Phones vibrating.
"SYSTEM INSTABILITY CRITICAL."
⸻
Footsteps outside.
Closer now.
Voices.
Adults.
⸻
Thorian looks at the door.
"…they're here."
⸻
No one moves.
Because inside?
Something bigger is happening.
⸻
Aurora steps forward slightly.
Phone in hand.
⸻
Zyren blocks her path.
"No."
⸻
Aurora looks at him.
Calm.
"You already know how this ends."
⸻
Lyrelle shakes her head. "We'll figure something else out—"
⸻
Aurora cuts in softly.
"You won't."
⸻
Ryan exhales sharply. "We're not letting you do this alone."
⸻
Phones vibrate again.
Hard.
⸻
"FINAL WARNING."
⸻
The door handle shifts slightly.
⸻
Time is gone.
⸻
Aurora lifts her phone.
⸻
And then—
Jason speaks.
⸻
"Stop."
⸻
It's quiet.
But it lands.
Because he never sounds like that.
⸻
No one moves.
⸻
Jason steps forward slowly.
Eyes not on Aurora.
Not on the group.
⸻
On the phone.
⸻
"You all keep talking like this just started," he says.
Voice low.
Tired.
⸻
No one interrupts.
⸻
"You're arguing about who should fix it," he continues.
"Like it's just some decision."
⸻
He lets out a small breath.
Shaky.
⸻
"It's not."
⸻
Zyren watches him now.
Carefully.
⸻
Jason finally looks up.
At all of them.
⸻
"She's dead."
⸻
Silence.
Instant.
Heavy.
⸻
Lyrelle's expression shifts.
Kaida looks down.
Kyra goes still.
⸻
Jason swallows.
"But none of you want to say it like that," he adds.
⸻
His eyes flick briefly—
To Aurora.
⸻
"And now you're about to do the same thing again."
⸻
Aurora doesn't respond.
But she's listening.
⸻
Jason steps closer.
⸻
"You don't even know us like that," he says to her.
Not aggressive.
Just… real.
⸻
"So why are you the one trying to carry this?"
⸻
That hits.
⸻
Aurora's grip tightens slightly on her phone.
⸻
Ryan exhales slowly.
"…he's right."
⸻
Zyren nods once.
"This isn't just about ending it."
⸻
Jason shakes his head.
"No."
⸻
"It is."
⸻
They look at him.
⸻
He continues:
"If this ends… then it ends with all of us."
⸻
A pause.
⸻
"Not another person taking it for us."
⸻
That lands differently.
⸻
Aurora finally speaks.
Quiet.
⸻
"That's not how the Game works."
⸻
Jason meets her eyes.
⸻
"Then maybe that's the problem."
⸻
Phones glitch violently.
⸻
"CONFLICT DETECTED."
"RESOLUTION REQUIRED."
⸻
The door starts to open slightly.
Light spilling in.
⸻
Voices outside:
"Thorian?"
⸻
Everything is happening at once.
⸻
Lyrelle steps forward.
"We're not choosing one person."
⸻
Kaida nods, shaky but firm.
"We're not doing that again."
⸻
Zyren:
"We finish it together."
⸻
Aurora looks at all of them.
Really looks.
⸻
For the first time—
She hesitates.
⸻
Jason's voice is quieter now.
But it cuts deeper:
⸻
"She was my girlfriend."
⸻
Silence.
Even heavier now.
⸻
"And I couldn't save her."
⸻
No one breathes.
⸻
"I'm not losing someone else to this," he says.
⸻
Aurora's expression shifts.
Just slightly.
⸻
Not logic.
Not calculation.
⸻
Something human.
⸻
Phones vibrate one last time.
⸻
"UNEXPECTED VARIABLE."
⸻
The door opens wider.
Adults about to step in.
⸻
Aurora looks at the screen.
Then at them.
⸻
This time—
She's not certain.