"This isn't spite. I do not wish to hurt the Cat, I only wish for the Cat to leave me alone. Once that happens, the Cat and I can pursue our own personal joy," X backs up against a wall and rests against it. Still careful to face the others. "To comply would mean setting an incorrect precedent for the next time Cat does this to a group of people."

“Ugh, this is ridiculous,” Fujisaki elucidates, “Give me the key, Amethyst.”

“Uhh, aright. Just be careful,” Amethyst replies, handing it over.

Fujisaki takes it, steps over to X, and carefully wrenches her arm behind her back. She looks mildly annoyed at the outcome, but not surprised.

Fujisaki unlocks X’s bracelet, folds it up, and slots it in the metal door. The last keyhole lights up, and the door splits in half. The door slowly swings backwards into the corridor, dramatically revealing a long, dark passage behind it.

Then it suddenly stops.

The group looks at X, who is already pulling her bracelet out of the door and unfolding it.

“There is enough room to enter now” she explains, “Let’s continue.”

X walks into the corridor. Seeing no point is arguing, the group follows her.

———————

The hallway soon becomes a series of stone steps heading down. As the group continues deeper, the steps seem to merge with the soil around them, becoming mossy and riddled with vines.

At the bottom, they finally come upon a large, imposing door with [狗] painted across it.

The group looks at X expectantly. She smiles at them and grabs a lever jutting out from the wall. She pulls it down, causing the Dog door to open.

“So we didn’t need X’s bracelet after all,” Amethyst mumbles.

“That is a severe assumption,” X says.

The group enters the Dog room, discovering a dank, mossy cellar. The walls are lined with various kegs, and a large wooden table sits in the middle of the room. Piled atop it are various meals that look fairly fresh, but no one is that interested in eating them, particularly because of the chairs, which have an abnormal amount of machinery attached to them.

After everyone enters, the Dog door slams shut once again. There seems to be no means of opening it from this side.

“I don’t like the look of that,” Amethyst mumbles.

“Does anyone else smell something burning?” Mao asks.

Taikong steps over to the door on the other side of the room and opens it. He’s hit with a wave of heat as he spots a massive inferno on the other side.

“That would be the source, sir,” he says, calmly closing the door.

Yang begins to speak from a small monitor.

“I am afraid the game is not yet over,” Yang explains, “Please take your seats at the dining table, and do your best to face the final trial. Only by doing so can you secure your escape route.”

With both of their exits blocked, the group has no option left but to sit down at the dining table. Name tags on the tablecloth mark their places. X finds her seat at the head of the table, with gold embellishments that make it resemble a throne.

Once everyone is in their seats, clamps fasten over their legs and one of their arms, trapping them. However, they don’t struggle, perhaps out of resignation.

“Strangely, I’m not even surprised,” Amethyst says.

The group once again feels like they’re on the verge of remembering something dark and terrifying, like a rubber band being stretched tight in their heads. But for the moment, it eludes their grasp.

A small computer sits on the desk in front of Amethyst. Using her free hand, she turns it on, revealing a file labeled “metal.txt”. She somehow knows what it contains before clicking on it.



“W-We’re supposed to choose people to kill?” Juanli shouts, “I don’t even know anything about all of you!”

“Oh, but you do,” Taikong replies, “You must have, if you managed to put that riddle together.”

Everyone turns to Taikong, vaguely put off by the smug look in his eyes.

“Like, for example, some of you know who Cat is, right?”

Mao narrows his eyes at the Private.

“Isn’t it you?”

“What?” Amethyst shouts.

“Th-That’s right,” Juanli mumbles, “I-I remember that somehow.”

“And Monk?” Sunny says, “Aren’t you my Baba?”

“Yeah, I think so…” Fujisaki mumbles, “And Isuzu…she’s trapped in the monitors, isn’t she? What the hell?”

Suddenly, the rubber band snaps, and the memories come flooding back. Memories of battles, of dying, of secrets revealed, of other timelines, of the darkness in the players’ hearts.

