CODEX: NASCENCE

What’s the difference between memory and programming?

I didn’t know my name, but I knew I was running. The ground moved in patterns, repeating tiles and turns as if the world itself were caught in a loop.

A voice kept saying, Again. It wasn’t angry, just patient. Heat flickered behind my ribs, then vanished. My lungs burned while my legs stayed fine. The world flickered once, twice, then folded into blackness.

When I woke up, I felt whole. It was odd, because I had felt whole while running, too. I didn’t remember why I was running, or where to, just the blackness and my feet pounding until I ended up here.

A white room. No seams, no door, no sound except my own breathing. The air was sterile, humming faintly, and when I exhaled, the room exhaled back. Two boys were sprawled on the floor, both face down. A ginger and a dark-haired one. The dark-haired one twitched first, groaning as he rubbed his neck before sitting up.

He noticed me immediately, alert in a way that said he’d always been quick to react. “Hey,” he said. His voice was rough but steady. “You okay?”

I blinked, not sure what to say. He frowned a little, then asked, “What’s your name?”

And before I could think up an answer, the wall in front of us flashed red.

RHEA

We both froze. Our eyes met as the red light bled across his face. Then it was gone. “Rhea,” I whispered. The word felt strange on my tongue.

He hesitated, then glanced at the wall again. Another red flash.

ADAM

And it was gone again. “Adam,” he said, exhaling like it wasn’t the first time he’d said it. “Where are we?” he muttered. I couldn’t tell if he was asking me or the wall, maybe both.

The second boy stirred with a slow groan, his hand clutching the side of his head.

He sat up unevenly. “Oh, hey, I’m—uhm—”

His face twisted. I couldn’t miss how his eyebrows bent, they were fuller than normal. His ginger hair was weird enough, but it came along with freckled-coated cheeks.

Adam glanced at me which made my attention move from the somewhat majestic boy to Adam.

“Guess we’ll let the wall decide for him.”

My eyes followed his to the wall.

A third flash.

STEVE

Red on the white. The freckled boy—Steve—winced hard as he pressed his temples. “Feels like someone’s inside my head,” he muttered.

“Welcome to the club,” Adam said.

Then the screen of the wall continued its play.

MODULE 1: RUNNER’S LOOP

OBJECTIVE: RUN, SURVIVE

This didn’t fade away like our names did. Adam stood. I did the same. Steve followed. Adam walked around the room, studying the walls. “What are you?” he asked, placing his palm against the surface.

The wall didn’t respond. It stayed perfectly smooth, unyielding under his hand.

Steve chuckled. “Ha… It snubbed you.”

I looked between the both of them. “Do you guys know each other?”

“I hope not,” Adam murmured.

A table-like structure came out of the wall behind us. It had three black rings. The wall flashed again on the opposite side.

SELECT YOUR RINGS

Steve was the first to pick one up. He held it up in the air and looked at it, analyzing it like that would change what it was. He wore his first. It melted into his skin, then the wall blinked the same words again.

SELECT YOUR RINGS

Adam took the two left from the table then handed one to me.

“I have working hands,” I said.

“You’re slow with them.” He smirked.

The wall shifted before I could say anything to that, folding inward. What had looked like solid white became a doorway. Steve, who paid no mind to us, stepped out first. I went next. Adam followed after, eyeing the room weirdly before he stepped out.

Once he stepped out, the building disappeared. It melted out of existence like the rings had. Steve didn’t bother looking back. “Any idea on what’s going on?” he asked without any sort of urgency.

“None.”

Outside looked like a forest, but the single path made it different. It was quiet, but too clean. We followed the path until we were met with a set of subway tracks. One path became three. Three lanes, old and abandoned, with trains that had plants growing on them like an extension of the forest.

“Subway runners,” Steve shrugged.

“Runner’s Loop,” Adam replied under his breath.

A digital figure flickered behind us almost immediately—a pixelated man frozen in place. He wore a baseball uniform with a bat slung over his shoulder. The numbers “09” hung in the air right above him in blue, the same color as the stripes on his uniform.

“Nine,” I said, which was followed by no reaction.

“He looks so cool,” Steve said. He turned, stepping closer to touch the baseball man.

The baseball man—Nine stayed in place. His body glitched, he wasn’t real. Steve’s hand passed straight through Nine’s body.

Steve started with a swing into Nine’s figure. He was enthusiastic. Enthusiastic about having fun with a hologram, but in this moment he paused, he slowed down as he moved his fingers above Nine’s bat.

