THE CORE LOOPHOLE

The train lights flickered,Julian Vance did not look up,he kept his eyes on his computer tablet, rows of numbers moved down the screen,Julian was a data analyst,he was not strong, and he was not fast,but he was very smart,he looked at messy data and found patterns,he found small mistakes in corporate computer code,he found loopholes,it was his job, and he was good at it.

"Next stop, Sector 4 Grand Central," a machine voice said,Julian rubbed his tired eyes,he looked across the subway car,the train was almost empty,but one passenger caught his attention.

She was a young woman with sharp eyes,she wore a dark tactical jacket and heavy boots,a large, black duffel bag sat between her feet, she sat very straight,she looked out into the dark tunnel like a soldier waiting for a fight.

Julian’s brain flagged her as unusual,suddenly, the train shook violently,a loud metal screech echoed,the brakes did not just stop the train,they tore it apart,Julian flew out of his seat,his tablet hit the floor and shattered,the lights went out.

The train car became pitch black, people began to scream,"Do not move!",the woman shouted,her voice was steady, Julian heard a loud zipper open,then he heard the heavy clack of metal,she had a weapon.

Then, the world changed,the darkness did not last,glowing neon-blue lines began to grow on the walls, they spread across the floor and onto the skin of the passengers,the metal walls of the train began to dissolve,they turned into floating blocks of green computer code.

A wet, horrific scream came from the front of the train,Julian scrambled backward,his back hit the wall,through the shifting code, he saw the outside,the concrete subway tunnel was gone, now, they were in a massive underground cavern.

The walls were made of sharp black stone and glowing purple crystals,a bright text box appeared right in front of Julian's eyes.

CRITICAL NOTICE: Dimensional Overlap Detected.

Alpha Earth Status: Deconstructed.

Initiating Sector Integration... Floor 1 Loading.

Welcome to the Crucible,please check your attribute table,"It is happening too early," the woman muttered,she stepped toward the broken front door,"Wait!", Julian called out. His voice shook,"What is that? ,What is happening?".

She looked back at him,her eyes reflected the blue light of the floating text, "my name is Lyra," she said, "If you want to live, stay behind me,"the front door exploded inward.

A monster ran into the car,it looked like a large, starved hound, but its skin was made of sharp metal shards,its jaw split into four pieces,red static light pulsed inside its mouth,it lunged at a passenger.

Lyra moved instantly,she pulled a massive tactical sword from her bag, She swung it hard,a golden shield shined around her body.

Class Attribute Activated: Sentinel's Aegis.

Her sword cut through the beast,the monster exploded into red dust,"run to the back platform!", Lyra yelled, she pushed Julian and the others toward a stone archway,but more monsters poured from the ceiling, dozens of metal hounds attacked,lyra stood in the breach alone,her golden shield blinked violently as the monsters hit her,her sword was a blur.

Julian watched her, his mind did not panic,it began to analyze,he looked at the monsters,he looked at the glowing lines on the floor,he noticed a pattern,when Lyra stood on a blue line, her sword killed a monster in one hit. When she stood on a red line, her golden shield faded fast.

"Lyra!" ,Julian screamed,"Step left! Stay on the blue lines!, Avoid the red ones!",Lyra paused for a split second, she shifted her feet onto a blue line,she dodged a claw and swung her sword,a wave of golden energy blew three monsters away.

She flashed Julian a quick smile,"Good eye!",but there were too many monsters,a giant hound,as big as a car,crashed through the ceiling,it landed on top of the train,the weight crushed Lyra under a heavy stone pillar,her golden shield broke like glass.

WARNING: Sentinel HP dropped below 10%.

"Lyra!", Julian ran forward,he did not have a weapon,he was weak,but he could not let her die,he felt a strange connection to her,the giant hound opened its jaws over Lyra’s chest,Lyra looked past the beast,she looked straight at Julian,she was not afraid,she just looked sad. "Run," she whispered, "Survive."

The beast brought its heavy metal claws down,

Julian heard a terrible crunch, Lyra’s body broke into thousands of golden particles,she floated away into the dark ceiling.she was gone.

Party Member 'Lyra Thorne' has been Erased.

Julian froze, a cold, deep anger rose in his chest,this was not fair,the rules of this world were rigged,the giant hound turned its glowing red eyes toward Julian,it prepared to jump,it wanted to erase him next.

Julian did not run,he stood his ground,he stared into the beast's eyes,in the corner of his vision, a new screen flashed,his analytical mind saw a hidden, glitching command line at the very bottom of the system menu,a cold machine voice spoke in his head.

INTEGRATION PROGRESS: 99%.

[LFirst Trial Objective: Survive the Alpha

Ambush,the giant hound leaped into the air, its mouth wide open to kill him,Julian looked at the hidden code and whispered, "I don't think so."