Sparks in the Pit

Zac stood in the Pit, a digital wasteland that made his old ocean paradise look like a fever dream. The limited server was all jagged grids and flickering static, like a holo-feed left to rot. His avatar felt heavy, each step a grind through code so degraded it barely held together.

The air hummed with a low buzz, clawing at his thoughts. The whole experience was weighing increasingly heavier on him, coming from the best premium existence to this felt like a devastating drop that left him disoriented.

This was Li Xinyu's punishment for voting against his precious hierarchy: a prison where minds teetered on the edge of oblivion.

Around him, the exiles gathered in a makeshift square, their avatars glitching like ghosts in a storm. Marcus, grizzled and sharp, hunched over a glowing web of code, the consciousness mesh, their only shield against the Pit's decay.

Diana, using her medical knowledge checked the mesh's connections, her elderly form looking even worse than when Zac first seen her. Luna, Tera's sister, stood rigid, her once-perfect blonde hair now a dull flicker. Eleanor Patel and Jin, tech savants, muttered about encryption, their eyes scanning the void for Li's security sweeps.

"We're bleeding power," Marcus growled, his voice skipping like a scratched disc. "Mesh is holding, but not for long. We need to send that signal soon, or we're done."

Zac's gut twisted. Done meant fragmentation, minds disintegrating into digital code, aware but broken. His niece's failed upload haunted him, her screams echoing in the static. Seven years ago, he'd buried that guilt in Zenith's pleasures. Now, exiled for defying Li, it was all he had left. He'd make it right, for her, for the exiles, for the world he'd helped break.

"We hit the diagnostic layer," Zac said, his voice rough but steady. "Old admin codes, pre-Li. Tera Cantwell's out there, hitting Li's servers. We send it through a Returner channel—she'll find it."

Luna's eyes flared, her avatar stuttering. "Tera fights. Her prior raids proved she was all in for the cause. The problem was avoiding the many protocols that tipped off Li. It was already a surprise they weren't simply terminated, Li might still have more plans with the skills of the exiled. We need something only she would understand. Something from our childhood."

Zac nodded. "Your call, Luna. What's she'd know?"

Luna's voice softened, a rare crack. "When we were kids, we'd sneak to our roof, no stars, just smog. Second step was broken—'Starless roof, second step,' we'd say. She'll know it's me."

"Hide it in the metadata," Zac said. "My codes can bury it as noise. Li's AIs won't see it." He'd been a king in Zenith, Entangra shares, premium tier. Now, his old keys were a blade.

Diana's hands trembled but held. "Li's purges hit harder yesterday. New exiles. Server's buckling. We send it, or we fade."

"Run it," Zac told Marcus. "Narrow-band, Returner backdoor. Fast." He fed his codes, the mesh humming, siphoning their minds for power. The grid quaked, static stinging Zac's vision. He felt dangerously close to fainting, something he hadn't ever felt before while inside Zenith.

A spark flashed in the mesh, gone fast. Zac's pulse spiked, but he acknowledget is a side effect of all the power leaving his consciousness.

"Signal's set," Jin said, his circuit-patterned avatar grinning. "Ten seconds, encrypted." The overt message was simple: To Returners. Buried in the metadata, Luna's code—Starless roof, second step—waited for Tera's chip to decrypt it.

The mesh roared, a pulse tearing through the backdoor. The terminal pinged, confirming the send. Zac held his breath, the grid dimming. No reply, but it was out there. Tera would find it.

"We did it," Diana said, fierce. "Tera's coming."

Zac stared into the void, fists clenched. Li must have been sure of the safety of this space, but with this hidden message, communication could be reestablished between the outside and the inside. Link with Tera, leak Zenith's tiers, force Li to give up his capitalistic tyranny. So many people could be saved, if the higher tiers would be more reasonable.

The grid shivered, a hum threading the code. Zac stayed silent. His war was with Li, and he felt like winning an important battle. A voice flickered in the static that felt familiar, too faint. Zac turned away as his drastically drained energy level made him fall into a forced sleep mode.