CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: The Ones Who Learn Too Fast
Division K – Sublevel Theta
30 Hours Until the Faction War
The deeper the training compound went, the colder it became.
Noah had started to notice the pattern: the higher the simulation floor, the more abstract the exercises. Down here, it was just concrete, blood, and silence between drills.
They were six hours in. The room smelled like old circuitry and the copper-tang of stress.
Reina sat on the edge of a collapsed platform, shoulder bruised from the last fall. Tayo leaned against a wall, eyes half-lidded, counting something under his breath.
Marik hadn't spoken since the last round.
Sarai's voice came over the intercom this time—sharp, without preamble:
> "Next round: Live Decoy Extraction."
Objective: Secure a marked Decoy from an opposing team without triggering the trap sequence.
Clause: The Decoy doesn't know they're the Decoy.
Doors opened.
Noah's team walked into a new chamber: maze-like, dimly lit, heat lamps casting long shadows.
They weren't alone.
Three other teams—each assigned a target—fanned out across the room.
Everyone wore the same jacket. But only one in each group had a tag sewn into the lining of their collar. The Decoy tag.
No one could see their own.
---
The Game Begins
Marik muttered, "How do you extract someone without them knowing they're the bait?"
Reina: "You don't. You figure it out anyway."
Noah looked over the opposing teams. One group had a girl limping slightly. Another moved like they were shielding someone without realizing it.
Tayo pointed. "That guy's being protected. Too obviously. Could be misdirection."
Reina whispered, "Or they know he's the Decoy. Trying to lose him subtly."
A timer appeared above the far wall.
15:00
Then came the twist:
A panel in the wall opened, revealing surveillance feeds—but only one per team. One member could view it, just once.
Noah stepped forward. Sarai's voice echoed.
> "Commander chooses the viewer."
He froze. He didn't know who to trust with one look at the truth.
Then he made the call.
"Tayo."
---
Split Vision
Tayo entered the booth. Ten seconds of footage. That's all.
When he stepped back out, his expression had shifted—closed off, analytical.
"I know who it is," he said. "But I won't tell you yet."
Reina snapped, "Why not?"
"Because if you think it might be you, you'll act differently. That gives us away."
Marik blinked. "You're playing us now?"
Noah looked between them. "Or protecting us."
---
Trap Triggered
The team to their left made a grab—too fast, too clean. A dull hum filled the room.
Then the walls shifted, sealing them off.
Screams. A flare of static. Then nothing.
A second team vanished behind an opaque wall.
Down to two.
---
Countdown: 04:52
Tayo made the call. "It's Reina. We extract her through the west corridor. No questions. No debate."
Reina didn't flinch. But her voice dropped.
"And what if you're wrong?"
He looked her dead in the eyes. "Then we die. Or you do."
---
Extraction Attempt
They moved fast. Tactical formation. Reina in the center. Marik and Noah flanking.
Three guards—fake, simulated opponents—rushed them. Noah took one down. Tayo feinted left, drew the others off.
Reina hit the pressure plate.
Nothing.
Then: green light. Extraction complete.
They'd guessed right.
But Reina said nothing.
And Noah saw it—just for a moment—the flash of something in her eyes.
Not relief.
Not gratitude.
Doubt.
---
Post-Drill Debrief
The lights came up. The simulation peeled back. Sarai reappeared, this time from a physical doorway.
"Well done," she said.
She handed Tayo a data drive.
"Noah made the call. Tayo followed through. But only one of you was tagged."
She turned to Reina. "You weren't the Decoy."
The room went still.
Noah's stomach dropped.
Sarai smiled.
"The system registered your belief. Not the truth. That's what extraction is really about."
She turned and walked off.
---
Later, in the Sleeping Quarters
Noah sat on his bunk, staring at the data drive Tayo handed him.
On it, one sentence:
> "Who do you trust enough to be wrong?"
He didn't sleep that night.
Not because of the drill.
Because Reina still hadn't spoken a word to him.