wasn't sure what I'd seen at first. The others were taking their time, so I waited for it to loop again.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  [ CUSTOMERS: 714/1167

  ODDBOTZ: 129/714 ]

  Were there late-night explorers elsewhere in the mall, too? Or...

  The rest returned.

  "Found some dead shoplins," Kara said, holding one up for some reason. "That's it."

  "What's up with you?" Troy asked.

  I looked back at the screen. It was looping again.

  [ Reward: 2 Crate Keys ]

  "...We should hurry. I have a bad feeling about this."

  Clint "Magic" Moro was a prick.

  Not a fucking prick. He'd be rude to people then say he was just joking if they took it poorly, but he wouldn't go out of his way to insult them. He thought having 200 followers made him an influencer, but he'd never try to pay a restaurant bill in exposure. He insisted that his friends call him "Magic", but they agreed to it, so that's really on them.

  Basically, Magic was a self-centered jerk with just enough awareness to know that there were lines he couldn't cross if he wanted to maintain his position in society.

  Then the Zettamall happened, and society melted away.

  Now he was standing on a counter in the electronics section at the back of Huge W, doing a little jig.

  "What'd I tell ya?" he said, dabbing. "This place has everything we need! Another Magic idea!"

  His friends grinned. They'd been hanging out in the mall when it all went down, and they'd banded together for survival. Looting videogames probably wouldn't help with that, but you never knew.

  A looter with a scraggly beard and a baseball cap looked up. "We could use food for later. This place mostly does party snacks."

  Magic agreed. "Tea Bag" Tad had been Magic's right-hand man since their school days—few other people could match his brains and ambition. That statement was true, though not in the way Magic meant it; Tad's hobbies were manosphere podcasts and getting banned from fast food restaurants.

  "We hit Gateway next, then," Magic said. "I'm hungry anyway. Let's get that bread, if ya know what I mean."

  "Yeah, by getting their loot!" a larger looter in a beanie and glasses laughed.

  Magic glared. Derek "the Spud" considered himself the comedian of the group. The last time he'd made them laugh was two weeks ago, when Magic had convinced him to eat a bug.

  "Shut up and get the manager over here," Magic said.

  Spud disappeared around a corner and came back pushing the manager, a youngish man with a buzz cut and his hands bound by huge twist-ties. Despite that, he didn't look worried—instead he wore a vaguely confused expression, like he still wasn't sure what was happening.

  Magic sat down on the counter. "Okay, buddy. Here's the deal. Round up everyone's wallets and phones for us, and then we'll leave. You can even free everyone if you want. Just stay in the store and keep your head down. How's that sound?"

  The manager looked uncertain. "Uhh... well..."

  "A yes would be nice," Magic prompted.

  The manager relaxed. "Then yes!"

  Magic glanced at Tea Bag. "He on something?"

  "Haha, yeah, like drugs!" Spud said, slapping the man's back.

  Magic hopped to his feet. "Ya know what, forget it. Grab as much shit as you can. We roll out in ten."

  The plaza in front of Huge W had sofas and carpets running down the inner edge. We sat down to figure out what to do next, but we were soon distracted by the view.

  Moving upstairs had given us a better view of the plaza ceiling. Above the central open space it was raised and tilted, like someone had popped a lid off the roof, and the walls that created were lined with windows.

  We could see more of the sky now, and the unfamiliar stars were harder to ignore. There was a huge tower or something in the distance, partially hidden by the roof, with alternating light and dark patches. I had no idea what I was looking at.

  Chaz just looked at it and nodded. "It's like an isekai anime. A science-fiction one. Told you so."

  Kara tore her gaze away. "So, um, what do we do now?"

  I jingled a keyring. "Blayden had these, but I'm worried letting ourselves in might give the wrong impression."

  "We could try knocking first," Kara said.

  Lex rubbed her neck awkwardly. "Is this okay? A big group like us doesn't look like trouble, right?"

  "Trouble wouldn't have cleaned up the bodies," Chaz said.

  Kara nodded. "And considering what most of them did in their pants when they died, I think we did a pretty good job."

  Troy raised a hand. "How about I talk to them, as the acting manager?"

  I had my excuse ready before he could finish. "There's a chance it's dangerous in there, so we should send—"

  "OddBotz first, good idea. Someone's guarding me out here, right?"

  Val shrugged. "We can watch the outside. Text us if there's trouble?"

  A plan I'd once made with my siblings popped into my memory. "Okay, how about this: if we post in the chat about a dog, like asking how it's doing or whatever, that means we're in trouble. And take these."

  Val grabbed the keys. "What if it's monsters?"

  "We'll scream."

