Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“I swear, I know what I saw.”

“Annie, your vision is shit. What makes you think you’ll find anything in this dump of an asylum?” Xena Varian tapped her foot on the marble floor while braiding her platinum blonde hair in pure boredom and impatience.

“Those glowies were looking for something down here–-”

“Yeah. Us, dumbass. They probably got orders from the upper rankers to come down here and patrol,” Xena explained, whispering to stay out of sight.

Annie Lydius rolled her blue eyes but stopped digging through the files. “Nothing.”

“See?” Xena smirked at her friend but all she did was curse under her breath.

“Whatever. We’re coming back here in the morning where no Glowfiends can find us.”

“Who’s ‘we’? Sorry, but I can’t also risk getting caught in construction. After all, vandalizing school property was already enough on my reputation, but this? A whole new level of dangerous, girl. Find a new hobby.” Xena turned her back toward Annie with her chin held high, like she was half proud of an argument she won.

“But we’re so close. I can feel it.-”

“Feel what, Annie? Feel what? That every time we enter a place like this we’re always on the brink of our asses getting devoured? ‘Cuz that’s what I feel. Every time.” Xena whipped her body back around to meet Annie’s gaze.

A moment of silence was already enough for both to fall into dismay for each other.

“I have to go before my parents find out I’m here.” Xena turned to walk out of the asylum.

“No! Xena, wait!”

Xena froze, eyes wide with fear.

“Xena?-”

Xena whipped her head back to Annie. This time with her index at her lips and horror in her steel grey eyes.

Just then, the air went cold and the darkness, darker. The wind died down and only fright vibrated the teenagers’ bodies.

A moment later, a sharp metallic slice echoed through the silent air. Both girls stood completely still, knowing what was coming.

In front of the entrance that was literally just a big busted hole in the wall, a black figure landed straight down onto the marble flooring, cracking it underneath them.

Using the noise of their wings as an escape from being caught due to their clucky boots, Xena grabbed Annie and sprinted to a piece of the wall that was large enough to be huge double doors. Hiding behind it, Xena took a little peek at the intruder.

Credits to the moonlight, she was able to see what she was up against. A tall young female with short black hair and bright pale skin. Her wings were leathery with artificial skin and black bone as they retracted themselves back into her body. Her tail was long, dark, and skinny, but at the end was a small barb leaking some toxic yellow liquid.

It didn’t take much to figure out this was a Phagelight. An obedient inhuman being with the disgusting urge to kill and eat everything it can to survive. Pointy ears and knife-like teeth. Not to mention follow orders from a security force called Hollowshine. How can you figure out such a creature?

The glowing intoxicating yellow that shines all over them. Their veins glowing through their skin, the poison that drips from their barbs, and worst of all; their eyes. The toxic yellow color surrounding the slits they call their pupils. Like a snake’s but on a human-sized mass murder machine.

She wore black.

All black.

Long black leather jacket with a black crop top underneath it; black high jean shorts; black leggings and black leather boots as well as a black shot gun at her side and a black rifle on her back.

Xena and Annie held their breath and backed into where the shadows fell as the female phagelight continued her slow way forward into the wreckage. Her thigh-high leather boots clopped on the white marble floor until her gaze dropped to the open drawer of files Annie was just fishing through minutes before. The phagelight knelt at the drawer and simply fingered the files until something caught her eye. She pulled it out to find a piece of paper with some kind of text that was too small to read at the distance the girls were at.

The phagelight stood up from the drawer and read the file, only for it to be crumpled in the next ten seconds and thrown behind her.

Must’ve not liked what she read, I guess, Xena thought, staring at her in utter horror.

“Viara!” A voice, dark and raw, called behind the phagelight. She froze and eyes wide with irritation. “What did I tell you about sneaking around at night while on shift?”

The one called Viara turned around with the fakest smile in the history of fake smiles. “Hi, Josilie. Long time no see. Am I right?” Her voice, not squeaky but sure high in volume. Acting like she was afraid but in the end, just trying to slide by punishment.

