[SYSTEM ALERT] [PATCH UPDATE: DENIED] [DEFAULT SETTING: CENSORED MODE ACTIVE]

  Kai swiped the notification away with a wet hand. It dissolved into pixels, leaving him standing in the middle of the freezing London street. The group of students who had taken the selfie with Grom were wandering down the road, laughing and scrolling through their phones. "Did you hear the voice modulation?" one of them shouted back. "Sick rig, mate!"

  Kai shivered. The adrenaline of the dimension hop was crashing, replaced by the bone deep chill of 2:15 AM. "They think we are freaks," Grom rumbled. The Orc was standing under a streetlamp, the orange light glistening on his massive, rain-slicked shoulders. He watched the students retreat with the cold calculation of a CEO watching a market demographic walk away. "They laugh," Grom noted, his voice a low growl of corporate disdain. "They consume the spectacle. They do not realize what has happened."

  "They're just drunk, Grom," Kai sighed, rubbing his temples. "And hide the gun. Please."

  "This climate is an insult," a haughty voice sneered from the gutter. Viscount Pigglesworth dressed in a bespoke velvet tuxedo that was currently absorbing 50% of the street's water volume stepped gingerly out of a puddle. He adjusted his monocle. It was fogged up. "Kai," Pigglesworth announced, his voice dripping with aristocratic horror. "I demand to speak to the Facility Manager. The roof is leaking. My high gourdian cotton is ruined. This texture... It is gritty. It is... cheap."

  "It's called London, Viscount," Kai said. "And there's no Manager. Just a council that collects taxes and ignores potholes."

  CLANG. A sharp, metallic ringing echoed from the sidewalk. "HAVE AT THEE, METAL GOBLIN!"

  Kai spun around. Sir Gideon was engaging in single combat with a parking meter. "It demands tribute!" Gideon roared, raising his hammer, Judge. "I saw it eat the gold of the people! I shall liberate its belly!"

  "Gideon, stop!" Kai hissed, rushing over and grabbing the Knight's cape before he could decapitate the municipal property. "We are keeping a low profile! Low profile!"

  "It watches us," Maya said. She wasn't looking at the parking meter. She was standing by a shop window, hugging herself. Her Rogue's leather armor offered zero warmth against the damp wind. "Kai," she whispered, her teeth chattering. "The cold. It’s not a debuff timer. It’s... persistent." She pointed up. "And we are being tracked."

  Kai followed her finger. On the lamppost above them, a black CCTV camera swiveled. It wasn't just panning. It was locking on. The red light stared directly at Grom.

  [SYSTEM ALERT] [FACIAL RECOGNITION: FAILED] [SUBJECT: UNKNOWN BIO-ASSET] [THREAT ASSESSMENT: HIGH]

  In the distance, the wail of a siren began to rise the discordant, screaming wail of the Metropolitan Police.

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  "The City Guard," Grom grunted. He stepped out of the light, instinctively checking the ammo belt of The Severance Package. "They approach with urgency. Shall I initiate a hostile takeover of their vehicle?"

  "No!" Kai shouted. "No takeovers! We are in fugitive status. We need to disappear."

  He looked around the group. A giant Orc, a knight fighting street furniture, a freezing rogue, and a wet aristocrat. Then, Kai paused. He counted again. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. "Wait," Kai whispered. A cold knot that had nothing to do with the rain tightened in his stomach. He looked at the empty space on the pavement. "Where is the Borg?"

  Grom stopped checking his gun. The Orc went very still. "Borg," Grom rumbled.

  Kai flashed back to the office. The final seconds. The way the walls of reality had folded in like a compressed file. Clippy had been trying to "optimize" them. Borg had stood in the way. It looks like you are trying to escape. Let me help you with that. Kai remembered the sickening sound of code being overwritten. The crunch of a Z-Fold brochure.

  "He didn't make the patch," Kai whispered, his voice cracking. "The Paperclip... it archived him."

  Grom stared at the wet asphalt. He ran a massive green finger over a crack in the road. "He was a sturdy party member," Grom said softly. "He managed the hazards." For a second, the terrifying Guildmaster looked tired. "We have lost a key stakeholder."

  "At least the metal demon is gone too," Gideon spat, lowering his sword. "I hope he rusts in the hell."

  WEE-WOO-WEE-WOO. The sirens were louder now. Blue lights flashed against the wet brickwork at the end of the street.

  "We can mourn later," Maya hissed, grabbing Kai’s arm. "We need to leave now"

  They reached a pedestrian crossing. The light was red. Sir Gideon slammed to a halt, his roller skates skidding on the pavement. He stared up at the glowing red stick figure of a man on the signal box. "HOLD!" Gideon bellowed, throwing his arm out to stop Grom. "Do not cross the boundary!" "We have to go!" Kai urged, looking back at the flashing blue lights reflecting off the shop windows. "The police are two blocks away!" "The Red Guardian forbids it!" Gideon pointed his sword at the red light. "See how he glows with the blood of the impatient? If we step onto the black path, he shall smite us with fire!"

  "It’s a traffic light, Gideon! It just means wait!" "I shall not anger the Red God!" Gideon shouted. "I have no fire resistance!"

  "Move," Grom grunted. The Orc didn't wait for the light to change. He simply stepped into the road. A black cab, turning the corner, slammed on its brakes, screeching to a halt inches from Grom’s thigh. The taxi driver rolled down his window. "Oi! Watch where you're going, you giant green…." Grom turned slowly. He leaned down, his face filling the driver's window. His tusks scraped against the glass. "I am submitting a noise complaint," Grom rumbled. "Your steel carriage is aggressive, optimize your driving, or I will optimize your face." The driver went pale, rolled the window up, and reversed so fast he mounted the curb. "See?" Grom said to Gideon. "Negotiation was successful."

  "My flat," Kai said, snapping back to reality. "Zone 2. It’s not far." He looked at Grom. "You won't fit in an Uber and Pigglesworth will refuse to walk." "I certainly shall," Pigglesworth sniffed, inspecting a smudge on his cuff. "My loafers are already dirty"

  "Then we go underground," Kai said, pointing to a glowing red circle down the street. The symbol of the London Underground. "Into the dungeon?" Gideon asked, his eyes lighting up. "Worse," Kai said. "The Tube."

  As they ran toward the station entrance, the bassline of a song thumped from a passing car, fading into the rain. ...London calling to the faraway towns...

  Kai glanced back at the CCTV camera one last time. The red light blinked. A new notification floated in the air, crisp and terrifying in hyperreal detail.

  [SURVIVE THE COMMUTE] [DIFFICULTY:HARD MODE] [CURRENT FUNDS: ￡0.00]