“Y-You killed my son!”

“Are we sure Fujisaki doesn’t have any weapons?”

“All that time, and I still haven’t unraveled the puzzle of X…”

“I’m not just hallucinating, am I? This is…really happening…”

“Hey, does anyone else remember Monk’s corpse double-dabbing at some point? What the fuck was that about?”

X smacks her hand against the table, silencing everyone.

“Now, now, let’s all calm down,” she says, “I have a decision to make.”

The group continues shouting at X, forcing her to silence them again.

“In the end, it doesn’t matter what you think,” she explains, “It’s all up to me. I’m the one with all of the power. But perhaps…I’ll consider your suggestions.”

---

Monk looked down, filled with many emotions. Everything had returned to him now- the bombing, the kidnapping, the murder, the escape, the double dabbing. Everyone in the room now knew who he was.

He took a deep breath, turning to look X in the eye. He had much on his mind to say, especially to Mao, but this had to come first. "Let me ask you... Do you remember anything? Let's say, about who you were... Li An?"

---

“.... Hey!” Dr. Uwem shouted in shock. He looks to Mei. “You lied to me about Benedict’s well-being! You told me he died and I reported his death to the public!”

“And the oxycodone! Using them for a different reason other than its purpose is a serious violation of both the oath you made as a health care professional and the oath to the military!”

“Oh... That actually reminds me... Since some of us know who Cat is, I have a question for him.” The doctor said as he looks towards Taikong.

“Taikong, did you take some of X’s writings from my office a while ago?” He asked the soldier before he looks to the rest of the group.

“I’ll explain in a moment as I need to hear from Cat himself.” Dr. Uwem said.

Despite putting himself in the restraints and largely having expected all this, Sun Taikong suddenly thrashed around. "You!" he screamed at Fujisaki, remembering the one discovery from the game that he hadn't been aware of. "You killed my father!" He addressed the others with a manic look to his eyes. "We don't have much to discuss here, right? That's the guy who bombed the Bird's Nest Stadium and started this whole war! He's the obvious first choice."

Perhaps, when he'd first imagined this Battle, he would have been calm and collected, guiding the other players appropriately. Now, though, he was driven by something far more personal.



"What?" Sun Taikong whipped around to face Amandi, disoriented by the question. "I don't fucking know! What's that got to do with anything?"

"Taikong! You had complete power over Mao, you knew exactly the kind of person he was, and you let him live this long?!" Amethyst yelled, banging on the table with her fist. "Forget Fujisaki, we need to kill Mao now! This could be our last chance! He killed a child!"

“.... The Secret Files.” Dr. Uwem said bluntly, looking really serious. “When we got the first file, back in the cells, I immediately recognized it as that being one of Li An’s writings. I didn’t say anything about it because it’ll make Li An looks fucking suspicious!”

Mao rolled his eyes at Amethyst. “Regardless of what you think, everything I did was for survival—choices I wouldn’t have made had I not been brought here. But I do not wish to grovel and beg here—it isn’t up to any of you.” He said, smiling at X. “And she understands this game more than anyone.”

"What?" Monk whipped around to face Mao, a look of pure fury clear in his eyes. "You really wanna act like every shitty thing you did was because of this game? It's mostly because of you that this game is even happening, asshole!" He spat. "Don't act innocent. You shot a young girl and covered it up, and you kidnapped my own son and used him to blackmail me into doing whatever you wanted. You deserve death more than anyone else here and we all know that."

---

Sun Taikong glowered at Fujisaki some more, before turning away and nodding. "Sorry, I got worked up there. Fujisaki should be one of the options, but I agree. Mao is far worse. And it is so liberating to be able to say that bluntly now instead of playing the loyal asskisser."

He then responded to Amethyst. "Only reason I didn't do it sooner is because he's just part of the problem. Bad as he is, stopping him alone wouldn't save my country. Shooting him in the head wouldn't bring peace."

