Harper said we should rest.
The System didn't agree.
It came for us in the middle of the silence—ripping through the chapel walls with a sound like a thousand voices weeping in reverse. Crimson light flooded the broken stone floor, and a message burned across the ceiling:
---
[NEW MISSION - DUAL FATE TRIAL]
Path Decision Required: RED vs SILVER
Trial Type: "The Red Room Echo"
Location: Memory Construct #004 – The Basement
Subject: Isaac Reyes – Potential Victim / Potential Catalyst
Time Limit: 15 minutes
Failure to Choose: System will choose for you.
Warning: Consequences Will Echo Across Future Missions.
---
The light swallowed us.
And then we were standing in a basement.
Old. Dusty. Damp. The kind of place used for punishment or secrets. Mold crept up the cracked stone walls. A single lightbulb swung from the ceiling, casting long shadows across old furniture, covered in white sheets.
There was only one door in the back.
Blood dripped from underneath it.
Adrian shivered. "I hate this already."
Harper drew her weapon. "The System wouldn't send us here unless it wanted to test something personal."
I looked around.
There were pictures on the walls.
Black-and-white photos of kids—blurred faces. One stood out: a boy standing by a chain-link fence, fists clenched, eyes swollen from crying. Written below it:
> ISAAC REYES
Age: 10. Missing since 2009.
That name burned something behind my eyes.
"I know him," I whispered.
---
We opened the door.
Inside was a small room—barely bigger than a closet. The walls were painted red. Not from blood—just… paint. But it pulsed, like skin. Like it hated being seen.
In the center sat a boy.
Ten years old. Same as the photo. His hands were bound. Duct tape covered his mouth. Tears streaked his dirty cheeks.
Above him, a monitor flickered.
It showed me.
Holding a bat.
Standing outside the same red room—ten years ago.
> "You did nothing," the system whispered.
---
Suddenly, two options appeared before me:
---
🔴 Red Path Choice:
"Walk away. Let the trial consume Isaac. Gain System Favor +2. Unlock new combat ability: Sin Burst."
⚪ Silver Path Choice:
"Free Isaac. Absorb his pain. Sacrifice one Memory Fragment. Gain Humanity +1. Unlock: Emotional Link – Isaac Reyes."
---
I stepped back, heart racing.
"Is this real?" I asked.
Harper's voice was ice. "It doesn't matter. The system will make it real if you choose wrong."
Adrian looked to me. "Dude… we've failed people before. We can't do it again."
But the red choice pulled at me. I felt the temptation in my chest like a weightless drug. More power. More clarity. No guilt.
And then the boy looked at me.
Eyes wide.
Begging.
Not for help.
For me to remember.
That broke something.
---
"I'm choosing silver," I said, stepping forward.
Harper didn't move. Adrian exhaled like he'd been holding his breath.
I knelt beside the boy.
Pulled the tape off.
"I'm sorry," I whispered. "You didn't deserve this. No one does."
I cut the bindings.
As soon as I did—
The pain hit me like a freight train.
Screams. Beatings. Isolation. Hunger. Every memory he carried was forced into me like barbed wire under the skin. I saw a version of myself walk past him every day. Pretending he wasn't crying. Pretending he didn't exist.
> "You were scared," the voice in my head said.
"You looked the other way. Because you saw too much of yourself in him."
I didn't deny it.
And that, somehow, freed him.
Isaac looked at me.
He didn't speak.
He just nodded—like he understood something I didn't yet.
Then he vanished.
Not in fear.
But in peace.
---
[MISSION COMPLETE – SILVER PATH SELECTED]
Humanity +1 | Memory Fragment –1 | Emotional Link Established: Isaac Reyes
New Trait Gained: "Empathic Wound – You feel the pain of others more deeply."
Warning: Future trauma will now affect Kai's stability rating.
---
We reappeared in the chapel.
Harper studied me with something like approval.
"You chose pain," she said.
"I owed him that."
She smiled—but it didn't reach her eyes.
"You'll regret it. But that's what makes you human."
Adrian clapped me on the shoulder. "That kid... Isaac. I think he'll come back. Not as a memory. As something else."
I nodded.
The System didn't waste survivors.
---
Later that night, I sat alone.
The voice returned.
> "One step toward the silver."
"But the red still waits for you."
I looked at my reflection in the broken chapel glass.
And this time, it looked nothing like me.