The Last Code

Node 1

Breakfast was boring. Scratch that—everything about New Arcadia was boring. The eggs tasted like air, the toast felt like cardboard, and the coffee was the only thing keeping me from completely losing my mind. I ate anyway because what else was I supposed to do? Breakfast was the one part of my day that felt remotely normal.

I glanced out the window while I chewed. The city looked perfect, as always. The kind of perfect that felt fake because, well, it was fake. Glass buildings glinted under a pink sunrise, people strolled down spotless sidewalks, and a breeze rolled through like it was on some pre-set timer. Nothing ever changed here. Not the weather, not the people, not even the view from my crappy little apartment.

I could've complained, but honestly, I knew how much worse things could be. Like, Eden Beta worse.

"Hey, you're gonna want to see this," Zeke said, his hologram flickering into my living room without an invitation—again.

"Am I?" I asked, not bothering to look at him. He loved barging in and loved being dramatic even more.

"Yep. Big news," he said, and a holo-screen popped up on the wall behind him.

It was the same old story: Eden Beta 0.1, the dumping ground for corrupted souls, was falling apart again. The news anchor—a woman with a smile so bright it felt hostile—started talking about containment zones, quarantine protocols, and how everything was "under control." Yeah, right.

"Zone Seven's gone now," Zeke said like it was casual, like he was talking about losing a sock instead of an entire section of a city full of people.

"Well, that's one way to handle it," I said, stuffing the last piece of toast into my mouth.

Zeke gave me a look. "You ever wonder what's gonna happen when the whole thing collapses?"

"Nope," I lied, reaching for my coffee.

Zeke knew as well as I did that Eden Beta was never going to last. It had been humanity's first shot at digital immortality, but they'd screwed it up. Now it was just a glitchy, crumbling mess where corrupted souls—people whose data had gotten too damaged to function—were tossed like trash. Nobody got out of Beta.

Not really.

The notification buzzed through my visor before I could think too much about it. A mission file. I skimmed it quickly, expecting the usual—a corrupted soul flagged for retrieval. But this one was different.

"Suvi," I murmured, reading the name at the top of the file.

Zeke leaned over my shoulder. "Admin clearance? Huh. That's rare."

Rare didn't even cover it. Souls with admin-level clearance didn't end up in Beta—not unless something had gone very, very wrong.

"Guess I've got work to do," I said, standing up and brushing crumbs off my shirt.

Zeke frowned. "You sure you wanna go in there today? Beta's... rough right now."

I didn't answer because he already knew the answer. This was what I did. I went into Beta, pulled out the souls that still had a shot at being saved, and tried not to get swallowed by the glitches myself. It wasn't glamorous, but it was my job.

"Be careful," Zeke said as I headed for the door.

I glanced back at him and forced a grin. "I'm always careful."

That was a lie, too. But hey, nobody's perfect.