CONTAINMENT ZERO: PROJECT SHADOW CODE

Chapter 13: Digital Decay

GLOBAL ALER—-

Suddenly, the transmission was replaced by garbled static, followed by complete silence. For the first time since arriving in Elysium, the message did not return. The rain had stopped, leaving only dark, fractured clouds hanging above. Armed citizens stood staring at their communication devices, waiting for an update. But when nothing happened, it somehow felt even more disturbing.

One of them lowered his weapon slowly. "That's not normal."

Another looked uneasily toward the fractured sky. "The system never cuts announcements midway."

But Zamora's bright route kept flashing on her display as she moved towards District 9 via underground transit networks. The civilians saw it right away, and one looked at his own device before turning back to her.

"…Your route didn't collapse."

The other man shook his head immediately. "That's impossible during interference."

She backed away slightly. "I don't even know what that means."

"It means most routes got corrupted, stolen or rerouted during the event." One of them said quietly.

"But yours stayed stable."

This made everything different now, as she did not cause any panic for them but rather proved she still had value to them. Another survivor from further down the alley cursed, looking down at his mobile phone.

"You've gotta be kidding me…"

Nearby devices immediately started vibrating one after another. They weren't emergency alerts, but player notifications.

"My progression dropped!"

"My route permissions have been altered!"

"My safe house time expired?!"

"The system stole my credits!"

Finally, a postponed global announcement popped up overhead.

GLOBAL EVENT RESULT:

PROGRESSION INTERFERENCE EVENT COMPLETE.

RANDOMIZED PLAYER CHANGES SUCCESSFULLY APPLIED.

SOME PLAYERS HAVE GAINED OR LOST THE FOLLOWING: GAINED ACCESS, PROGRESSION LOST, CREDITS RECEIVED, ROUTE CHANGES, GAINED TEMPORARY STATUS

THANK YOU FOR PARTICIPATING.

The alley erupted in rage.

"This game is rigged."

"I LOST THREE LEVELS!"

"You stole my route access!"

Violence suddenly erupted further down the streets as survivors turned against each other, attempting to reclaim what was lost. This time, however, the situation seemed different, and while fear had vanished, despair still existed. No longer did people seek survival; rather, they sought to keep from being left behind, and this fact dawned on her with surprising clarity. Then her phone vibrated privately.

DISTRICT 9 ACCESS: STABLE.

TRANSIT WINDOW: 00:03:16

Below it, another message appeared.

WARNING:

MULTIPLE PLAYERS ARE CURRENTLY ATTEMPTING TO PURCHASE DISTRICT 9 ROUTES.

One of the armed civilians slowly exhaled.

"…Now we really can't let you leave."

This time, Zamora didn't hesitate. The minute that he touched her arm, she moved quickly, swinging his wrist away and punching him square in the jaw.

CRACK.

NEW PLAYERS HAVE ENTERED LEVEL TWO.

The alley went silent. The one civilian crumbled to the wall, clutching their face and shocked out of their wits as the others looked at her differently now. They did not seem like helpless victims anymore, not even confused – they had become dangerous.

Sirens rang out from further away in lower Elysium. Further down into the city, there were survivors still battling to regain stolen progress from the incident. But down in that alley? No one even dared to move, one of the civilians snickered softly.

"…You really don't know what you are yet, do you?"

Her heart was beating rapidly inside her body. "Shut up."

Another slowly raised his weapon again. "Doesn't matter. We only need the route."

Her phone suddenly vibrated.

PRIVATE SYSTEM UPDATE:

CHARACTER UPGRADE: 12%

NEW PHYSICAL TRAITS DETECTED.

Before she could take time to decipher the message, they began their attack, and they did not hesitate. One rushed her head-on, while the other went around her and approached her from behind through the glowing screen on her way. She reacted without much thought. She dodged his initial strike, then rammed her shoulder into his torso, sending him flying backwards into some metal crates.

CRASH.

The second attacker reached out to grab her by the wrist, and instantly her entire body responded through instinct alone. She was able to slow down time for one second and listen to the sounds around her. She twisted and found herself behind him before even realizing what she was doing.

"…What?"

Then she threw him face-first into the alley wall.

CRACK.

And the civilians immediately began to back up.

"She's evolving."

"No," another muttered nervously.

"She's adapting."

That one word carried weight because of how the system valued adaptability. All of a sudden, everyone's devices started vibrating once more.

GLOBAL EVENT ACTIVE:

VOID LOTTERY INITIALIZED.

RANDOM PLAYERS MAY RECEIVE: CREDITS, PROPERTY, STATUS, ACCESS, PENALTIES AND PROGRESSION

PLEASE ENJOY THE EVENT.

