Chester shielded his eyes against the rain and looked up at the apartment complex. Outlines of Beyul Two-point-Zero connection points floated somewhere about the tenth floor — five active yet stationary suits. He touched the entry, unlocked the security gate, and held the door for Brandy. It felt good to get out of the rain.

“Beyul, how did the people above us get Two-point-Oh suits?”

“They upgraded their 1.8 suits to 2.0 suits.”

He stabbed the up button on the elevator.

So those rich bastards had money… Wait. What the Hell? The bitch, Dallas Savannah May Scott, lied to us. She told us only those working on Beyul Two-point-Oh had the new connection suits. She conned us … like everybody cons the House.

He remembered the interrogation of the engineers. While drugs weren't effective against those trained to resist, they were highly effective against soft, civilian targets. And the engineers told similar stories. Beyul Two-point-Oh could only run on the new, experimental connection spheres. No upgrade from existing hardware to Two-point-Oh hardware was possible.

She lied to her own people. She played them too. Just like the big corporations, the one-percenters did to everyone sentenced to the Houses. “Beyul, connect me to Governor Dietrichson.”

Monte frowned. “I should have known you were involved with him.”

He paid the bills. He bought me a House exit. Chester shook his head, “Brandy, he’s my remote father. You wouldn’t understand.”

The elevator dinged, and its doors parted.

“To be ‘Saved’ through hatred? I’ve seen enough of that,” Brandt Monte growled.

“No.” Chester pressed his fists against his forehead. “It’s not about hatred. I loved you.” He stepped into the elevator and punched the tenth-floor button. He did it again — shoved his foot down his own throat. It had always been that way with — she as she and then she as he. Fucking hormones. Fucking House. Fucking messed up parents.

Beyul spoke and put words on Chester’s AR HUD, “Unable to comply. Governor Dietrichson died six days ago.”

But… But… He had sat in the governor’s limo an hour ago. He handed over one of the new Two-point-Oh connection spheres. There were only two connection spheres left in the wild. But that was what that Dallas bitch said. But the limo. How could he talk to a dead man?

Monte butted into his thoughts, “You never said anything.”

“It doesn’t matter now. Does it?” The whole teenage hormone situation was so messed up. “It wouldn’t have mattered then. Would it?” If Brandy had said or done anything remotely sexual … He tried to crush that thought process under his grinding heel. But the sweat and sermon soaked dreams had never gone away. Did she taste different now?

“No,” Brandy pounded him over the head with the butt of an assault rifle. “But I was afraid …”

“Stop,” Chester said — the word was an order; the tone was a plead. “I … We can’t go back to that time.”

The tempting lips had thinned and paled during the years, but…

Monte harrumphed and turned his back to Chester.

Thank God. Bringing her was a mistake. I cannot afford to get lost in the past. That was then. This in now.

The Navy had taught him how to breathe with purpose, how to stand with purpose, how to move with purpose.

Right now, he needed to be focused on the present. He forced himself into a calm focused pose and breathed how he wanted to feel. Ten seconds, and I’ll stop struggling with the past.

Now how could I talk to a dead man? How could I ride in his limousine? He breathed and shifted and waited for an answer to come. Zombie mode — complete sensory overwriting. That Dallas bitch turned me into a zombie for her convenience. “God, I hate her.”

“Me?”

“No, Brandy. Never you. Well, for a while when you changed. But not since. Not once I got over the shock. That took time.”

“But you won’t use my name.”

He shook his head. “There are too many memories and hormones in the way.”

Monte frowned at him. “Then who do you hate?”

Chester twisted his lips into a thin, twisted smile. “Mistress Dallas Scott.”

“Congratulations. You have unlocked the hidden Easter Egg: Upgrade to Beyul 2.0. Do you want to upgrade now?”

The elevator doors opened onto the tenth floor.

What the Hell? Anyone can … just upgrade? There was no need for all the work — he punched the metal panel — the torment that bitch put us through?

“Chester?”

He ignored Monte and stormed out of the elevator.

A glance confirmed the Beyul Two-point-Oh users were on this floor.

She made us all dance. Puppets … zombie puppets … She made me a zombie for the limousine ride. He pounded the air with a fist. She made us all zombies. He found the apartment with the users. That means she is still alive. That fucking bitch!

He inhaled and prepared to kick in the door. He released his breath and changed his shoulders so he could think. How much of it was real? How much of this is real? Have we been zombies this entire time? He pressed his fingers into his hair and against the suit residing against his scalp. “Beyul, what mode am I in?”

“Unknown request. Unable to process query.”

“Am I in zombie mode?”

“Affirmative.”

“Discontinue zombie mode. Exit. Logoff.”

“Negative. The timer has not expired. 173 days, 19 hours, 54 minutes, 36 seconds remaining.”

That fucking bitch! A hundred and seventy-three days left? She locked us all in zombie mode until the mass human extinction event is over and done. She sentenced us to be oblivious, passive victims — to slowly die or to violently die and not know why.

“You have unlocked a hidden Easter Egg. If you take advantage of this upgrade and are able to solve the mystery of: ‘Shattered Realms’ within the time limit of 28 days, Zombie Mode will be terminated.”

“What?”

The door to the apartment opened. Beyond the light spilling from the corridor, the apartment was dark.

“You may signify your acceptance of the Beyul 2.0 upgrade and acceptance and understanding that you will undertake the mystery of: ‘Shattered Realms’ by entering the apartment.”

Chester clenched his fists and stared into the black apartment. Finally, he whispered, “Why?”

“Dallas Savannah May Scott is first and foremost a game designer. All games have victory conditions. You are the first of your congregation to discover the Easter Egg. Will you be the first to attempt the mystery of: ‘Shattered Realms’?”

“And the end to zombie mode is the victory condition?”

“There are other prizes based on other hidden factors within: ‘Shattered Realms’ — including Ms. Scott’s solution to Revelations and coming of the end. Do wish to enter: ‘Shattered Realms’?”

“Is that where they, the users in the Two-point-Oh suits are?”

“Affirmative.”

“What about Brandt Monte?”

“If he enters the apartment, he too will enter: ‘Shattered Realms’ with the goal of solving the mystery within the time limit stated.”

Chester looked to Monte. “Did you hear any of my conversation with Beyul?”

Monte shook his head.

Chester nodded, grabbed him by the shirt collar, pulled him close, kissed him, and shoved him through the open door into the apartment.

Brandt stumbled and vanished into the shadows.

“And the kid, Rupert Ainsworth, is he in ‘Shattered Realms’ too?”

“Affirmative. Within ‘Shattered Realms’ you can find clues to his physical location.”

“What if I want to kill the users in there? Can I enter the apartment without doing the ‘mystery of Shattered Realms’?”

“Negative. All individuals within ‘Shattered Realms’ are protected. Until you solve the mystery, you cannot harm the individuals within the apartment. However, you can still complete your assigned mission. Both of the experimental suits are connected to Beyul 2.0, and their users are attempting to solve the mystery of ‘Shattered Realms’. If you collect the clues to their locations and flush them out of ‘Shattered Realms,’ you can send that information to the others of your wetwork team.”

None of it was real. But all he had left was his belief in completing the mission — no matter what mission was given to him. He stepped into the apartment, into the darkness, and closed the door — shutting out the light.