[ZERO SPACE]

“One of you must die,” said Zydan.

Zydan’s blue cloak fluttered as he gestured towards a petrified skeleton. Its boney fingers clutched a glowing orange heart - a Level One material. Just what Shae needed for Rapid Shot.

“That’s the condition to unlock the material,” said Zydan. “I should probably make that more clear. I’ll add a poem to hint at it.”

“I love your poems!” shouted Umi.

Lanzer peered down a torchlit corridor ahead.

“Or or or,” said Lanzer. “We could not kill someone and just keep going.”

“Y-yeah, we should press on,” Asira whimpered, dragging her poisoned body across the ground. Her wings sagged, her fur was damp with sweat, and her pupils grew huge and dilated.

Shae gave Asira a sideways look.

“Hold up,” said Shae. “So we just gotta kill someone? That’s it?”

“Indeed!” said Zydan. “A devastating choice with lasting social repercussions. Friendships, forever tarnished. Guild hierarchies, devastated by vile betrayal --”

“PIERCING SHOT!”

Shae blew Asira’s head off, painting the petrified skeleton with her blood. The skeleton’s fingers unfurled, offering up the orange heart.

“That was easy --” Shae began.

[THE HAVEN]

Esara ripped off Jay’s headset, punching him hard in the arm.

“Ow!” Jay yelled.

"Asshole!” yelled Esara.

“You were poisoned!” yelled Jay.

“You didn’t have to use SP!” yelled Esara.

“What was I supposed to do?” yelled Jay. “Shoot you for five minutes?”

Esara grumbled, stomping through red carpet mush. The two of them gagged from their unit’s rotting stench, resecuring their headsets with haste.

[ZERO SPACE]

Shae returned to see Lanzer’s claw, poking him in the nose.

“Stop it,” said Shae, swatting it away.

He hopped forward, leading the party through the dark passage ahead.

“Three Feather Birds left,” said Zydan. “Though with your missing leg, perhaps it’s two point five?”

“There’s four of us left!” shouted Umi.

Zydan squinted.

“I count three,” said Zydan.

“Me, Shae, Lanzer, and Ledgess!” shouted Umi.

Zydan facepalmed.

“Ledgess this, Ledges that,” groaned Zydan. “Is this some weird roleplay thing?”

“I love roleplay!” shouted Umi. “But Ledgess really is watching us! He said we’ll get the Dragon Shield!”

“An excruciating thought,” said Zydan. “It’s a win-win for me though. I’m rid of you if you lose. And if you succeed, perhaps I’ll finally see the Wizard Twins.”

“Hold up,” said Shae. “You’ve never seen the Wizard Twins?”

“The Wizard Twins existed long before I took over,” said Zydan. “I believe they’re some sort of World Event.”

Zydan tapped his brass rings together.

“Their implementation is complicated, so I’ve been unable to modify them,” said Zydan. “And they’ve yet to have a QA pass, so they’re likely buggy.”

“Well well well, you’d just waive all the bugs anyway,” said Lanzer. “That’s kinda what you did to me.”

“Your bugs were primarily suggestions,” said Zydan. “Suggestions are low priority.”

“Making the game fun is not a suggestion!” yelled Lanzer.

“Fun is a subjective metric,” said Zydan. “A good designer would know that. Perhaps that’s why you never moved up from QA.”

“I didn’t move up because you fired me!” yelled Lanzer. “The day I mentioned I wanted to try design, you had me banned!”

“Not everyone is cut out for design,” said Zydan. “Especially those who cheat at Zero Space.”

“You cheated your way through life!” yelled Lanzer. “Your stupid dad gives you anything you want!”

“I didn’t want this!” yelled Zydan. “I became a designer because I had to!”

Zydan slammed his fists against the wall, shaking the entire catacombs.

“Our original dev team was ransacked by a Static breach,” said Zydan. “I stepped up because no one else would.”

Zydan slapped away a chunk of wall with his brass rings.

“I was just a teenager,” said Zydan. “I learned design, all by myself. You can’t even imagine the stress. The pressure! But do you ignorant players care? No! You just care about levelling up your stupid gear!”

Zydan’s fist smashed through the ceiling, raining down stone and dust. Shae’s party stepped away.

“I’m trying to make a difference!” yelled Zydan. “Not just in Zero Space, but the entire world. I’m trying to save you!”

Zydan’s blue eyes pierced through drifting dust.

