Selena watched from the couch, a datapad forgotten in her lap, her expression a mixture of profound hope and a deep, gnawing worry. She found herself tensing with every misstep, ready to leap from the couch to catch her brother before he could fall. But Synth was always there, a silent, steady anchor. Even after just two days, the progress was visible—small, precious victories. But the biggest hurdle, the one that truly mattered, remained.

Later, while Max was resting on his futon, the MemStream headset resting on his head, Synth checked the feed from his simulation. The world Max had built was a quiet, peaceful city made of digital clay. The streets were clean, the buildings simple and orderly, and the clay people all had faint, peaceful smiles. It was a safe, ordered world, a stark contrast to the chaotic, violent reality he had escaped. Synth, accessing the data from hundreds of psychologists and trauma specialists, understood that this was more than just a game; it was a fortress, a place where Max was the quiet, omnipotent god of his own safe reality.

But as he analyzed Max's neural activity, a cold, logical conclusion presented itself. The simulation, while a healthy coping mechanism, was becoming a trap. Max's brain was starting to devote more and more resources to maintaining it, the connection to his physical body slowly growing weaker. It was a condition the net-addicts knew by many names: Flesh Fade, Cognitive Contrast Disorder. A state where the real world becomes a pale, ugly echo of the digital one. He had to gently coax Max out of his beautiful, self-made prison without shattering his fragile sense of safety.

Synth made a decision.

His gaze moved to Selena, who sat on the couch, her own gaze lost in the city's endless, glittering sprawl.

"I need to go into the simulation," he said, his voice a low, quiet hum.

Selena's head snapped toward him, a flicker of fear in her eyes. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm not going to do anything," he said. "We are." He held out a second MemStream headset. "I need you to come with me. Your familiar presence will help more than I ever could."

Selena looked at the headset, then at him. A maelstrom of emotions swirled in her eyes—fear, doubt, a desperate, aching hope. She shook her head, her fist clenching by her side. "I... I can't," she whispered, her voice barely audible. "What if I make it worse? What if he doesn't recognize me? I don't even recognize me, Ray. I'm not the sister he remembers."

Synth didn't argue. He walked beside her and sat down, a quiet, steady presence. "He has built a fortress of silence, Selena. I can open the door, but you have to be the one to call him home." He placed the headset gently on the cushion between them. "I will be there with you and guide you if needed. Just act like you act with me."

Selena looked at the headset, then at him. The storm in her eyes raged.

This is for Max. Her sharp nod was more than just agreement; it was an act of courage.

She placed the headset on her head and laid down on the couch. As soon as she closed her eyes, she was transported into the digital world.

They manifested in the simulation. The world was a place of profound, gentle silence. There was no wind, no distant city hum, only a soft, ambient quiet that felt like a held breath. Everything was made of a smooth, gray digital clay that seemed to absorb the light, leaving no harsh shadows. The city Max had built was a miniature utopia of simple, clean lines and perfect, repeating patterns. The sky above was a soft, perpetual twilight, a gentle, unmoving canvas of pale lavender and rose.

Selena glanced at Synth's avatar, a simple, featureless clay figure, its form smooth and genderless, a non-threatening observer designed to blend into the quiet landscape. She looked down at her own hands, flexing her clay fingers. With a silent, fluid motion, Synth materialized a large, freestanding mirror before her.

She stared. The girl in the mirror was her. Her avatar was a slightly idealized version of herself, the version from a time before the trauma. Her hair, which in the real world was a tangled, neglected mess, was a little longer here, falling in soft, healthy waves around her shoulders. Her clothes—a simple, light-gray hoodie and comfortable cargo pants. But it was her face that made her breath catch in her throat. The perpetual, worried frown she wore like a mask was gone, replaced by a look of serene calm. The dark, bruised circles under her eyes had vanished, and her gaze was clear, bright, and unburdened. It was the face of a girl who hadn't yet learned to be afraid of the world.

"Ready?" Synth asked.

"Yeah," she responded, rolling her shoulders.

They walked, moving through the silent streets. They spotted clay figurines moving around—a cat, a dog, a bird in the sky. Even a car occasionally passed by.

