Ace's walk back to the cannery felt like it took forever. Every step was a struggle, as if the guilt from what he had just done was a heavy backpack full of rocks. The happy and relieved voices of his friends, which he had heard through his earpiece earlier, had gone quiet. They could tell from his breathing and his slow, tired footsteps that something was very wrong.

When he finally made it inside and pushed open the heavy door, his three friends were all waiting for him. Their faces were first full of worry, which then quickly changed to shock and fear when they saw him in the light.

"Ace! Your hands!" Evelyn cried out, running over to him.

He looked down at his own hands. His palms were bright red and covered in painful blisters from the electrical shock, the skin looking sore and damaged. He hadn't even felt the pain until now; his panic and shame had been blocking it out.

Silva quickly grabbed the first aid kit they kept for accidents in the workshop. "Sit down, man. What happened? We heard the door open and them going in… we thought you were safe."

Ace let them lead him to a crate to sit. He stayed quiet as Evelyn softly cleaned his hands, her gentle touch making him jerk away slightly. He felt he didn't deserve their kindness.

"It wasn't an audit," he finally said, his voice rough and empty. "It was a lesson. Ramos wanted to punish a business owner for saying no to him." He looked at each of their faces. "We didn't take anything. We destroyed it. We ruined thousands of dollars' worth of alcohol and equipment… just poured it all out. I… I was the one who let them in. I made it happen."

The whole story spilled out—the warehouse, the electrical box, the sparks, the two men wrecking the place, and Marcus's cold, simple "Efficient" as they left.

Kaito looked horrified. "You could have been killed by that electricity."

"But I wasn't," Ace replied, his voice full of bitterness. "The System protected me. It rewarded me for it. It made me more useful to them." He didn't tell them about the small part of him that had felt powerful. That secret was his to keep.

The cannery was silent except for the quiet hum of the computer servers. Their recent joy over their successful plan to hide their business felt like it happened years ago. They had escaped one danger only to fall into the grasp of a worse one.

In this thick, uncomfortable silence, the burner phone buzzed. The sound was sudden and sharp, like a real gunshot in the quiet room.

Everyone flinched. Ace stared at the phone on the workbench as if it were a poisonous snake.

"Don't answer it," Silva whispered, his voice begging.

But they all knew he had to answer it. There was no choice. Ace stood up. His hands, wrapped in white bandages, shook a little as he picked up the phone. The message was short. It gave an address in the downtown area. And a time: one hour from now.

The message said: A final test. Prove your loyalty is worth the trouble you cause. Come alone.

The message was from Marcus, but it sounded exactly like something Ramos would say. A final test. The words seemed to freeze in the air, scary and cold.

"What does that mean? A final test?" Evelyn asked, her voice high with fear.

"I don't know," Ace said. But a cold feeling of dread was twisting in his stomach. A terrible suspicion was growing in his mind. He had a horrible feeling he knew exactly what it meant.

<<NEW TASK: FINAL TEST OF LOYALTY.>>

<<DETAILS: UNKNOWN. PLACE: 220 PORTLAND AVE.>>

<<COMMAND: OBEY.>>

<<PUNISHMENT FOR DISOBEYING: EXTREME. END OF ALL CONNECTIONS.>>

The System's message was more threatening than ever. 'End of all connections.' It didn't just mean him. It meant everyone he loved.

The car ride to the address was a blur. Ace went by himself, as he was told, his mind imagining all sorts of awful scenes. The address wasn't a warehouse or a nightclub. It was a small, old office building that looked empty.

Marcus was waiting for him outside, a huge and silent shape in the darkness. He didn't say a word, just motioned with his head toward a metal door that led down to a basement. Ace followed, his heart pounding wildly in his chest.

The basement was a shocking sight. It wasn't a dark, dirty dungeon. It was a clean, brightly lit, and completely silent room. It looked almost like a doctor's office, with clean white surfaces and sharp, metal tools laid out neatly on a tray. But this was no doctor's office.

In the middle of the room, a man was tied to a chair. Ace recognized him immediately. It was Mitch, the manager from the bar he had just audited. Mitch's face was white and covered in sweat. One of his eyes was swollen closed, and his whole body was shaking with fear. He looked up as Ace walked in, and his one good eye opened wide with pure terror.

Ramos was standing to the side, watching everything. He was dressed in a perfectly clean, expensive suit and looked completely calm.