The civilians instantly pulled out their phones.

"Oh COME ON!"

"Oh s**t, I have a bounty now?!"

"I GOT A DISTRICT BAN?!"

One survivor from further down the street let out a loud scream.

"WHY DID I LOSE TWO LEVELS?!"

Chaos erupted once again on the streets. She was barely paying attention, since her phone was secretly informing her.

VOID LOTTERY RESULT:

PLAYER ZAMORA HAS RECEIVED: TEMPORARY TRANSIT PRIORITY.

DISTRICT 9 GATE RESERVED FOR: 00:02:00

Then beneath it:

WARNING:

ROUTE THEFT ATTEMPTS DETECTED.

They noticed the look on her face instantly.

"…She got another reward."

This was the last shift, and greed had taken the place of caution. One of them aimed his gun at her. "Take the route. Now."

Another came up behind her and tried to block her from any escape attempts, but she wasn't going to put up with their antics anymore.

"You people seriously never stop talking."

She then took off running for the transit line to make sure she got there on time. She dashed along the neon pathways using her smartphone to follow the light to the District 9 route. Following her came the civilians armed with guns chasing her.

"DON'T LET HER REACH THE GATE!"

One fired wildly.

BOOM.

The bullet tore through the bright transit sign near her head as sparks flew around the flooded pavement. She then turned abruptly into another corridor, nearly stumbling in the rush of black water filling the lower-sector tunnels. Emergency lights flashed above her, while the system announcements from afar sounded in the distance.

GLOBAL EVENT ACTIVE:

VOID LOTTERY IN PROGRESS.

Somewhere nearby, survivors screamed again.

"I LOST MY SAFEHOUSE!"

"THAT'S MY ACCESS CODE!"

The city was now completely unstable, with riots taking place everywhere. Everyone was scrambling to avoid falling behind. Again, her route changed.

TRANSIT GATE: 00:01:17 REMAINING.

A station for the subway appeared before her, shining brightly through flickering red lights as old transit trains remained stationary on long-abandoned tracks. However, she was not alone. Other survivors were gathered at the security gate near the station entrance.

"I BOUGHT THIS ROUTE!"

"You sold me fake access!"

"That's not my problem!"

As soon as they saw her route marker glowing, their faces changed dramatically.

"Hey, she has stable access!" one of them pointed at her.

Immediately, another survivor reached for his gun. "Grab her!"

"Oh hell no…!" she screamed.

Not only did she not slow down, but she actually sped up. Another survivor tried to grab the screen from her hands. However, there was no hesitation when she automatically dodged his attack and elbowed him hard in his side.

CRACK.

He went down, gasping for breath with violent convulsions. Someone else rushed at her from the side using a shock baton, and she reacted just as quickly. The whole world blurred around her, and then she found herself moving so swiftly behind him that even she was shocked.

ACCESS DENIED.

The scanner emitted a violent burst of red light, then shot electricity into the survivor.

CRAAAAACK.

He fell down twitching while everybody stood shocked in fear, not because he was dead.

But because she had moved abnormally fast.

PLAYER ZAMORA HAS RECEIVED: 10,000 CREDITS, FOR DEFEATING A PLAYER

One woman slowly backed away. "…That's not normal for Level Three."

PLAYER PAUL612 HAS BEEN TERMINATED BY ZAMORA. LEVEL ONE REASSIGNMENT INITIATED.

PLAYER ZAMORA'S CHARACTER LEVEL HAS INCREASED TO LEVEL SIX.

The same woman spoke again, but this time, her voice was filled with fear. "Oh…"

Another whispered nervously. "Maybe she's a meta…"

In that moment, everything changed.

For now, there was real fear.

Because in the simulation, metas were only whispered about between players deep into the night.

Those who had become advanced too quickly and those whose powers had ceased being human. And then her phone vibrated once more.

PRIVATE SYSTEM UPDATE:

PHYSICAL SYNCHRONIZATION: 19%

TRAIT EVOLUTION DETECTED.

No explanation followed, but just another timer.

TRANSIT GATE CLOSING: 00:00:43

However, just as she was staring at her phone, another message came through.

PRIVATE SYSTEM ALERT:

DO YOU WISH TO BANK YOUR CREDITS?

YES OR NO?

She pressed 'YES' superfast

PRIVATE SYSTEM UPDATE:

CREDITS SAFELY STORED IN PLAYER BANK, NO UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS IS ALLOWED

Then, without warning, the lights on the subway station flashed ferociously, and the old train sitting on the other side of the tracks turned on by itself.

There were creaks and moans from within the subway tunnels as the train's lights slowly lit up each car.

PLAYER—