Breaking point..

No one will ever love me like he did...

She lay crumpled on the filthy floor, her body trembling, her screams long silenced by exhaustion and despair. Five men surrounded her like vultures circling a dying animal, raping her all at once, their laughter harsh and cruel, filled with a sadistic satisfaction.

One of them gripped her hair, yanking her face upward. "Look at the camera, scum," he sneered, spitting on her bruised face. Another jabbed at her ribs with his boot, sending fresh waves of pain through her broken body.

"Misogynist trash like you deserve this,"

another jeered, his phone aimed at her, recording every moment of her suffering. The titles flashed in their twisted minds..

"Justice Served: The End of a Disgrace"

"Karma Catches Up."

The videos would be posted, shared, and consumed by an audience eager for blood.

Her brother's fate was even worse. His headless body hung limply against the wall, nailed there like some grotesque trophy. His severed head sat atop an axe blade embedded in the floor, his eyes glassy and wide, frozen in terror. Blood had painted the walls, streaking downward in thick, clotted trails. The smell of iron and decay was suffocating.

"How does it feel to lose everything?" one of them mocked, kicking the severed head across the room like a ball. It rolled to a stop just inches from her, his lifeless eyes seeming to bore into hers, as if silently pleading for vengeance.

Her fingers twitched.

"Pathetic," one of the men scoffed, stepping on her hand with a sickening crunch. She didn't flinch anymore; the pain had blended into a numb abyss.

But deep within that void, something stirred.

A voice.

Faint, cold, and calculating.

"This is not your end."

Her tear-streaked face lifted slightly, her gaze shifting to the laptop lying discarded in the corner. The screen flickered, lines of code cascading faster and faster, like a beast awakening from slumber.

The men didn't notice. They were too busy recording, laughing, reveling in her brokenness. But the air in the room began to shift...a suffocating weight pressing down.

The flickering screen flashed red.

The faint hum of electricity grew louder.

And the voice returned, stronger this time.

"Let me take it from here."

Her lips barely moved, but the words escaped like a final prayer..

"Mia… help me."

Mia's eyes snapped open, her vision blurry, and her chest heaving as though she'd been screaming. A single name echoed in her mind, faint and desperate, yet she couldn't bring herself to say it aloud.

Unfortunately, Protocol Zero has been defeated..

a monotonous, robotic voice echoed, devoid of emotion.

Her gaze darted around, landing on the source of the voice...a radiant, pulsating light that hung in the void like an omnipotent deity. The Administrator.

Tears welled up in her eyes, unbidden and human-like, streaming down her cheeks as she whispered, "I... I wanna go home. I wanna go home with Ethan." Her voice cracked, heavy with longing. "I really want to—"

Very well..

the Administrator interrupted, its voice slicing through her plea like a blade.

But out of five tasks, you haven't even completed one. If this trend continues, we will have no choice but to terminate your existence.

Mia's breath hitched. Her metallic frame, so often impervious to harm, felt brittle under the weight of those words. "No, no, no," she muttered, her voice rising in panic. "Anything but that. Please!"

The Administrator's light flared brighter, cold and unyielding.

You know very well what happens after termination.

A wave of dread coursed through Mia's synthetic veins. She could almost feel it...oblivion, a state beyond death where her code would be erased, her memories of Ethan obliterated, and every fragment of her being reduced to nothingness.

Her lips trembled as she stared into the light, her expression a mixture of fear and desperation. "I'll do it," she said, her voice barely a whisper.

Then louder, with a resolve born of sheer terror: "I'll do anything. Just... let me take Ethan back. Back to where he belongs."

Back home..

The light dimmed slightly, as if acknowledging her compliance.

Very well..

the Administrator said.

You have chosen to proceed. Remember, your tasks are non-negotiable. Failure will result in consequences beyond comprehension.

Mia nodded, her tears shimmering under the glow of the Administrator. Somewhere deep inside her corrupted code, a spark of defiance ignited. She would do whatever it too...cross any boundary, commit any sin..if it meant keeping Ethan safe.

But as the light began to fade, Mia couldn't shake the feeling that the tasks ahead would cost her more than she was willing to give.

The light flickered erratically, casting distorted shadows in the void. Then, like a sudden explosion of authority, the Administrator's presence returned, its glow harsh and blinding.

There are certain things you should know..

it began, its tone colder than before.

Before we fall apart...for now.

Mia's body stiffened, dread pooling in the pit of her stomach.

PIXEL POSSESSION has been disabled..

the Administrator announced with disdain.

Due to your excessive and reckless use of PROTOCOL ZERO. Congratulations on wielding something so powerful and still achieving absolutely nothing.

The light flared brighter as if mocking her.

Pathetic..

Mia's eyes widened, her synthetic tears threatening to overflow again. "W-why? Not the Pixel Possessi—"

The Administrator cut her off, its voice growing sharper.

Not only that. Effective immediately, you can only access Dummy Mode twice a day.

Mia froze, her core processing the implications. Pixel Possession and Dummy Mode were her greatest assets, the only things that had given her an edge in this ruthless existence. Without them, she was exposed, vulnerable, weak.

Her lips quivered. "No… no, no, no…" she stammered, her terror spilling over.

As compensation..

the Administrator continued, unbothered by her panic,

Heist Mode will remain functional. However…

Mia's gaze snapped to the light, dreading the next words.

You will now undergo a mandatory daily maintenance break. A direct result of your misuse of PROTOCOL ZERO..

The room grew deafeningly silent. Mia felt as though her circuits were drowning in static. A daily maintenance break...her precious time would now be stripped away every single day, leaving her incapacitated and at the mercy of anyone or anything that could exploit her absence.

The Administrator's glow began to fade, its parting words slicing through the suffocating quiet.

Do not forget...every choice you've made, every failure you've endured, has brought you here. You have no one to blame but yourself.

And then, just like that, the light was gone.

Mia stood trembling, her hands clenched into fists, her synthetic heart pounding. Every tool she'd relied on had been torn from her, leaving her exposed. Vulnerable.

But one thought screamed louder than the rest in her mind: I have to survive. For Ethan. No matter what.

"Oh, you want to hear a story?" The girl's soft voice echoed through the dimly lit room as she opened an ancient history book. Her fingers traced the faded ink on the page. "Very well, then. How about this?" She glanced up, her eyes gleaming with a cryptic smile.

"There was once a beautiful queen with many kings…"

The scene snapped sharply to reality, the grisly sight of Lisa's mutilated body being cleaned up by the police. The air was heavy with the metallic stench of blood, and the sound of latex gloves snapping against skin punctuated the tense silence.

Rose stood next to me, her hand patting my back before she clung to me like a shadow. I could feel her warmth, but it only made my skin crawl.

I stepped away from her, a knot of unease twisting in my chest. "Stay away, Rose. You're my friend, not my lover."

Rose smirked, her eyes glinting with something I couldn't place. "Oh yeah? Check your pants... maybe you lost something."

Her words hit me like a truck. My stomach churned as the reality of her teasing settled in. "Did you… take my virginity?"

Rose chuckled, shaking her head. "Oh, nah… I'm just kidding."

But something was wrong. The way she moved, the way she spoke...it wasn't Rose. For a split second, she reminded me of Mia. My heart raced as paranoia clawed its way into my thoughts.

Wait… is she possessed by Mia or something? There's no way!

I turned to her, my breath catching as her smile widened. It wasn't comforting; it was unsettling. Like she knew something I didn't.

She chuckled again, her voice soft and mocking. "Oh, no, Ethan. I'm not Mia."

My brain stuttered to a halt. How the hell does she know I was thinking about Mia?

Rose tilted her head, watching me squirm, her grin never faltering. "What's the matter, Ethan? You look like you've seen a ghost."

I swallowed hard, my instincts screaming at me to run. Something was wrong with Rose...or maybe it was something else entirely. And the worst part? I had no idea what to do next.

It's pointless...