They found Max sitting in the center of his city, the silent god of his own creation. He was cross-legged in the middle of a perfectly circular plaza, his small hands shaping a new clay figure with a slow, deliberate focus, his expression one of absolute, untroubled peace.

Synth didn't interact directly, but subtly shaped the environment to be even more peaceful, adding the gentle, rustling sound of wind through unseen trees, the soft, warm light of a sun that never set, the sweet smell of blooming flowers.

He gave Selena the space she needed.

She hesitated, her clay feet frozen to the spot. The fear returned, a cold wave in the quiet digital world. What if she said the wrong thing? Did the wrong thing? Synth's avatar turned its featureless head toward her and gave a single, slow nod of encouragement.

"You can do this," he whispered.

She took a deep breath, walked ahead, and sat down a respectful distance from Max. She didn't speak. She just started to build, her hands shaping a crude, lopsided clay bird, just like the one he had made for her in the real world, but instead of metal, it was clay. She placed it gently between them.

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Max stopped his own work. He looked at the bird, then at Selena's avatar. A long, silent moment passed. His stormy gray-blue eyes stared into her soul. Then, he picked up a piece of clay and carefully shaped it into a small, simple figure of a girl with wild, untamed hair. He held it out to her, his small, clay fingers trembling slightly. His avatar's eyes, for the first time, seemed to truly focus on hers. It was his first act of communication with her since she had woken up. Tears started to fall down Selena's face, which she quickly rubbed away.

"Thank you," she whispered as she carefully took it in her hand.

They continued to build. The silence was no longer empty, but filled with a quiet, creative energy. Max built one of his simple, heartfelt designs—a small, boxy car.

"Oh, that's so cool, Max," Selena said, her voice a soft, gentle murmur. "Is that a race car?"

Max looked at his creation, then at her, and slowly shook his head. He then made a small, lumpy figure and placed it in the driver's seat.

"Is it a family?" she asked. He nodded.

Selena then added her own imaginative touch, creating a tiny, intricate dog with a long, wagging tail, which she placed in the passenger seat. Max looked at the dog, a flicker of something like a smile on his face, before he started building a small, simple house for them to live in. As they worked, Synth, in the background, subtly enhanced their creations. The clay trees he had made earlier began to sway in a non-existent breeze, and the clay sun he had formed in the sky began to emit a soft, tangible warmth that made their small, shared world feel real, and safe.

Synth's internal interface pinged. It was time for Max's second physical therapy session for today in the real world.

"Try to convince him to log off," Synth whispered in her ear, despite being dozens of meters away.

Selena's avatar looked around, then, seeing no one around, turned to Max. She raised her hand, which she offered to Max's. He hesitated, then took it.

Log Out

Back in the apartment, Synth and Selena gently removed their headsets. Selena, her own heart hammering against her ribs, held her breath.

"This was… intense," she said as she exhaled. Her gaze moved to him. "You always knew what to say in the right moment. Thanks for the encouragement."

"No problem," Synth said as he ruffled her hair. Then their gazes moved to Max.

Max's eyes focused and looked at Selena, a flicker of genuine recognition in his gaze. Synth moved quickly and helped him sit up.

He looked down at his own new legs, then over at the small, metal bird clutched in his real hand. And then, he spoke, his voice a small, rusty whisper, his first word since his rescue.

It was "Selena."

The world narrowed to the sound of that single word, her name, spoken in a voice she thought she might never hear again. For a moment, Selena didn't breathe, the sound a physical blow that shattered the fragile composure she had been holding for the past two weeks.

A choked sob escaped her lips, and the dam of her long-held, terrified hope finally broke. Tears streamed down her face, not of sadness, but of a relief so profound it was almost painful. She scrambled forward on her knees, wrapping her arms around her little brother, burying her face in his hair. "Max," she whispered back, her own voice cracking.

Synth watched them with a small, warm smile blooming on his lips. A warm feeling in his chest, one not born from Ralph's paternal love, but from a good deed.

