Chapter Text
When 007n7 came back after that 1x1x1x1 round, nobody really suspected anything when he said he was tired and retreated to his cabin for the rest of the day. Nobody really suspected anything either when, in the next round, he was physically unable to run. The only time anyone really noticed that something was wrong was when he collapsed mid-generator puzzle, and Pirate's Bay started malfunctioning: decals got plastered everywhere, structures began to fall apart, and an image of Classic c00lkidd filled the sky.
"That #######," Elliot swore as he connected the wires on his last generator puzzle. "Knew he wasn't nerfed."
"There's a 'force join game' feature on the interface," Justaperson argued. "If he wasn't nerfed, we'd all have escaped by now. Something's not right."
Justaperson got up from the generator, closing her minigame. Wandering across the exploited landscape, she searched for anything that might help her find 007n7. Even the map theme had been changed, replaced by a slow rearrangement of Spooky Scary Skeletons. It wasn't that anyone noticed it, though; she was the only one who could hear the map themes.
She entered the two-story house, treading carefully.
"Hey, uhh, Seven?" Justaperson grabbed her jar, shining it at the vandalized walls. "You in here?"
She chuckled to herself. If this were a horror movie, she'd be so dead by now.
But it's not, she reminded herself. It's a horror game. I'm supposed to explore.
"Uhh, Sev—"
Out of the shadows leapt a black spider about the size of Justaperson, jumpscaring her as it pinned her to the ground. The melody of PLEAD rang in her mind as the spider sank its jaws into her, giving her a chill. Her HP descended to 80 as she bolted, running away as far as her Stamina could take her while her health continued to drop. The spider followed in close pursuit, taking a weird turn but continuing to chase her.
Oh, wait, she realized. I have a charge on Capture. Wow, I really am a horror movie protagonist.
She pulled out her camera and took a picture of her pursuer. The blinding flash caused it to collapse... just like 007n7's clones.
I wasted my Capture charge on a clone!
Justaperson didn't have any time to decide whether to be terrified or impressed before the real spider pounced on her and dealt the final blow, plunging her into darkness...