"If I receive Li An's memories, I will not be Li An, Pig." X folds her hands and nestles back in her large, black coat, "I know you miss her as she was, and I'm sorry."

She addresses everyone, "Of course, it is tempting to the kill the Ox, but ultimately will the world be better off? He is a deliberate and repeat offender, and one of the people with the most power. He is dangerous, but also a great ally if we could ever have him."

“Fujisaki on the other hand will never make a great ally.” Mao said, tactically choosing to not rebuff any points for now. “He is an obvious target for this game, and getting rid of him would allow us to easily discard Snake as well. It makes our decisions much easier.”

"And locking Sunny in a room with a bomb would?!" she continued yelling.


"Yes! Yes it will be! Obviously!" Amethyst answered. "What do you even want him as an ally for? Do you have some defenseless children you need to kill out there?"

Fujisaki grumbles and mumbles before looking back at Taikong. "Hmph. I see. And despite setting all of this, and slaughtering us in other worlds, you should get off scot free?" He spat. "I have no interest in this obscene game. I've little idea to what you've been plotting, but if getting some of us killed was your way of ending the damned war then surely there was a better way than this?"

Fujisaki hangs his head slightly, unable to express himself in many other ways due to the restraints and only having one arm to begin with. "There's many options here, that one might want to die. Yet our opinions and preferences mean nothing in the face of the Dog."


"I would never be your ally." Fujisaki snapped. "I have little issue with the remaining players in this room. I like to think myself as a man who can cooperate when needed."

"Yes," Sun Taikong answered, completely serious.



"I rarely 'slaughtered' anyone. I only provided the means, and many of you - yourself included - gave into your baser natures. I won't pretend like I don't share some of that responsibility, but my point has been made. You have all shown your true colours."

Monk seemed quite disappointed at X's response, both regarding her previous life and about saving Mao. "You really think that saving him as an ally would even be worthwhile? He's proven to only stab us in the back over and over. You can argue that killing him wouldn't stop the war, but leaving him alive would help nobody. He needs to go, and pronto."

"Other than him and the young soldier here for kidnapping us all, I don't bear much of a grudge towards Fujisaki for the bombing, considering it wasn't me he was targeting in the first place. Though.." He raised an eyebrow. "You did poison me that one time, no? Not to mention load me with a bunch of bullets that other time... Not sure why you thought that was necessary." He grunted, not looking pleased about the whole thing.

---

Some memories looked particularly painful to Mei. She clearly wasn't having an easy time with them, at least until Uwem speaks. She snaps her head to look at him in a hurry and looks mildly furious.

"Is that really all you have to say?!" Mei shouts, evidently flustered, "After all we've gone through, after all these times I lost the person I care the most about, this is the first thing on your mind? You're not mad about the child-kidnapping murderous General or the man who started this entire war, but about that?"

"Hmph. You knew fully well what would happen in those situations. Pretending like any of our actions were surprising to you would be foolish. You were barely able to prevent yourself from killing the boy during your blind rage. Yet even now, in your game, you leave the fate up to her." Fujisaki glances over at X, though it's near impossible to tell with his sunglasses. "Why?"


"It wasn't personal." He replied casually. "I wanted out the 12 door. And you did vote to Drain. That wasn't a very pleasant experience either, but I find you a rather fine man and I am willing to forgive and forget if we leave here alive." Fujisaki seemed to hold as little of a grudge as Monk did, though it was a little silly considering how drastically different their two situations were.

"The Ox is obviously deeply untrustworthy, but disposing of his existence is throwing away the only key we have into the world of the truly powerful. I have already killed the Ox and I did not find it to be special in any way," X says, reminding them all of her killing spree.



"So..." X says, her teeth slightly bared in a grimace. "Even though the Cat has all the power to change the conditions of this game, he would have us feel personal guilt for the result of his conditions. Don't take power if you won't take full responsibility, Rat."

