Chapter 66: The Loophole
Lucas woke slowly, the ceiling blurring into focus above him. He looked around and realized that he was in his room. His eyes moved to the left and the first thing he saw was Eleanor sitting at the edge of his bed, visible worry on her face.
"You’re awake," she said, relief bleeding through her voice and the tension easing the instant his eyes found hers.
"..." Lucas blinked, taking in the room. The soft light coming in through the window.
’Huh... I didn’t die...’
That realization eased his worry as he wasn’t sure he would still be alive after he collapsed because he really did feel like he was going to die...
He looked at Eleanor and scoffed. "Why are you here? Thought you were avoiding me."
"I was worried...I couldn’t stop worrying about you after you collapsed in the middle of the hall."
She studied him for a moment, relief crashing through her as she noted that he really was okay.
"The Goddess worries about a mere mortal like me. I feel honored." Lucas placed his hands behind his head and exhaled but Eleanor’s face remained serious.
"Lucas, what’s actually going on with you? You’ve been acting strange these past few days. I don’t like that...."
Lucas opened his mouth to reply but she cut him off. "And don’t try to tell me you’re fine. You fainted in the hall. That’s not fine."
He looked at her properly and held his gaze. Clearly he wasn’t fine. He was exhausted, he was frustrated. He was afraid...
Everything he had been through, he had been forced to carry it all by himself. He wanted someone to talk to about it. He really needed it but no matter how glitched out his system was, it would never make the mistake of punishing him if he violated the rule.
’I’m not fine. I’m really not...’
[Player is not allowed to reveal Regression ability. Violation means death.]
He stared at the warning for a few moments. He had believed that warning enough to keep silent through weeks of death and suspicious friends. But sitting here now, having already died more times than his mind can carry over the last few days, some he grew desperate. Some cornered part of him started thinking about looking for a way around that rule.
’It says I can’t reveal the ability. But it doesn’t say I can’t describe what’s happening to me. Maybe there’s a difference right? There has to be some kind of loophole I can exploit. Maybe if I tread lightly around that line without exactly stepping onto it I would be fine...’
It was a gamble. But if taking it meant he could find an easier way out of this mess, then it was a risk he was willing to take.
"Okay," he said slowly. "I’m going to try to explain something. I need you to just listen, and not ask me to be more specific than I already am. Can you do that?"
Eleanor’s brow furrowed but she nodded. "Okay."
Lucas exhaled, then he began. "There’s something wrong with this place. With Ryker especially." Lucas chose each word carefully, he was now treading around a land mine that could kill him with one wrong move...
"I think he’s doing something to everyone. That’s why everyone’s been so off... content and reluctant to leave."
He said this while thinking back to the man he bumped into earlier. Judging by how worn down he looked, you’d think he wouldn’t be against them leaving.
If he was imagining right, he should have been glad that Lucas and his people wouldn’t have to live through the same hell he’s living through...
"Maybe he’s poisoning all of you. Slipping something into the food to make you all love this place."
’And apparently trying to kill me while he’s at it.’
"That’s — Lucas, that’s a serious accusation."
Lucas shrugged. "I know. I wouldn’t say it if I wasn’t sure."
"If that’s the case, why isn’t it working on you?"
Lucas shook his head. "I don’t know. Maybe I’m immune and he’s trying to kill me because he sees me as some kind of threat."
"Lucas—"
He pressed on, "Problem is, I’ve already confirmed."
Eleanor’s eyes widened. "Confirmed how?"
This was the part that needed the most care, the part where the wording had to hold the most.
"I have a way of finding things out that I can’t fully explain to you. Not because I don’t trust you— I do, I really do, but I can’t tell you because something genuinely stops me from saying it out loud. If I try to tell you exactly how I know things, something bad happens. I don’t really know what. I just know it’s real, and I know that breaking it would cost me. Dearly...."
Eleanor stared at him, the words sinking in. "You’re saying you can’t tell me how you know things. Not won’t, can’t."
"Exactly."
"Like some sort of agreement."
"Closer to a law," Lucas said carefully. "Something built inside my system to be specific."
He exhaled then continued. "The truth is, you’re not the only one who’s wondered how I know things. There’s Iris, Callum, Bertram, Mark too. I tried explaining carefully, and every time I get close, it warns me first." Lucas scratched the back of his head. "Mind you, this is me trying to stay on the right side of that warning while still telling you as much as I possibly can. Shit’s fucking hard..."
Eleanor was quiet for a long moment, processing all what she’s been told. "Okay. So, hypothetically, you have a way of testing things out to figure out how true it is..."
Lucas nodded, "Yes."
"And you’ve used this—whatever it is, to figure out Ryker’s poisoning people."
"I’ve confirmed it happened to me. More than once." He corrected, holding her gaze, "Not sure if what he used on me is the same as what he’s doing to the rest of you.
"I know it’s real because I’ve experienced the aftermath of it directly. Multiple times, actually."
"The aftermath," Eleanor repeated, "That’s a strange word to use for confirming a poison."
"It’s the best I could think of...."
Something in Eleanor’s expression shifted as everything started falling into place. "More than once. Lucas, are you saying you’ve actually—"
She stopped herself, staring at him now with real alarm. If what he was saying was true then...
"Lucas." Her voice was low and trembling. "Have you died?"
The question landed like a physical blow, and Lucas winced as he got much closer to the truth than he had ever been...
"I—"
[Warning: Player is not allowed to reveal Regression ability. Violation means death.]
The notification came into view and he clenched his teeth. He was already in a very terrifying territory. Any mistake now would be the death of him.
Literally...
"Elle, the truth is, I’ve—"
The world went dark before he could finish, agony exploding through every nerve in his body all at once, and the last thing he heard was Eleanor screaming his name as his own skin began to blacken and tear, decay spreading through his body in seconds in the blink of an eye.
His skin peeled off revealing a skull that started to corrode from the inside. His teeth falling apart and liquid oozing from gaps in his body...
[You have died.]
***
[Regression Activated.]
"You’ve barely touched a meal in days. It’s not healthy."
Ryker’s voice came exactly as before, and Lucas stood there staring at the same plate, at the same patient smile and his whole body still trembling from the memory of feeling his own flesh rot away in front of Eleanor’s horrified face.
[Player has returned to designated checkpoint.]
[Checkpoint has been restored to the last stable moment prior to death.]
He closed his eyes and placed a finger on his chin, thinking... ’So I really can’t tell her. I can’t tell anyone. Not even indirectly.’
He now understood that the system didn’t care how gently he approached the line. It only cared whether or not he crossed it, and apparently even getting close enough for her to guess counts as crossing it.
The realization sat in his chest like it belonged there. ’So it really is my burden to carry...’
He was alone in this, completely and utterly alone. He hadn’t let himself fully accept until watching himself die in front of the one person he’d most wanted to tell.
A smile formed on his face. ’Fine. I’ll play your games. I’ll solve this myself. The way I always have.’
He replayed everything that had happened in his mind. If Ryker was the source, then there was exactly one way to end this...
"Lucas?" Eleanor’s voice came gentle, pulling him back to the present. She watched him with the same worried attention from before, and as expected, having no memory of the conversation that had gotten him killed in the last round.
"You’ve been quiet... aren’t you going to eat?"
Lucas looked up, and a smirk found its way onto his face... a cold smile that he didn’t bother hiding.
"Oh, I will," he said. "After he takes a bite."