CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT: Disavowal
Faction War Time: +03:42:09
Zone Status: ΔK – 1 Zone Controlled
Warning: Black Card Contamination Detected
System Flag: Unstable Player – Noah
---
[System Override Initiated]
The arena lights turned blue.
Not combat red. Not neutral white.
Purge blue—a sterile hue used only when something fundamental broke protocol.
A synthetic voice echoed from unseen speakers, sharp and cold.
> "Player NOAH – Tagged [VOID: UNBOUND] – is in violation of Core Game Law."
"Disavowal Protocol has been triggered."
"Team must vote: RETAIN or PURGE anomaly."
"Voting is mandatory. Abstaining counts as a vote to PURGE."
"Timer: 10 minutes."
A platform rose in the center of the war room. Four chairs. Four consoles.
The vote would be face-to-face.
---
[Trial Setup: Four Paths, One Knife]
Reina stood with arms folded, unreadable.
Marik's fingers drummed against his thigh. Tactical. Cold.
Tayo paced. His loyalty to Noah had always been there—but so had his fear.
Noah stood silent. The card still hovered at his side, leaking drops of black ink that never touched the floor.
He looked at the others and said only:
> "If you think I'm not me… vote your conscience."
The system blinked again:
> "Each vote must be sealed with biometric signature. Tampering voids team status."
One by one, they approached the consoles.
---
[Personal Dilemmas: Fragmented POVs]
REINA
She remembered Noah pulling her from that collapsing bridge in Trial Five. But now… he didn't flinch when people screamed. Didn't blink when his own blood ran backward.
She keyed in her vote, hand trembling slightly.
TAYO
He thought about the tether game. The risk. The silence.
But Noah had never lied. Not once.
Still, the Black Card was outside everything. Something that shouldn't be.
He hovered over RETAIN.
Then over PURGE.
MARIK
Noah had saved him twice.
But Marik didn't believe in heroes.
Only in containment.
He voted without hesitation.
---
[Vote Lock: 00:00:04]
The lights went black.
A slow heartbeat echoed.
> VOTE COMPLETE
Result:
RETAIN – 2
PURGE – 1
ABSTAIN (System Default) – 1
The system chimed:
> "Disavowal VETOED. Player Noah remains."
"Trust integrity compromised. Future trials will scale accordingly."
"Unknown variable retained."
---
[Aftermath]
The lights returned. Dimmer.
Noah looked around the group.
Someone hadn't voted.
He knew it wasn't Reina.
Or Tayo.
Or Marik.
It was the system itself.
The fourth seat had accepted an input that didn't come from any of them.
> "There was… a fourth vote," Noah said slowly. "But it wasn't human."
Reina stiffened. "Then the system's not just watching."
Marik: "It's playing."
---
[Final Scene – New Rule Unlocked]
On the central console, a new screen unfurled:
> NEXT ZONE UNLOCKED: GRAY DISTRICT
ENTRY REQUIREMENT: Player tagged VOID must lead team
Danger Rating: █████ (Redacted)
Tag Penalty: If VOID is eliminated, team loses all accumulated zones
Game Modifier: One member will forget this chapter entirely
Tayo gasped. "Wait—forget?"
Reina backed away. "It's rewriting us now."
Noah looked at the VOID card again.
It pulsed once.
Then whispered:
> "Not all games are meant to be won. Some are warnings."