"You're the one who killed me." Suyin says, facing X. "You strung me up and left me to die. And now our lives are in your hands." She rolls her eyes. "Great."

"That being said I think the obvious choice is to eliminate Snake. Deleting that computer program should be our first priority before anyone has to die."

"Saying I'm entirely responsible for that time you went on a killing spree is the height of absurdity, X," Sun Taikong snapped. "I don't deny that I enabled you, but that doesn't absolve you of anything."

“Yes, Mei, I’m well aware of Mao who started the whole mess... And Fujisaki, as well... But that’s because I didn’t know at the time, okay?!” Dr. Uwem snaps back at Mei. “ And don’t forget that Taikong tried to kill us because of Mao. I didn’t believe him when he said that you killed Amethyst and is Cat. I knew you well and I know that you’re not that kind of person...”

The doctor thought of their current situation. He let out a sigh.

“I think X will not kill me because she know that I’m on the same wavelength as her; that X and I are both trying to figure out the puzzle of X... But she could kill me if she want to...” He mumbles.

“That is correct, X.” Mao nodded at her. “Killing me isn’t special at all, and it of course results in no happy endings. Sparing me would most certainly put me in your debt, and I would not forget it. I can’t make any promises to you that would harm my country, but I’m sure there are many things you might want that I could provide.”

"Rat, I was merely one of your soldiers being moved around your battlefield. Naturally, I have some fault. Maybe their slow starvation behind that Afterlife Gate would have made them happy, and I denied them that pleasure. So I will not deny my piece in this. You are still the master of all of this." X makes a big circle around her shoulders with her fingers, pointing at the room. "Let's say for example that you didn't want me to murder anyone, wouldn't you have had security measures against my actions to create a safe environment for the others? Of course you would. That's what a person concerned with our well-being would do. You are grossly negligent, apathetic, or evil at every turn of this game."

She turns to the doctor and says, "I wonder if you or I or anyone should care what I am. If people are a set of memories, than I am simply complete already. If people are a soul, then where mine comes from doesn't change its value. Perhaps I am not strictly human, but I still share in the act of observation on this world and acting upon it. That existence will speak for itself. Is that not answer enough, Dr. Uwem?"

"Soldiers fight because they're told to. You chose to. You keep going on about how you're not given the chances to make your own decisions here, yet you've chosen to do things all by yourself time and time again," Sun Taikong replied.

"There are no safety measures on the battlefield, and it's there that some show their true nature. The threat and danger had to be real. I don't care if you agree with me or not, all that matters is that we achieve peace. If you ask me to take full responsibility for everything that happens due to this game, then you're asking me to take all the credit for the peace it results in."

"Y-You killed S-Sunny." Juanli said weakly, reeling from the sudden influx of memories.

"My little boy...I...I can't..." Juanli's head fell forward limp. Her shoulders rising gently as she quietly sobbed with the unfiltered emotions of so many terrible endings

"W-whats even the point? No matter who gets out, it always ends terribly...even here a bunch of us will die and the world will still be doomed." She whispered unable to process what just happened.

---

"You're aware of it now, so consider that. I'd rather die than be left alone again, so if you're going to kill the person I care about the most, I don't want your mercy either." Mei adds, not relenting on her irritated gaze.

"Rat, do you blame the impoverished for their crimes or the state for failing to provide for them. You failed to provide a suitable existence for us, and the end result is to be expected. You may argue with the outcomes of my actions, but I was only doing the best I could with the information I had, and the world I was given."

She laughs unemotionally as Taikong mentions taking credit for the peace, "This game was thrust upon me. Take all the credit you want."

"Regardless, this exercise has lead me to come to a decision on my first vote." She sways a little in anticipation.

"I will be voting for Patient X."

Answering an earlier question, Sun Taikong began, "X is an outsider, relatively. She has no memories, thus no biases, and-"



"You'll WHAT?"

