CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: Kill Logic
Division K Training Compound – 36 Hours Until the Faction War
The sky above the dome never changed—it pulsed between twilight and false dawn, controlled by unseen hands.
The city was hollow beneath its illusion. Beneath the towers of Division K's sector was a concrete bunker the size of a stadium.
Noah stood in a hexagonal ring with Reina, Tayo, and Marik. Each wore matching dark-gray jackets now, stitched with Division K's insignia: ΔK—a triangle with a crack down its center.
Across from them, Sarai stood beside a terminal glowing with the next lesson.
> TRAINING MODULE: Faction War Preparation
Format: Logic Elimination / Territory Control
Roles Assigned:
– Commander
– Strategist
– Operative
– Decoy
Objective: Identify Weakest Node
Rule: No one may repeat a role twice in a row
Elimination Penalty: Player is removed from simulation
First Exercise: Begin
A door hissed open. Ten more trainees walked in—players from other Tower trials, some still bruised.
Sarai turned.
"This is not trust-building," she said. "This is survival under pressure. In a Faction War, you won't get clear instructions. You'll get half-truths and broken maps and a partner who might be a mole."
She looked at Noah. "Your job is to win anyway."
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Training Round One – Logic Elimination Drill
Each player was assigned a team of four. The room split into sections, like a rotating chessboard.
A terminal lit up in front of Reina's team:
> "There are four switches.
Only one disables the trap.
Each player receives one clue.
Only three may speak.
Choose one to remain silent.
Choose wisely."
Tayo's eyes flicked across the clues. "They conflict."
Marik: "They're meant to."
Reina narrowed her eyes. "No. They form a sequence—unless one of us is lying."
Sarai watched from above. She wasn't grading who solved the puzzle.
She was grading who didn't panic.
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The Simulation Reset
When one group failed to choose a Decoy, the platform beneath their feet dropped—
—not fatally. Just a simulation.
Still, two players screamed before the system caught them mid-fall.
Noah stepped forward after his own group succeeded.
"What happens in the real thing?" he asked Sarai.
She didn't blink. "You die. Or you get recruited by the wrong faction. Same thing."
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Faction War Format (Teased)
As training progressed, more rules were revealed:
Each faction controls zones in the Arena.
Zones are won through trials—logic traps, tactical raids, or psychological plays.
Players can defect, but only once.
Eliminated players are not always killed—some are taken. Used. Repurposed.
The last screen showed the format of the coming war:
> Faction War Phase I:
Zones in Play: 5
Trials: 3 Simultaneous
Victory Condition: Control 3 Zones
Special Clause: Unknown Variable Introduced at 75% Completion
Marik murmured, "That last part… What variable?"
Sarai just smiled.
"That's the fun of war," she said. "The rules always change right before the end."