The maze had fallen into an unsettling silence, the kind that pressed against the ears like a weighted fog. The air was dense, the faint glow of the maze's walls pulsing faintly, casting jagged shadows on the ground. Most of the recruits had melted into the darkness, moving with calculated stealth. There was only one Maze Crawler left, and everyone wanted the kill. Alone.
Tess crouched in a shadowed corner, idly toying with her cyber blade. Her fingers spun it with precise, lazy ease, the blade cutting faint arcs in the dim light. She twirled it once more, let it fly into the air, then caught it mid-descent and guided it cleanly back into its sheath. The metallic click echoed faintly, satisfying her in a way few things did.
Her humming stopped as a cluster of screens flickered to life in front of her, their cold, artificial glow casting her face in sharp relief. The system fed her the same cold truth it fed everyone.
[RECRUIT_###][DIED]
[RECRUIT_0##][DIED]
[RECRUIT_##6][DIED]
[RECRUIT_008][DIED]
[RECRUIT_###][DIED]
Tess let out a soft, resigned sigh. She had expected this. It always happened at this stage.
When only one Maze Crawler remained, it inherited the abilities of every other fallen one, morphing into a nearly invincible predator. To kill it required more than strength, more than skill. It required cooperation, the one thing none of the recruits seemed to understand.
She tilted her head, a faint smirk tugging at her lips. "Who among them will swallow their pride first?" she murmured to herself, leaning back against the cold wall. Her orange eyes scanned the flickering maze corridors on her interface.
She had yet to see anyone make the first move.
The faint sound of movement reached her ears, distant and erratic. Some recruits were still fighting. Some were still dying. The maze's quiet was broken intermittently by the sharp crack of gunfire and the guttural screeches of the AI-controlled zombies. Tess sighed again, boredom starting to gnaw at her.
The recruits didn't seem to realize what this test was about. It wasn't about proving who was the strongest or the most capable. It was about teamwork. The Zone 4 Academy didn't need lone wolves. Missions in the real world would often pair them with strangers... other students they'd never met, never fought beside. Survival would depend on how well they could adapt, how quickly they could trust.
Tess stood abruptly, stretching lazily as she rolled her shoulders. Her shoes made no sound as she ran along the walls of the maze, her movements fluid and unhurried. She scaled one of the higher walls with ease, perching on the edge where she could see more of the labyrinth sprawled below.
The recruits desperation was visible even from here. Tess watched as they darted through the maze, firing erratically at the Maze Crawler. Each shot seemed to barely graze it, their weapons too weak or too predictable.
[RECRUIT_###][DIED]
[RECRUIT_###][DIED]
The screens continued their grim announcements, the recruits falling like dominoes. Tess's smirk faded slightly. She had no love for these people, but death was never easy to watch. A memory flickered in her mind, unbidden... the mangled wreckage of a car, the stillness of bodies that should've moved. She clenched her fists briefly, shaking her head to banish the thought.
She leapt down from her perch, landing silently on the ground below. She didn't want to watch the massacre unfold any longer. She moved with purpose, weaving through the maze's endless corridors, waiting for someone... anyone to figure it out.
The sound of footsteps broke the monotony. Tess turned, her eyes narrowing as a figure emerged from the shadows.
The dull green-eyed girl. Berk.
"Just this once," Berk said, her voice as calm and emotionless as ever.
Tess tilted her head, feigning deliberation as she studied Berk's expressionless face. Her silence stretched for a beat too long, and then she nodded, pushing herself off the wall where she had been leaning.
Tess smiled faintly, though there was no humor in it. "It's not about teaming up physically," she said, her voice steady, her words carrying the weight of experience. She paused, letting her gaze linger on Berk's lifeless eyes. "It's about cooperating in the mind."
She let the words hang in the air, waiting for a reaction, any reaction. But Berk only nodded once, her expression unchanged.
Tess exhaled sharply, her breath misting faintly in the cold air. She wasn't sure if Berk understood the meaning behind her words, but there was no time to overthink it. The Maze Crawler wasn't going to wait for them to figure it out.
With one last glance at the silent girl beside her, Tess sighed, gripping her cyber blade tightly. "Let's just make sure we don't die because of each other."
Berk remained silent, her sniper rifle already in hand, her expression betraying nothing.
Tess couldn't help but sigh again. This was going to be a bit frustrating if it didn't go well...