“I hate this skyscraper hell hole,” said Zydan. “I hate this God-forsaken world. This world took everything from me. It killed my mother.”

Tears rolled down from Zydan’s six eyes.

“My father locked me in a room until I was fifteen,” said Zydan. “I barely saw him. All I had were comics and a bunch of his old books on game development.”

Zydan’s rings rubbed together.

“I invented a world in my head,” said Zydan. “A perfect world. Everything this world should be.”

Zydan clenched his fists.

“I’m going to make that world,” said Zydan. “If not in Zero Space, then in reality! I’ll fight back the Static. I’ll save everyone.”

Shae’s party backed into a large empty room.

“And no one is going to stop me!”

Two chunks of wall slammed down, barring the way forward and backwards.

A gigantic rat crashed through the ceiling, releasing a hideous squeal. Rows of sharp fangs snapped through the air. Two curved horns whipped around in a furious display.

wRATh

“Do you like the name of this boss?” asked Zydan. “It’s one of my finest puns.”

The rat charged forward!

Lanzer and Umi side stepped. Shae opted for a side-dive, his foot brushing the rat’s fur as it tore across the arena. He slid on his back, aiming his pistols high.

“PIERCING SHOT!!”

A level two bullet burrowed from the rat’s snout to its tail.

wRATh

Zydan cringed.

“This boss needs more HP,” said Zydan. “That’s a high priority fix.”

The rat pivoted on its hind legs, flicking strands of saliva across Shae’s outfit.

“Lanzer, Umi!” yelled Shae, crawling backwards. “Pull aggro from me! Now!”

“SUBTLE SLASH!!”

Lanzer teleported to the other side of the rat, claws crossed.

wRATh

A thick spray of red mist erupted from the rat’s throat.

The rat responded with a furious squeal and a violent tail whip, nearly folding Lanzer in half.

“GRAVITY SMASH!!”

Umi rooted the rat in place with his level two gravity dome, then bashed it like a gong.

wRATh

The rat broke free, ramming two curved horns into Umi’s gut.

Umi smashed against the far-side of the room. His six stunned eyes witnessed the rat’s slow approach, long threads of saliva dripping from its open maw.

“Shae Shae Shae!” gasped Lanzer. “Umi’s in trouble!”

Shae’s SP was recharged - seven remaining. Just enough for a combination shot.

“PAUSE SHOT!!”

Sixteen Seconds

Shae hopped towards wRATh.

“This ability again,” said Zydan.

Fifteen Seconds

Zydan floated forward to intercept.

“Maybe I should grab you --”

Fourteen Seconds

“-- and stop your cheating.” said Zydan.

Thirteen Seconds

“You that scared of losing?” asked Shae.

Twelve Seconds

“Don’t trust your game to kill us?” asked Shae.

Zydran drew near.

Eleven Seconds

“You said you were playtesting,” said Shae.

Zydan’s four arms reached forward.

Ten Seconds

“You damn coward!” yelled Shae.

Zydan hesitated, crossing his arms with a scowl.

Nine Seconds

Shae hopped by wRATh’s head, plunging a pistol between the rodent’s gaping jaws. His wrist strummed strands of frozen saliva; they vibrated like harp strings against his sleeve.

Eight Seconds

Shae had one chance to end this. The rat’s HP was low; possibly low enough for two special bullets. A Pause Shot --

Seven Seconds

-- And a Level Two Piercing Shot!

Six Seconds

Shae’s pistol scraped the roof of the rat’s mouth, aimed at its brain. A point-blank shot its most vulnerable point.

Five Seconds

Shae inhaled deep.

Four Seconds

This was for the Feather Birds.

Three Seconds

For Anton.

Two Seconds

For himself!

One Second

Shae pulled the trigger.

BANG

Time resumed as Shae planted a neon bullet in the rat’s skull, sprouting a geyser of blood, bone and brain.

wRATh

Shae gasped.

It wasn’t enough.

The rat tore through Shae’s insides, its long snout tunnelling through his gut. With a dramatic jerk of its head, wRATh removed Shae’s upper half from his lower half. Viscera dribbled from Shae’s waist. His torso forged a trail of red paste.

“Shae Shae Shae!” yelled Lanzer. “No no no!”

Umi roared, slamming his warhammer into the rat’s head. Skull crunched, eyeballs burst, and teeth shattered beneath its weight.

wRATh

But Umi didn’t stop there. He brought his warhammer down again and again, fur and giblets spiraling with each swing.

