「 The skies above the old Roblox grid flickered crimson, a failing firewall pulsing with warning. Beneath it, broken scripts and defunct assets sprawled like rusted machinery. In the center of the chaos stood John Doe, a towering ruin of what once was a test avatar—now fused with the ancient, corrupted code that consumed his mind. His red-glowing eye scanned the alley, jaw clenched. Code bled from his clawed limbs like digital rot, hissing as it touched the crumbling pavement. 」

「 All the other survivors were gone. 」

「 They had screamed, begged, bled—and then, one by one, they vanished in red flashes of corrupted code, their avatars torn by claw or dissolved by glitch. John Doe—once a ghost story, now a reality—had eliminated every player that crossed his path. And now, only Jane remained. She didn’t run anymore. Her boots were worn down. Her limbs shook with every breath. Her pistol had one bullet. Her heart barely a beat. 」

「 She was bleeding across her shoulder from the last clash. The infection pulsed, warning her that the corrupted area had spread. Her eyes—still hidden in that familiar shadow—stared forward as she backed herself into a corner of the forsaken map, her messenger bag thudding against the concrete. 」

「 Behind her, the towering firewall. In front—him. He emerged from the fog of the old data sector, his limbs twisted in crawling corruption. The red binary spilled off him like blood, hissing when it hit the ground. The smile carved into his face twitched with static. His glowing red eye locked onto her, and his voice came out shredded, glitched. 」

「 She backed into the far corner of the broken map, blinking past the flickering lights and static fog. Her hand clutched her pistol, but it felt useless. Her hat was torn. Her jeans scorched. Her jacket shredded across the shoulder where he’d slashed her earlier. Boots clicked across the tile. He was coming. And then—he stepped into view. Jane raised her pistol. Her hands trembled. 」

「 JANE DOE 」: “John…” she whispered, voice hoarse.

「 She fired. 」

「 The shot missed—ricocheting off the rusted metal behind him as he slammed her against the wall. Her gun dropped. She cried out, wind knocked from her lungs, the back of her head hitting hard. 」

「 JOHN DOE 」: “You… watched them all die, didn’t you?” He tilted his head. “I tried to make it quick. I didn’t mean to hurt them like that.” His voice was calm. Human. Gentle, even.

「 His claw raised—poised to pierce through her core. The same way he’d ended all the others. She looked up. And finally—finally—the Spectre’s illusion cracked. As John’s hand was about to strike, the shadow across Jane’s eyes lifted. Her face came into view. Her real face. The face he loved. The only one the code couldn’t fully erase. Something in him froze. The red light in his eye flickered. His claw hovered, shaking violently mid-air. 」

「 JOHN DOE 」: “…Jane?”

「 It came out barely audible. A child’s whisper beneath centuries of noise. She looked up, tears already falling. 」

「 JANE DOE 」: “Yes. John—it’s me. I’m real.”

「 He looked stunned. Hollowed out. As if something deep in him had just come back online. 」

「 JOHN DOE 」: “I—I didn’t know,” he whispered. “I didn’t know it was you. I thought… you were gone. That you—”

「 He looked down at her. And she saw it—all of it. The grief. The fear. The love still buried underneath the ruin. 」

「 JOHN DOE 」: “I was looking for you,” he said. “This whole time, even if I didn’t know it. I kept clearing the map, hoping maybe…” He reached toward her, slowly.

「 JOHN DOE 」: “I missed you so much.”

「 JANE DOE 」: “Then stop. Come back.” Jane’s lip trembled.

「 JOHN DOE 」: “I want to,” he said. “God, I want to.”

「 And for a second—just one second—he almost looked like the man she married. But then… His red eye surged. The Spectre surged with it. He winced, staggering. His hands twitched, claws spasming. Something inside him screamed. He dropped to the ground, hands to his head. 」