“Hold on a moment!” Mao shouted. “If that’s your wish, don’t you think it would be better to vote yourself last?”

"X! What are you doing?!" Dr. Uwem shouted, panicking over the fact that X decided her first vote. "I care about you more than anyone else, X! Please reconsider your decision!"

"Wait, what happens if she dies? What happens?!" Amethyst asked in a panic. "Please tell me you planned for this!"

Juanli snapped out her stupor, staring at X with confusion. "You...you can't mean that can you? I...I remember when you had me by the neck...your will to survive is."

Juanli's eyes widened in fear. Taikong's reaction spoke volumes.

"Oh...of course...you don't want to cooperate with Cats plan...you'll screw it up however you can."

---

X reaches over to the table. Extending a bandaged finger, she gently presses the Dog button.

The machine attached to her chair lets out a dreadful whine.

The group next hears the sound of metal clashing against metal. The clear liquid inside the syringe on the chair drains away, heading toward X’s wrist.

Her taunting smiles fades. She lets out a gasp and jerks away from the arm of the chair. Then she slowly slumps over, leveling a steady glare at Taikong.

“Enjoy your…last supper, Cat,” she whispers.

X lets out a shaky breath like the dying rattle of a serpent and then closes her eyes. She slumps over the table, her black hair thrown in errant strands across the keypad in front of her. Her body becomes uncomfortably still. The restraints fastening her down come off, causing her to collapse onto the table with a thump.

There’s no doubt in the players’ minds—she's gone.

A heavy silence falls over the cellar. All eyes turn to Taikong,

“Th-This wasn’t supposed to…” he stammers.

Taikong desperately struggles against his restraints. The others, sensing his panic, follow his lead.

Though there’s a sizable amount of food on the table, there's no chance of it lasting them very long. With no means of using the last two votes, all of them would certainly perish. It would be a long, horrible death.

Was this X's last laugh? Was the entire game leading up to this gruesome, pointless joke?

Before long, a voice weaves its way throughout the players.

“Excellent. This is the desirable outcome.”

On the monitor, Yang stands proudly. The faintest traces of a smile appear on its feline face.

“You have done well…my child.”

With a sudden jolt, X’s hair whips behind her head. She rises in her seat once more, bearing a manic grin, and she laughs.

The group quits struggling. They stare in confusion at the patient's re-animated form.

“X?” Amandi shouts, “You’re alive?”

“Forgive me for fooling you like that,” X replies, “It was a rather juvenile attempt at humor. Still, I found it mildly worthwhile.”

She raises her fist into the air—the one that should have been injected with Oxycodone. The Dog bracelet is fastened right below her hand, and clear liquid runs down its surface and onto the arm of her chair.

“Anyway, enough of this farce,” she continues, “I’m done playing along, Cat. Mark my words: not a single person is going to die here.”

She tears off the Dog bracelet and throws it onto the floor.

---

"What? What do you mean?" Sun Taikong yelled, looking between X and Yang in a panic. "This wasn't supposed to happen! This isn't... What's going on?" he demanded.

"Oh, X... You gave me a good scare there." Dr. Uwem said, shocked by what X did but relieved to know that she's still alive. "That was really clever of you to uses your bracelet to prevents the oxycodone from being injected into your body."

Mei looks utterly shocked and completely speechless.

"Yang!" Amethyst said, wiping about a ton of cold sweat from her forehead that came following X's little joke.

"You... You knew this would happen?" despite her tone, it was more of a statement than a question. "To save the most lives..."

“Yes, I knew what would happen next. That is why I so readily walked into this trap,” X grins, genuine feelings of excitement emanating from her being. “Cat calls me an impartial observer, but this has become eternally personal for me.”

“Should we continue talking about who you humans would offer up next?”

Juanli stared at X in disbelief, once she finally came round from the shock she spoke up. "You...you said no one would die here? Do you have a plan? I think we still need to nominate two others." She shot Mao a venomous glare.

---