  Kara hopped to her feet. "Sounds like a plan. You guys hide, I'll knock."

  Val led her crew (and Troy) to hide in the phone store as the rest of us approached the shutter. Kara thought about it for a second, then raised her fist and banged out a classic shave-and-a-haircut knock.

  "Let's see a shoplin do that," she said.

  We waited a few moments in awkward silence, and then a staff door in the glass buzzed. A lanky brown-haired dude with a scraggly beard leaned out. He had Huge W price tags hanging off his clothing, and held some kind of papier-maché mace in a casual way.

  "What's up?" he asked.

  Kara nudged me with her elbow. I gave her my best I-thought-you-were-taking-point glare, but she only smiled. I gave up and turned back to the bearded guy.

  "Uh, hey! We're from Gateway, and we're looking for survivors. I'm Will, this is Kara and Chaz."

  "Tad," he said. "You're from downstairs? How's it going down there?"

  "Pretty good, considering. We got rid of the shoplins."

  "And we've got food if you're hungry," Kara added.

  Tad looked around. "Is it just you four?"

  Potentially weird question, but I let it go for now. In the phone store behind Tad, Team Val and Troy peered out from behind a display counter.

  "The others are downstairs watching the store," I said a little quickly, in case Troy opened his mouth. "Most of us are asleep."

  "One sec." Tad disappeared.

  Val held up her baseball bat and looked at us questioningly. I shook my head.

  Tad returned and opened the staff door wide. "Okay, come in."

  The department store was a vast, bright expanse of clothing, homeware, beauty products, and other goods. The floor was white tile, lined by square pillars and lit by rows of ceiling panel lights. It was eerily quiet. In the blood-soaked self-service checkouts nearby, bodies had been lined up and covered in sheets.

  We circled around to the entrance, where someone else was waiting for us: a guy with black curls and thick eyebrows, who would be much more handsome if he didn't dress like an eight-year-old's idea of a cool dude. He had oversized basketball shorts, a half-balaclava with a skull design, and big white sneakers that still had their Huge W tags for some reason.

  "Hey," he said. "Call me Magic. I'm sort of the leader 'round here."

  I shook his hand. "Hey, man. Will. We were working at Gateway when shit got real. You?"

  "Yeah, we work here," he said smoothly. "We're doin' alright, for now. We're low on real food..."

  Magic started leading us down the store's wide central path. Tad took the rear.

  "We've got you covered, bro," Chaz said, slapping Tad's back. "Don't worry."

  "Is it just youse?" Magic asked. "It's pretty dangerous out there. Unless you've got them bots..."

  I gripped my shield and checked that my wrench was still in my pocket. Something about these guys and their interest in our numbers felt off. Kara looked worried, so I guessed she agreed. Lex looked worried too, but she usually did.

  I decided to throw out some bait.

  "No bots here," I said. "We came because we found a dead guy from here in the elevator. Assistant Manager John or something?"

  "Oh, John!" Magic said. "Yeah, he went scouting and the gobbo guys shot him. It's been rough without him."

  Alarm bells sounded in my head.

  He works here but the name Blayden didn't stick in his memory? Come on, man.

  Kara casually sent a message with her mind.

  SkullGirl33 Today at 10:58 PM

  Doing fine! How's the dog?

  TroyTheFirst Today at 10:58 PM

  what dog.

  Magic hurried ahead, stopped halfway through the store, and waited for us to catch up with a faint smile. Shelves of toys stretched out to my left, baby clothes to my right. If someone was hiding behind them, I couldn't see.

  That was my limit. I didn't mind waiting and seeing what this prick had in store for us, but like hell was I walking into an obvious trap in front of the guy who set it.

  "Oh cool, toys!" I said, spinning on my heel and marching straight into the toy section. "We've got some kids downstairs who could use them. Actually, one kid's parents died and I think he wants a weapon, but—"

  A heavy-set guy in a beanie and glasses was crouching behind a toy shelf, clutching a pipe.

  He boggled. "Uh..."

  "Hey," I said, picking up a heavy-looking toy dump truck. "Any chance you wanna trade instead?"

  Something about Magic changed. "Tch... screw it! Everyone get out here!"

  Two more people stepped out from their hiding spots: a long-haired woman with neon green arm-sleeves who resembled Tad, and a stocky man in a Games Warlock uniform with long dark hair, a neat beard, and robotic cat's legs sticking out of his cargo jorts. I tried not to stare.

  "Here's the deal," Magic said, grinning like a bully who'd found his latest target. "Your—"

  "Your money or your life, haha!" the big guy laughed.

  Magic scowled. "For fuck's sake, Spud—"

  I telescoped my arm out and smashed Magic in the face with my shield.

  Patreon!)