And the moment his hands met it, sparks flew.

They looked exaggerated. A strong zap, electricity surged through Steve’s body which made him jerk backward. I turned to move towards him, but Adam caught my arm.

“Don’t.”

“Why? We need to help him.”

“You want to get buzzed with him?”

I shook my head. Steve dropped to the ground a few seconds later, landing flat on his back. His tanned skin turned pale; his hair was fried and sticking up to the sky.

“That was so cool,” he giggled.

“It didn’t hurt?” I asked.

“It tickled.” He grinned, already standing.“I’m doing it again.” Steve stepped towards Nine. His skin pulsed into its original form, his hair settled back into place, as if an invisible hand had smoothed it. The reset happened in an instant, too fast to follow. He reached for the bat again. The air hissed. Electricity zapped through his body again.

“C’mon, Rhea, try it.” His voice stuttered with every zap.

I left Adam’s side for Steve’s. I reached out to the bat and braced myself. The jolt hit, not painful but moving. Live. It sounded familiar, real. And real was the best thing I’d felt since I woke up in the white room.

“Y-you’re r-right,” I said, my voice glitching through the current. “Adam?”

I wondered how he’d look when he felt this. He crossed his arms. “I’ll pass.”

When the current stopped, Steve dropped to the ground laughing. “That was worth it.” I fell beside him, still buzzing, a smile tugging at my lips. Still, I stood first then brushed off the dust on my shorts.

“There’s a start point,” Adam said. He stepped onto a long white rectangle painted across the tracks. Black letters marked it clearly.

START

I stepped onto it next. Steve joined me. The painted line glinted faintly. Nine moved. Slowly at first, his head tilted and his bat shifted, resting against his shoulder. Then his body adjusted into a runner’s stance. Above us, glowing numbers appeared.

Five. Four.

“What’s going on?” Steve asked with more energy than he had in the forest.

Three. Two.

“Heh—Guys, I’m actually getting scared,” he continued.

One.

RUN

There was no hesitation before we ran. I looked back. Nine was running after us—expected, but worse than I imagined. His smile was larger than should be humanly possible; his bat swung like a weapon.

The faster we moved, the farther he fell behind.

I felt exhilarated; my body felt trained for this.

Adam and Steve weren’t so lucky. Adam was visibly straining; Steve struggled the most, breathing heavily.

Eventually, we reached a tunnel. It was dull. It had cars, buses, and trucks scattered around. We slowed down, checking the vehicles. There were CDs, documents, children’s toys, and other random, useless things. Well, everything except the glinting object I saw from the corner of my eye. A pocket knife, open, somehow reflecting light in the dark tunnel.

“There’s nothing useful here,” Adam said.

I had thought that before him, and yet I still countered the thought before him.

“We should get moving,” he said, like he was a dictator and we were his followers.

I did agree with him, just not the attitude that came with.

Funny how in whatever was going on, with no memories or proper instructions, all I wanted to do was one-up Adam. He hadn’t necessarily done anything to me, but I still wanted to win the competition he didn’t know we were having.

We continued running until a long white rectangle appeared, like the one at the start, with light glowing out.

“The end…” Steve panted. “…that should… be the… end.” He summoned his last strength to sprint there. As soon as we arrived, words formed ahead of us.

SAVE POINT UPDATED

It vanished seconds later. Outside the tunnel was the subway again.

“We should rest here,” Adam said.

“It isn’t over?” Steve asked, his voice almost breaking. “Why are we even running?”

With each question he asked, his composure dissolved more.

He couldn’t keep up.

“We don’t know,” I said.

Adam’s voice became more stoic. “Run and survive. That’s the objective.”

“Why exactly are we running and surviving’?” Steve used his fingers to air-quote the ‘running and surviving.’

Adam snapped. “Because we don’t want what’s coming for us,” He turned back then said, “He’s getting closer, let’s go.

He moved ahead like he expected us to follow.

I moved back and made a mark on the tunnel wall before I did so.

We got further on the tracks and arrived back where we had started. Not a lookalike—the word

START was boldly written on the path.

“This won’t end,” Steve said.

Nine got even closer; his silhouette became clearer. His speed kept increasing.

“Let’s keep going,” Adam said, and the race began again.

We reached the tunnel again. Behind me, Steve’s breathing grew heavier. “I can’t,” he panted. “I can’t run anymore.”

“You should,” Adam said without looking back.

I slowed, watching Steve stumble. “Faster!” I called.

“C-can’t.” He bent over, gasping.

“Steve, move!”