“Umi Umi Umi,” said Lanzer. “It’s dead. It’s dead!”

Umi grinned with bloodied teeth; it wasn’t his blood.

“I was just getting in a few hits for Shae!” shouted Umi.

Lanzer trembled.

“We’re screwed screwed screwed,” said Lanzer.

“You’re screwed, screwed, screwed indeed,” said Zydan. “I forgot how you did that stupid triple word thing. More roleplay?”

“Kinda is,” said Lanzer. “Kinda isn’t.”

“Well, I won’t have to hear it again after this,” said Zydan. “Your leader’s dead, and there’s still more dungeon ahead.”

“I love dungeon crawling!” shouted Umi.

“Umi Umi Umi,” said Lanzer. “We can’t do this without Shae.”

“We still have Ledgess!” shouted Umi. “And we killed the dungeon boss! That must mean we’re near the shield!”

“You are indeed,” said Zydan. “But there’s one last obstacle in the way.”

The catacomb walls swung open, revealing a dark passage ahead.

“What else could you possibly do to us?” asked Lanzer.

“You’ll see,” said Zydan.

Lanzer bit his fishy lip, following behind Umi.

Zydan floated by, grinning at Lanzer with a devious smile.

“You should know this obstacle better than anyone,” said Zydan. “It was your bug that originally removed it.”

“That kinda doesn’t narrow it down,” said Lanzer.

“You logged this bug in the forest ruins,” said Zydan. “I tried to waive it, but my father forced me to fix it.”

“Still doesn’t narrow it down,” said Lanzer.

“Death spikes, Lanzer,” said Zydan. “QA’s favorite!”

Lanzer’s eyes widened in horror.

The room ahead was nearly empty, sans a few dozen skeletons and a giant glowing shield with the image of a dragon on it. It stood on a decorative mantle, raised atop a platform at the room’s farside.

“It’s the Dragon Shield!” shouted Umi. “Praise Ledgess!”

Umi stepped forward.

“No no no,” said Lanzer. “Umi, wait!”

Lanzer yanked Umi backwards seconds before spikes erupted near his feet. Pink points punctured the air, parting the dust before settling back into the ground.

Zydan rubbed his rings together. There was something odd about those spikes, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.

“No no no,” said Lanzer. “He brought Death Spikes back!”

“These are Death Spikes version two,” said Zydan. “These ones can’t be seen in advance.”

Zydan floated high above the room, landing near the Dragon Shield.

“I’ve seen guilds burn through all their members in search of a way through,” said Zydan. “Too bad there’s only two of you.”

Lanzer’s entire body shook.

“Umi Umi Umi,” said Lanzer. “We have to pull back. We can’t win this. These spikes have their Attack set to ten. They’ll insta-kill anything!”

“Let’s try anyway!” shouted Umi. “The Dragon Shield’s right there!”

“No no no,” said Lanzer. “We’ll never make it. Me and you can still get out of here.”

Zydran grinned from horn to horn.

“You’d abandon your friends?” asked Zydan. “They’ll just respawn in my prison rooms.”

“We can’t save them,” said Lanzer. “It’s either some of us, or all of us.”

“Don’t worry Lanzer!” shouted Umi. “We’ve got Ledgess on our side --”

“Ledgess isn’t real!” yelled Lanzer.

Umi stared at Lanzer.

“Sorry sorry sorry,” said Lanzer. “B-But he’s just some game old deprecated game file people latched onto. I-I want to believe too, but he's not going to help us here. No one can help us.”

“For once, I recommend listening to QA,” said Zydan.

“We have to go Umi,” cried Lanzer. “We can’t get the Dragon Shield. We can’t save them.”

Umi placed a hand on Lanzer’s shoulder.

“Times like this challenge our faith,” said Umi. “That’s when we gotta believe the hardest!”

Lanzer released a long frustrated sigh. Umi grabbed his hands.

“It’s okay if you don’t believe!” shouted Umi. “I’ll believe for the both of us!”

Umi recited a silent prayer.

Lanzer took this opportunity to think. There must be a bug, or something he could exploit.

Maybe Lanzer could dash through this room with his power? No, he wouldn’t reach the shield in one go, even with a Level Two. A spike would likely reach him first.

Maybe Umi could throw Lanzer high over the room? No, not possible, even with Umi’s strength. That would require the strength of five Umi’s.