Xena wasn’t able to see much now that she and her friend were far back into the darkness. However, the shadow overshadowing Viara was the only thing she could use as her visual; tall with high pigtails. Her hand was at her side as she leaned on her left leg, trying to seem condescending but failing to do so.

Another shadow next to her had matted hair with his arms crossed and stood straight as if he was in military training.

Upper Rankers.

“We saw each other last night.” The one called Josilie stated.

“Oh yeah. Right.”

“What the hell are you doing here? You’re supposed to be patrolling the east point!” she bellowed, her voice echoing through the abandoned building.

“Yeah, and?” Viara drawled.

“If the administrator finds out again how you ran off on shift, she won’t be happy.-”

“How ‘bout this? Don’t tell her. Easy as pie,” Viara remarked. “You didn’t do it last time. Don’t do it again.”

“I didn’t say anything about last time because it was worse,” her boss reminded. “You ran off because some idiot took your knife that you wouldn’t stop fiddling with!”

“He could’ve gotten hurt.”

“You killed him.”

Those three words hung in the air for a while, only for Viara to nonchalantly agree like it didn’t matter.

“Whatever. He was an enjoyable snack,” she grinned. “Who’s this fella’?” Viara gestured to the phagelight next to her boss.

“Z-00011-”

“Name, please. I don’t care about the serial numbers.”

“Name’s Zeke Duskmoor,” he said, just like Josilie’s voice. Raw, cold, but a bit Australian.

“Ranking?” Viara deadpanned.

“First,” he replied.

Immediately, Viara changed her tone and movement, standing straight and tall like him. “First?”

“He’s my boss, and he has some news for you.” Josilie stepped back while Zeke stepped forward.

Xena squinted at Zeke. Dark matted hair, with wood-colored skin. He wore an all-black suit along with two shotguns at his -belt, one on each side of his body.

“You must be Victoria. But most call you Viara, I presume?” he wondered aloud.

“I just changed my name. Nothing fancy,” Viara gulped.

“Well then, now that we have met, I have to ask you,” Zeke proclaimed in a sedate tone. He placed a hand on Viara’s shoulder, “How would you like it if you joined my team, aye?”

Viara swallowed. “You mean, as a Second Ranker?”

“Yes, Viara.”

Viara blinked, trying to understand how much of a dream this night might’ve been. Asleep while the other phagelights were on their shifts.

The smirk on Josilie’s face at the news.

A promotion that only gets distributed to certain phagelights in Hollowshine.

The fact that she of all her team is getting picked to be higher in the ranks.

Was it truly real?

She didn’t need to pinch herself to figure it out. Excitement burned in her chest as she held it in. Her thoughts buzzed with plans and orders to fill from her new boss. Her objectives and goals for an entirely new team of Third Rankers. And somehow, by pure audacity, her dream was able to happen.

“That's amazing!” Viara shouted. “When do I fill in the questions?”

“Now now, Viara. There’s a lot to go off of when you’re a Second Ranker. But before you get all set up with changing ranks, why don’t I get you set up with your first mission as one, aye mate?”

“You see, before you joined Hollowshine, all the First and Second Rankers were ordered to do one thing while the Thirds and under did the rest of the minor crap the administrator wanted done.” Josilie pulled something from her jean pocket. Some kind of folded piece of paper and handed it to Viara.

She unfolded it and her eyes widened in glee. “No way, is this-”

“Oh yes it is, my friend. And we need you on our team to take out anyone that wields this type of power. Understand?” Zeke slowly walked behind her, eyeing the paper with mischievous intent. Toxic glowing eyes shining onto the file, as if trying to state without words that he didn’t need a flashlight to see it.

“Indeed,” Viara smiled, paper shaking in her hands while her fingers twitched with excitement.

“Now then,” Zeke snatched the file away from her and strutted to leave, “Finish this last shift accordingly and you’ll get your wish. