Chapter 4: Dreams

"Everything will be fine…"

Orphéa… She gently touches my cheek.

— "It's not your fault… He wasn't a mistake…"

I'm still lying on that same bed, with white sheets, a white pillow, white bars. Around me, a white room, lit by cold neon lights. She keeps stroking my short brown hair, which I can make out reflected in her eyes:

— "You'll make it, I'm sure… And you'll keep loving him."

In the distance, a door opens. Orphéa's face turns serious.

— "Remember, during the purge… don't panic."

A gunshot rings out. Harsh. I wake up with a start, gripping the tent's floor mat, looking for something to anchor myself in reality. My heart is racing, I'm sweating. My blood pounds in my veins like I've just run a marathon.

I turn over. Tyler is still asleep, peacefully.

I only remember one name: Orphéa. But… is she dead? She spoke about someone I love, that he wasn't a mistake. Who could she have meant?

I don't know.

But that dream felt more real than the world around me.

The orange light filters through the white fabric of the tent. The sun is setting. I step outside.

In front of the tent, Jin and Lisa are crouched near a small pile of wood, lighter in hand. They're about to light the fire. A little further away, Emilia is preparing the pieces of meat we received today.

I approach them—my closest companions here.

They look up. Lisa smiles:

— "Tyler's still sleeping? It's been at least an hour and a half since you two went to bed!"

Jin studies me, concerned:

— "You don't look so good."

I sit beside them. I hesitate, then tell them about my strange dreams.

Lisa raises an eyebrow, doubtful:

— "Your brain's probably just trying to fill in the blanks. We don't remember anything—it makes sense it's inventing stuff."

She casually picks the lighter back up.

Jin, though, seems unsettled:

— "You said Orphéa? That's weird… I dreamed about a woman too last night. Her name was Orphéa. She had short brown hair. But that's all I remember…"

I frown, intrigued:

— "The one I saw was blonde, with long hair and blue eyes…"

Lisa manages to light the fire, abruptly ending our strange conversation. The flame rises, warming our faces.

Emilia joins us with the pieces of meat, her face drawn with exhaustion, and the tear tracks seem to have carved deep shadows under her eyes. I didn't know she was that close to Kevin... Jin improvises: he sticks two rods into the stone ground, tears a bit of fabric from his tank top with his teeth, and pulls out thin threads, tying them between the sticks just above the fire. Then he lays the pieces of meat on them.

He's so smart…

Tyler joins us, and after a few minutes, we each take a piece of meat and eat in silence. Kevin's memory weighs heavy on the meal.

About thirty minutes later, we're done eating and night has fallen. We're all lying in our tents, trying to sleep. We all jump when the buzzer sounds and red light floods the men's tent. The night has officially begun.

Jin is pressed up against me, sharing his warmth in the cold night. I don't move away—his presence is… comforting.

Green grass, children's laughter, a park, people picnicking in the distance.

A girl around ten years old with long black hair, almond-shaped eyes, and bright white teeth approaches me:

— "You know, I'm really happy you're marrying my brother?"

I laugh. I don't know who she is, I don't know where I am… But my body is on autopilot. She smiles and points to the playground:

— "Come play with me before my brother gets here and steals you for the whole afternoon!"

She sticks out her tongue playfully. Gradually, the light dims and I can see the little girl less and less, the playground less and less, the green grass less and less… and then, nothing.

I jolt awake and instinctively grip Jin's forearm, right next to mine. I quickly pull my hand back, but he takes it and holds it in his own.

— "A nightmare?" he whispers.

— "Something like that…"

— "Go back to sleep. It's the middle of the night. Don't be scared—I'm here…"

And just like that, as if it's completely normal, I fall asleep, my hand in his.

The rising sun pours its light into the tent. I'm the only one inside. I spend a few minutes replaying the night in my head, not really knowing how I feel. But I don't dwell on it—I step outside. They're all gathered in a half-circle in front of the screen—two guys, two girls. Jin motions me over. I quickly read the quests on the screen:

Daily Quests

Move the heavy crate from Tower 5

Press the green button in Tower 8

Bonus quest unlocked if both are completed

Lisa scratches her head:

— "Since when do the towers have numbers? How are we supposed to find them?"

Jin crosses his arms, the veins on his biceps standing out:

— "I don't know, but we'll figure it out… Let's split up. I'll go do the crate quest. Owen, wanna come with me?"

I'm pretty happy he asked me to come with him. I like being around him. So I nod.

Lisa continues:

— "Tyler, you're with me for the green button quest. Emilia, you rest."

She nods. Her dark circles are even worse than yesterday—the night didn't ease her grief.

We all run—except Emilia—through the city, looking for clues that could point us to the right towers. Tower 5… and that's when I see it: a screen on a wall, one that wasn't there yesterday… It shows a map—not of the whole city—but the two towers we need to reach are marked on it. They're on opposite sides, so each group runs toward its target.

We arrive at Tower 5, which, as expected, is open. We go inside and, like the one from yesterday, dim lights allow us to see a little. The door closes behind us. Jin instantly turns and tries to open it, but no matter how much strength he uses, it won't budge.

— "Damn, we're stuck…"

— "I think our only option is to move that crate to the right place."

In front of us is a crate at the base of a fairly steep ramp, about five meters high. It's more like a metal cube than a crate—smooth, no handles.

Jin steps forward and touches it. A three-minute countdown appears on top of it, and the tower lights up in red.

The slope looks even steeper under all this pressure. The crate is cold, with no grip.

30 seconds have passed.

Jin presses his hands flat on the edge of the cube and looks at me, strangely calm:

— "We'll need to push together."

I place my hands on the cube—it comes up to our waists—and we begin to push it up the ramp, inch by inch.

The cube screeches as it scrapes the floor.

Only 1:30 left.

My arms burn. Jin tries to encourage me:

— "We've got this—we're three-quarters of the way up!"

I don't respond—too focused. My head finally sees what's at the top: a blue square, the target spot.

45 seconds left.

We keep pushing, painfully slow, but finally we reach the top of the ramp. Just a few more centimeters—I let out a small grunt of pain—and finally the cube is in place.

25 seconds left.

The door at the bottom opens and we stumble down the ramp, crashing at the base. We get back up, barely, and manage to get out before the door slams shut behind us.

Breathless, Jin turns to me and smiles:

— "You were amazing!"

His words send butterflies through me, stronger than ever. That's when I accept the truth:

I like Jin.

And I don't think that's a good thing in this city.