We didn't run.
Running attracts attention.
Walking fast while looking like you're late for something slightly illegal is much safer.
Tony floated low beside my shoulder, screen dimmed to almost nothing. The white card stayed cold in my jacket pocket, silent for once.
The streets were still mostly normal. People walked. Cars moved. A guy on the corner was selling phone chargers that definitely didn't work.
Then we passed a bus stop.
The digital display flickered as I walked by and briefly showed:
Zeke_N – 2.5% – STATUS: FLEEING
It corrected itself a second later, but I saw it.
Tony whispered, "The Passive Leak is getting worse."
"I noticed."
Two blocks later a streetlight turned itself off the moment I stepped under it, then turned back on after I passed. A dog across the street stopped mid-bark and stared at me like it recognized something it shouldn't.
I kept my head down.
Four blocks.
The abandoned parking garage came into view. It looked exactly like a place the System had given up on. Chain-link fence half fallen over. Windows broken. Graffiti that had started glitching into random numbers. A big faded sign that still said "DEMOLITION SCHEDULED – 2023" even though it was 2026.
The card finally spoke again.
Once you cross the threshold, the System's eyes get blurry. It won't be blind… but it will be slower.
"Slower is good enough."
We reached the fence. I used a quick debug command to weaken one section and slipped through. Tony followed.
The moment both of us were inside the garage, the air changed.
It felt heavier. Quieter. Like the world had fewer background processes running.
My debug panel flickered.
> [Location: Dead Zone – Sector 7-G]
> [System Authority: 31%]
> [Cleaner Tracking: Temporarily Degraded]
> [Warning: Dead Zones are unstable]
I let out a breath I didn't know I'd been holding.
Tony floated higher, scanning the dark concrete pillars and broken cars.
"It's quiet," he said. "Too quiet."
"That's the point."
I found a relatively clean corner on the second level and sat down with my back against a pillar. The white card warmed slightly in my hand.
This will only buy time, it said. The Cleaner will adapt. They always do.
"How long do we have?"
*Hours. Maybe a day if you're lucky.
Tony projected a small timer that was already counting down from nothing useful.
I leaned my head back against the cold concrete.
"Okay. New new plan. We sit here, we don't increase the percentage, and we figure out how to stop a Cleaner before it figures out how to find us again."
The card was quiet for a moment.
Then it said something that made my stomach drop.
You can't stop a Cleaner with the Debug Menu you have now.
"Then what do I need?"
More of Echo.
I stared at the number in the corner of my vision.
2.5%
Tony's screen dimmed even further.
"That's the opposite of our previous plan."
"I know," I said.
I looked out through a broken window at the city lights.
Somewhere out there, something that could erase me from the timeline was already adjusting to the Dead Zone.
And the only way to fight it… was to become more of the thing the System was trying to delete.
I closed my eyes.
"Tony."
"Yeah?"
"I really hate consistent character development."
Tony's screen showed a tiny white flag again.
"Me too."