"Ah, Ace. Thank you for coming," Ramos said, his voice friendly, as if they were at a normal meeting. He pointed to the man in the chair. "You remember Mr. Henderson, I assume? He was the subject of your first audit."

Ace felt a chill of fear run through his whole body. He could only nod, unable to speak.

"It seems your report about a 'software glitch' was… not entirely accurate," Ramos continued, his voice still calm and even. "My own men did a deeper investigation. They found some problems. Money was taken from Mr. Henderson's own bank accounts that exactly matches the amount of the so-called 'glitch.' It looks like he was stealing from me all along."

Mitch began to cry softly, a low, broken sound of someone who had lost all hope.

Ramos picked up a very sharp, small knife from the tray of tools, looking at its point under the bright lights. "You lied to me, Ace. My new auditor lied. This is a serious problem. It shows me you are not truly committed. You are not loyal." He put the knife back down and looked straight at Ace. "This is your final test. You will fix your mistake. You will take care of the Mr. Henderson problem. Permanently."

The meaning was perfectly clear. The horrible choice was right in front of him.

Ace felt like the room was spinning. His stomach turned. He looked at Mitch, a terrified and broken man who had only been trying to pay for his daughter's medicine. He looked at the sharp tools on the tray. He looked at Ramos's cold, waiting face.

<<<>>>

TASK CONFIRMED: ELIMINATE THE TARGET (MITCHELL HENDERSON).

METHOD: MUST BE FINAL.

REWARD: BECOME A FULL MEMBER OF RAMOS'S GROUP. SAFETY FOR YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS IS PROMISED.

PUNISHMENT FOR REFUSING: YOU WILL BE KILLED. ALL YOUR FRIENDS (EVELYN, SILVA, KAITO CHEN) WILL ALSO BE TARGETED AND KILLED.

<<<>>>

The System explained the situation with cold, brutal logic. Do this terrible thing, and you and your friends will be safe. Refuse, and you will all die.

Ace stood completely still. This was the line he never wanted to cross. To become a murderer. To kill a helpless man to save himself.

He thought of Evelyn, of Silva, of Kaito and his elderly grandmother. He thought about their friendship and the safe place they had built at the cannery. He could protect all of that. All he had to do was this one, terrible thing.

He looked at Mitch. The man had given up crying. He was now just staring down at the floor, as if he had accepted whatever was going to happen to him.

"I…" Ace's voice broke. "I can't."

The words were out. They were quiet, but they were final.

Ramos's fake-friendly expression disappeared. His face became cold and hard. "What did you say?"

"I said I can't," Ace repeated, his voice becoming stronger now, filled with a defiant sadness. "I won't do it. Do whatever you want to me. But I will not be your killer."

The room went completely silent. Marcus took a step toward Ace.

Ramos lifted a hand, stopping Marcus. He looked at Ace not with anger, but with a cold, calculating disappointment. "What a waste. You had so much potential. Such special abilities." He sighed, as if Ace was a business deal that had fallen through. "Alright. You have made your choice. Marcus."

Marcus started moving toward Ace.

"Find them all," Ramos said, his tone casual, as if he was ordering a meal. "The motel, the workshop, the coffee shop. The grandmother's apartment. Erase everything. I will not accept anyone being disloyal to me."

The command was given. By refusing, Ace had sentenced all his friends to death.

He turned and ran. He didn't try to fight. He just ran, exploding out of the basement door and into the alley, running faster than he ever had before. He didn't know where he was going, he just knew he had to escape, he had to warn the others.

He finally fell to the ground behind a large dumpster a few blocks away, his lungs burning for air, tears of anger and fear pouring down his face. He had done the right thing for his conscience, but he had put a death sentence on his friends.

He struggled to get his personal phone out, his bandaged hands making it hard to grip. He had to call them. He had to tell them to get out immediately.

But before he could press a button, the phone vibrated in his hand. It was Evelyn calling.

"Ace?" her voice was frantic and scared. "Ace, are you okay? Kaito's security sensors just detected something big! Several cars are moving really fast. They're coming straight for the cannery! What is going on?!"

Ace squeezed his eyes shut, crushed by the terrible weight of what he had caused.

"I'm sorry," he whispered into the phone, his voice cracking with emotion. "I'm so sorry. I failed. I said no to him. Ramos… he's sending his men for you. He's coming for all of us. You have to run. Right now! Just run!"

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