After all these years of testing Zero Space and finding workarounds past impossible scenarios, Lanzer finally met his match. Nothing was coming to him.

No inspiration.

No clever ploys.

No hope.

“Can we get this over with?” asked Zydan. “I have things to do.”

Umi continued his prayer.

“There are no Gods here, or out there,” said Zydan. “If divine intervention were to happen, it would have happened long before the Static.”

Umi squeezed Lanzer’s hands.

“No one’s watching over any of us,” said Zydan. “The best we can do is watch out for ourselves. I’m the closest thing Zero Space has a God --”

“You’re not a God!” snapped Umi. “You’re just a designer! And not a very good one either!”

Zydan shut his mouth.

“People like you are the reason the world’s such a big mess!” shouted Umi. “We all need to work together! We need to believe!”

Zydan cleared his throat.

“Then believe in something real,” said Zydan. “Believe in your advantages. Or your skill. That’s what keeps you alive --”

“Ledgess keeps me alive!” shouted Umi. “Not you assholes at the top that take everything from me! I’m hungry, and I’m hurting, while you live in your fancy rooms, playing your fancy characters, and enjoying your fancy fucking life!’

Lanzer backed away from Umi.

“I’ve been playing this game for twenty years, and I’m still on floor five!” screamed Umi. “Don’t talk to me about your damn advantages! They haven’t done shit for me!”

Zydan backed off too.

“I have faith, because that’s all I got!” screamed Umi. “And now you want to take that from me too?”

Umi slammed his warhammer against the ground.

“I’d rather take your life!” Umi screeched.

Zydan settled by the Dragon Shield.

“Well then,” said Zydan, recomposing himself. “Come and try.”

“Ledgess is with me!” shouted Umi.

“Umi, no no no!” yelled Lanzer.

“For my friends!” shouted Umi.

Umi hunched back --

“For Ledgess!”

Umi dashed across the empty room, focused on Zydan’s lumbering figure.

Spikes erupted around Umi, puncturing the sky with blurring pink tips. Skeletons crumbled into ash. Cobwebs fractured into fluttering threads. Floor tiles exploded into scattering dust --

But Umi remained unscathed.

Zydan’s six eyes widened, choking out a strangled gasp.

“No, the spikes,” said Zydan. “T-They’re delayed? Again? How? When?”

Umi lunged forward.

“Die demon!”

Umi crashed into Zydan with enough momentum to knock the designer from his perch, right onto a patch of empty ground.

Three seconds later, pink spikes perforated Zydan’s body, penetrating his blue cloak, brass rings, and titanium flesh. Zydan’s six glowing eyes widened, blue light fading from his stupefied stare.

Umi laughed, gripping the Dragon Shield with all four arms.

“We did it!” shouted Umi.

Lanzer’s jaw dropped as low as it could go.

“I-I don’t believe this,” said Lanzer. “How how how?”

“We got the Dragon Shield!” shouted Umi. “Our friends are saved!”

Umi raised the shield high.

“Praise Ledgess!”

[THE HAVEN]

Zydan tore off his Zero Space helmet, chucking it into the cubicle wall.

“Damn it all!” yelled Zydan. “Screw this game! Screw everyone who plays it!”

Zydan hunched over his desk, navigating to a menu.

NPC NAME The_Dragon HEALTH 21,442/21,442 OXYGEN 100% ATTACK 6 DEFENSE 8 INTELLIGENCE 4 SPECIAL ATTACK 1 Fire Breath SPECIAL ATTACK 2 Wind Wings SPECIAL ATTACK 3 Eye of the Green God

“You want the dragon?” shouted Zydan. “I’ll give you the dragon!”

Zydan selected the dragon’s Intelligence:

INTELLIGENCE 10

“You think you can outwit me?” shouted Zydan. “Outwit that!”

Zydan laughed, turning to face --

DD. The balding man stood before Zydan, adjusting his tie. Two enforcers stood on either side, gripping their weapons.

“D-Dad,” choked Zydan. “You’re back? I was just wrapping up a playtest session --”

“I saw the whole thing,” said DD. “Come with me.”

***

Zydan, DD and two enforcers shared an awkward enforcer elevator ride.

47… 46...

Digital floor numbers counted down at the elevator’s peak.

“Dad,” said Zydan. “Where are we going?”

DD remained silent.

41… 40...

“Is this about the Ceri thing?” asked Zydan.

“It’s about much more than that,” said DD.

