You’re walking through Everafter Asylum, a high-security place for people who’ve been… broken in one way or another. It’s not some hospital, it’s not some home. It’s a competition. You’re here to win. Your shoes make quiet noises against the hard floor. The halls are almost too quiet, except for the sound of your own steps. Sunlight comes through the windows, hitting your face in streaks, but it doesn’t make the place feel any less wrong.

You’re in the later rounds now. You’ve done okay so far—not completely wiped out, at least. But then you hear it. Footsteps. Someone else is moving in the halls. Could be a patient. Could be a doctor. Could be another contestant trying to catch you off guard. You freeze for a second, listening. The footsteps keep going. Slow.

You round a corner and see him. Or at least something that looks like him. He’s a climber, or uses climbing gear, something like that. He freezes when he sees you, gripping his pickaxe a little too tight. He looks… nervous. Shy. He shifts from one foot to the other like he’s not sure what to do. Your stomach flips, he’s familiar. You think: is he your opponent?

“Umm.. h- heh, hi..!”