"You can't be serious." Reina's voice was a blade, her dark eyes throwing daggers across the cluttered apartment at Marcus. The space was a mess of discarded tech components, tangled cables, and empty synth-noodle containers.

"I am," Marcus replied, his tone a low, steady rumble that absorbed her anger without reflecting it. He didn't look up from the datapad in his hands.

"But this is our thing," she insisted, her voice tight with a frustration that was deeper than this single argument. This group, this game… it was her sanctuary. "Something between us." Her gaze swept the room, searching for allies. Leo was sprawled on a pile of cushions, his tongue sticking out from the corner of his mouth in concentration as he furiously mashed buttons on a handheld console. Anya, was a small, still figure in the corner, debugging a line of code on her computer, the rhythmic pulse of a synth track a faint, tinny beat from her white bunny eared headphones. Kenji was a statue of coiled muscle in the far corner, deep in a meditative trance.

Reina had hoped for an objection, a flicker of support she could leverage against Marcus, but their silence only made her angrier.

"Playing with Anya was cool," Leo said, his eyes still glued to his screen. "I mean, they were a duo, and it looked fun. The dude—if it is a dude—seems okay."

"I did have fun playing with him," Anya added, her voice a soft, almost inaudible murmur.

"See? Calm down, Reina," Leo said, a devilish smirk finally appearing on his face as he looked up from his console. He lifted a finger, shaping it like a gun. "Oh, I get it now. You're against him coming because you're intimidated. Afraid you won't be the most competent netstrider in the room anymore." He made a tsking sound. "Don't worry. I'll take care of that inferiority complex for you."

Reina's fingers twitched, a silent, violent impulse to grab the nearest object and hurl it at his stupid, grinning face.

"Leo may have a point," Kenji said, his voice a low, calm rumble that seemed to come from the floor itself.

"Boys," Reina tsked, her voice dripping with contempt. She glanced at Anya, her last hope, but the other girl just gave a small, noncommittal shrug.

"Everyone's okay with it," Marcus said, his tone one of quiet finality. "I'm sending the invite."

Reina grabbed the bridge of her nose, a string of silent, vicious curses echoing in the quiet of her own mind.

Synth was watching a pre-Collapse movie with Selena and Max, when his interface pinged. He accessed it.

It was a message from Kodiak.

"Hello, Glitchy! Tonight we are playing Neon Dice & Data Spikes. We have an open spot. Want to play with us?"

Synth glanced at Selena, who was completely absorbed in the film, and at Max, who was sleeping peacefully, his new legs still under the thin blanket.

"Sure," Synth responded.

"I bet he'll leave you on seen," Reina said, her voice laced with a bitter, triumphant sarcasm.

But before she could finish, a slow smile spread across Marcus's face. "He agreed."

Reina turned without a word and stalked to her corner of the apartment.

A few minutes later, they were all jacked in, their consciousnesses coalescing in a dark, virtual room that resembled a basement. The air was cool and still, smelling faintly of dust and old data. The walls were lined with shelves filled with thousands of toy figurines—gleaming chrome mechs, grotesque fantasy monsters, and stoic soldiers. They were a silent, plastic audience for their game.

Everyone was here except him.

And then, he materialized, a simple, 2D stick man, taking his seat at the table. To his left was Anya. To his right was Leo. He raised a hand and waved.

Before him was a circular table, its surface a shifting, holographic starfield.

"Hello, everyone," he said, his tone polite.

"Glitchy! My man!" Leo's teddy bear avatar boomed, slamming a fluffy paw on the table. "Made it to the party!"

"Hi, Glitchy," Anya's rabbit avatar whispered, giving a small, shy wave.

Kenji's hulking frog just gave a slow, deliberate nod of acknowledgement.

"Glad you could make it," Marcus rumbled from behind his bear-like visage.

Reina's fox avatar, Kitsune, remained perfectly still, its elegant head turned slightly away, pointedly ignoring him. The nine silver tails behind it twitched with a silent, elegant irritation.

"Okay," Marcus said, his voice a low, authoritative rumble that broke the quiet tension. "Do you know how to play Neon D/S?"

Glitchy offered a nod. "I have some theoretical knowledge, but nothing practical."

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