Nine, just a few feet from Steve, slowed. His steps echoed, deliberate and measured, as he approached.

“I—” Steve started.

“You can. Run! Now!” Adam turned back then.

Nine reached Steve before he could try to run again.

Nine let his bat drop, clattering against the ground, then wrapped his arm around Steve’s neck. What came next was a punch to the gut. Steve fell to the ground. Nine kicked him after, twice.

Nine’s fingers closed around the bat with a snap, lifting it like it weighed nothing. He placed the bat slowly on Steve as if he were tagging him. Electricity surged. This time, it didn’t look painless.

Adam made his way to my side, eyes focused on the scene. Steve yelled—a hoarse tone that echoed down the tunnel. My legs moved before I could process it. I didn’t know how I’d help Steve, but I couldn’t just watch him scream.

Adam followed from behind, but not to help. He wrapped his arm around me and stopped me from going further.

“Let me go!” I had no idea how those slim hands of his were strong enough to hold me back. I had no idea what I didn’t have the strength to get out of in the moment where I felt every ounce of Steve’s panic.

“Let me fucking go!” I said, clawing at Adam’s arm.

Adam didn’t budge. He held me tight, his eyes focused on Steve and Nine. A few more seconds of my yelling passed then Steve’s body disappeared. He disappeared like he had been snatched from the world.

What kind of world were we even in?

“Steve…“ His name came out like a whimper. He wasn’t gone; I knew he wasn’t gone.

Nine straightened, his eyes finding us. He assumed the position he had at the start, ready to chase us. Adam let me go.

“Run,” he whispered.

I did.

I ran till my lungs burned, until I started feeling as tired as Steve had been. We reached the start two more times, pushing ourselves just to keep our distance from Nine.

Everywhere shifted around us. One tunnel smelled of rusted metal, the next of wet concrete. Dirt crumbled underfoot, and abandoned vehicles scraped the edges of our path. But the marks I made were always there.

When we reached the start for the third time, a body was there, sprawled on the ground. Same green shirt as Steve’s, same ginger hair.

“Is that—”

“Steve,” I said, running faster and dropping to my knees. I shook him by his shoulder. “Steve, wake up!”

He groaned, eyes still closed. “What—no, Mom, I’m awake…”

Adam stopped beside me, his breathing steady but tight.

“He’s coming,” Adam said quietly. It took me a second to realize he was talking about Nine.

The distance we had built between Nine and us looked like nothing. Nine ran faster than he had since the start. It was frustrating how fast he became after he ‘killed’ Steve. With that speed, he could have caught us from the beginning, but he had decided to toy with us.

“Steve, wake up!” I slapped his cheek.

“Oh, hey, Rhea,” he mumbled. “What are you doing in my dream?”

“We don’t have time for this,” Adam said. He crouched, hauled Steve onto his back, and stood again in one clean motion. “I can take care of him. Run, Rhea.”

“I can help—”

“Yes, you can. By running.”

I hesitated, then nodded. “Okay. I’ll find something.”

“Go.”

I sprinted ahead. The tunnel blurred. I looked for buttons, panels, anything that could help. Nothing did. And then it hit me: the path wasn’t finite. It looped. If I ran fast enough, I could catch Nine from behind. Behind him might be a clue.

But would he turn around when he noticed me? If he could, why hadn’t he done it before? He could’ve just turned and waited for us to run back into him. But he didn’t. I was beginning to think the objective was to be toyed with under the guise of ‘survival’.

This time, I was going to catch up to him. I was going to end it.

So I ran—a run I would’ve called impossible minutes before. I ran so far that I could see Nine ahead of me, but it wasn’t enough. He was still too far from me and too close to Adam. He slowed, walking deliberately toward Adam the same way he had with Steve. My lungs burned, but I couldn’t stop thinking: How does he control this?

Adam was also slow, visibly tired from dragging Steve, but still taking long strides. Nine’s back was plain, no controls, no buttons, just his white jersey with blue stripes and the word ‘Orpheus’.

I drew out the knife instinctively. I had a nice image of plunging the knife into him, deep. I yelled first. “Hey, Jackshit! I’m right here!”

His neck turned first, 180 degrees. His eyes, which had been closed or squinted the whole time, opened wider than I was comfortable with. His body turned next to match his head. He walked toward me.

I smiled back.

“Coward! Going after the girl!” Adam shouted at him.

Nine’s body turned again, this time toward Adam. Adam threw Steve off his back—rougher than necessary, with Steve landing on his head.