36… 35…

“Alright, but to confirm,” said Zydan. “Is this still partially about the Ceri thing?”

“It’s obviously about the Ceri-thing,” snapped DD. “And numerous others!”

27… 26...

“Their deaths were untraceable by enforcers,” said DD. “That’s how I narrowed it down. Only a few groups in the Haven are capable of such things.”

20… 19…

“I reached out to my personal contacts,” said DD. “The Cleavers gave you up almost immediately.”

Zydan paled.

14… 13…

“I’m not king of the Haven,” said DD. “But I’m damn close. And I know more of its denizens than you ever will.”

7… 6...

“It’s time for you to learn the value of Haven life,” said DD.

5… 4...

“Dad, where are we going?” asked Zydan.

3…

“Dad?”

2…

“Dad!”

1.

The enforcer elevator doors opened.

A battleground awaited them, littered with dust, dirt, and dented steel. Beige walls and cracked floor tiles lay in tatters, ripped apart by every force imaginable, and several unimaginable. Burnt outlines of alien shapes. Craters from explosions small and large. Claw marks of irregular beasts. The only signs of life were flocks of enforcers on permanent patrol.

“What are we doing down here?” asked Zydan.

DD pushed forward, pushing Zydan along too.

A steel shutter loomed in the distance, guarded by a small army of enforcers.

“Dad, please say we’re not going out there,” said Zydan.

DD retrieved two yellow gasmasks, securing his own before helping his son.

“Dad, don’t do this!”

With a wave of DD’s hand, six enforcers reeled back metal chains. The heavy shutter creaked open, revealing a howling wasteland of black sand.

“Dad, no!”

DD dragged Zydan forward. Two enforcers tagged along, their bright yellow outfits aglow in the darkness.

Zydan’s legs sunk halfway into the sand. Black rain crashed upon his skull, threatening to beat him to the ground. Screeching wind attempted to tear the mask from his head.

DD found his footing, staring towards the black Haven skyscraper.

“Have you ever seen it from outside?” asked DD, his voice projecting from a speaker in Zydan’s gas mask.

Zydan shook his head, shielding his glass visor with his arm.

“I suppose few people have,” said DD. “Take a good look.”

The enforcers looked everywhere else, their weapons aimed at the horizon.

“Dad, why are we here?” asked Zydan.

“I want you to see our home,” said DD. “Fifty floors. Tens of thousands of people. And all of their lives, in our hands.”

“Not our hands,” said Zydan. “The enforcers save lives. We just make games.”

“Games, you say?” asked DD.

DD gestured towards an enforcer, pointing up at the Haven.

“Dad,” said Zydan. “What are you doing?”

An enforcer raised his rifle towards the Haven.

“Dad? No, don’t --”

The enforcer pulled the trigger. A thick line of explosive red beads pelted the Haven exterior, crimson plasma bursting upon the surface --

But not the Haven’s surface. A shield of purple electricity intercepted, violet ripples absorbing each projectile.

“That energy,” said Zydan. “I’ve seen it before.”

The purple energy wobbled, fading into the darkened sky.

“T-That’s bubble energy,” said Zydan. “Like from a Zero Space instance.”

Zydan paled.

“T-There’s a Zero Space bubble, protecting the Haven,” said Zydan.

“Yes,” said DD. “The Haven is instanced. Nothing gets in that isn’t invited. And only its occupants can get out.”

Zydan fell to his knees, head spinning.

“N-No, this isn’t real,” said Zydan.

Zydan’s body shook.

“I-Is this world just a game?” asked Zydan. “Are we in Zero Space? Is this is all a simulation --”

DD kicked Zydan in the chest, delivering him to the dirt.

“No, you idiot,” said DD. “This is not a game.”

DD sighed.

“And neither is Zero Space.”

Zydan gawked.

“There’s one key difference between our reality and Zero Space,” said DD. “Control.”

DD wrung out his dampened tie.

“It was long before your time,” said DD. “Corporations found a way to transfer reality into digital space. What cheaper way to produce original content than to duplicate real life?”

DD stared into the Haven.

“Artists and content creators populated Zero Space with their own visions,” said DD. “Digital reality became something more than reality. Something far better.”

DD looked fondly towards the sky.

“It was a reality we could control,” said DD. “Pain hurt less. Food tasted better. Humans no longer had to be human. The real world grew less relevant each day.”

DD gripped his tie.