“Yeah, that’s right. Come at me,” Adam said, folding his left sleeve.

Nine dropped his bat on the ground before doing anything else.

“Ouch,” Steve said, touching his head as he stirred awake at last.

Nine and Adam circled each other. Adam’s muscles flexed through his white, sweat-drenched shirt. He went into a fighting stance. The sleeper build hidden beneath his slim frame was absurd.

The scene turned into a display of martial arts before I knew it. I tucked the knife back into my pocket and ran for Steve first.

“Are you okay? You hurt? You hit your head pretty hard?”

“I thought I died,” Steve said, still rubbing the back of his head.

“Well, you didn’t. Get up and I’ll take you a little farther from here.”

Steve groaned, pushing himself upright as we moved back. “Is that Adam?”

“Yup.”

“The same Adam I know?”

“You just met him.”

“I thought he was like a femboy,” Steve said, a small smile tugging at his lips.

“He may look twink-ish, but he’s not, apparently.” I folded my arms.

“Bummer.” Steve let his body rest against a bus. “Ugh, I think he broke my ribs. It hurts so much. I can’t even stand well.” He groaned while clutching his side.

“Don’t be a baby about it,” I said, trying to keep my tone firm.

“It hurts so much,” he muttered again, teeth gritted.

“I don’t care,” I lied. He slid down to the floor.

“Just leave me here,” he countered, his lip curling in mock defiance.

“No. You don’t get a say in that.” I crouched slightly, bracing him as he staggered. “Adam tended to you alone earlier. I’m not going to leave you. You’ll walk it off, whether you like it or not.”

“I can try,” Steve said, grimacing.

“Good. You have two options now. Stay here and help, or run.”

Steve glanced toward Adam. “I’ll stay, but it looks like he has it handled.”

My eyes flicked toward the fight. “He doesn’t. His punches are getting sloppy. He hasn’t had any rest for a while, either.” Adam was above Nine, punching over and over; black ink splattered like blood.

Nine found a way to push Adam off, then rolled and ran to grab his bat. And I? Just needed to find the right moment.

Adam lunged, closing the gap. He almost reached Nine, but Nine twisted first. Nine snatched the bat from the ground. In one fluid motion, he spun toward Adam. Adam barely had time to step back. The bat caught him across the shoulder.

Adam’s scream was almost monstrous. I ran from behind, taking advantage of Nine’s focus on Adam. I flipped the knife open. I found my way to his back, almost too fast.

Then I drove the knife deep into his neck.

His eyes rolled to the corner. Locking his eyes with me while I was just above his shoulder. Where I still held the knife in his neck, driving it deeper and deeper.

His body followed his eyes, twisting or at least trying to twist with the knife in. His bat slipped from his hand. Adam collapsed to the floor. Nine swung his elbow at me, but I ducked and pulled the knife free.

I was sure I was going to land on the ground, but Steve caught me just in time.

I wasn’t hurt, but black ink spurted from Nine’s neck, splattering across my face.

Nine’s eyes locked onto mine as he sank to his knees. Then, with a thud, he fell flat on his face. A second later, he disappeared as suddenly as he had appeared.

“Adam,” I ran toward him. “You’re alive.”

“Yeah, I’m stronger than that,” he smirked, then he asked, “Is Nine still there?”

“No. His body disappeared.” He tried to sit up.

“Like Steve’s? Is Steve okay?” he asked, more concerned than he’d been the whole time.

“Yes and yes.”

Steve came forward and offered Adam a hand to stand up.

“He could be back anytime. Maybe even faster than Steve,” Adam said. “We need to leave.”

“Thanks for… uh back there,” Steve said to Adam as we started moving.

“Yeah, sure.”

We didn’t waste time before moving again. This time we walked instead of running. The tunnel stretched ahead, shifting between metal and stone, until Steve spoke again.

“Guys…”

“What?” I asked.

“Guys…”

“What?” Adam and I asked simultaneously.

“There’s something up there.”

Adam stopped beside me, following my gaze. “I think it’s a hatch,” he said.

We climbed a truck to reach it. Adam lifted me onto his shoulders first. Up close, it looked real—thick metal, a turning wheel at the center, the kind you’d see in a submarine or bunker. It was cold under my hands. The wheel resisted at first, then loosened with a low scrape.

“What’s in there?” Steve asked.

“It’s dark.”

Adam helped Steve up next. Then we both reached down to drag Adam in after us. As soon as we got through, a light turned on. The space around us had been pitch black, but ahead was a door glowing faintly with light.

We went through it.