“But then something impossible happened,” said DD. “Someone found a way to pull the virtual world back out of Zero Space, into reality.”

DD shook his head.

“That was the end of everything,” said DD. “And the beginning of the Static.”

DD gazed into the crooked dunes around them.

“We don’t know what caused the Static,” said DD. “But we know it originated in Zero Space. If we want to protect ourselves from the game, we have to use the game.”

Patches of purple energy flickered across the Haven’s exterior, provoked by pounding rain.

“There is no force stronger than an instance bubble,” said DD. “And do you know what powers instance bubbles?”

DD turned towards Zydan.

“Active Zero Space players,” said DD.

DD stepped forward.

“Our preservation relies on a World Event,” said DD. “What do you think happens when a world event loses enough participants?”

DD gripped Zydan by the jacket.

“The World Event ends!” yelled DD.

Zydan’s eyes opened wide.

“So when you do something stupid like murdering devs or terrorizing players, players drop out,” said Zydan. “If enough players die or stop playing for too long, the Haven falls!”

RATTLE RATTLE

The sound was faint, but it put both enforcers on edge.

DD gripped Zydan’s collar.

“I’ve given you too many chances,” said DD. “I should have expelled you from the dev team long ago. Some say I should have expelled you from the Haven. I suppose they’re probably right.”

DD released a deep sigh.

“But, I can’t,” said DD.

DD pulled Zydan close.

“When I brought you to the Haven, you were hardly an infant,” said DD. “You were all I had in this world.”

Zydan felt his father tremble.

RATTLE RATTLE

The enforcers raised their weapons towards the noise.

“I did my best to raise you without your mother,” said DD. “I tried to make you a good person. And a responsible developer.”

RATTLE RATTLE

“I want to believe it’s still possible,” said DD. “I want to believe you can improve.”

“Sir,” said an enforcer. “We need to head back inside.”

DD clutched Zydan tighter.

“Please Zydan,” said DD. “Don’t make me choose between you or the Haven.”

RATTLE RATTLE

An enforcer shook DD loose from Zydan.

“Sir, we have to go!” yelled the enforcer. “Now!”

A whale’s moan echoed through the ebony sky. Black dirt rose into a towering mound, speeding towards them like a breaking wave.

Both enforcers opened fire, pelting the dune with explosive red and white plasma. Sand erupted from their blasts, unveiling hundreds of eyes within the dune, swarming like a disturbed hornet hive.

Even enforcer weapons failed to slow it down. Both enforcers retreated, sprinting alongside DD and Zydan into the Haven’s interior.

The metal shutter door crashed down behind them.

SLAM

An impact rattled the entirety of the Haven. “A static quake,” the forums would call it. Just an act of nature. That was all anyone needed to know.

DD and Zydan peeled off their gas masks, gasping for breath.

“Zydan,” wheezed DD. “Promise me.”

Sweat dribbled from DD’s balding head.

“Promise me you’ll do better --”

“Dad,” said Zydan. “I promise.”

DD braced against a ruined pillar.

“I’m sorry for everything,” said Zydan. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. I wasn’t trying to hurt the Haven.”

DD nodded, steadying his breath.

“I’ll do more than save the Haven,” said Zydan. “I’ll save the world.”

DD’s eyes narrowed.

“I’m so close Dad,” said Zydan. “Everything you said confirms I’m on the right track.”

DD spat black dirt on the ground.

“What are you talking about?” asked DD.

“There’s more to Zero Space than even you know,” said Zydan. “There’s a place without limits - the origin of Zero Space. I need to find it.”

“You need to prioritize the Haven,” said DD.

“I’m prioritizing the world!” shouted Zydan. “I’ll protect everyone. The Haven included!”

Zydan placed a hand on DD’s shoulder.

“I won’t let you down Dad,” said Zydan. “I won’t let Mom down. This Haven, and everyone else; they’ll celebrate me as their savior.”

Zydan stepped away.

“I just need a little more time,” said Zydan. “Please, trust me.”

“I suppose that’s the problem,” said DD. “I don’t trust you.”

“Then trust in the end result,” said Zydan. “Believe in me Dad. I’ve learned my lesson.”

Zydan returned to the elevator, escorted by two enforcers.

“Zydan,” DD muttered to himself. “You didn’t learn a thing.”

DD squeezed his gasmask.

“I am responsible for the safety of this Haven,” said DD.

DD’s thumbs cracked the gas mask’s visor.

“And I’m responsible for you.”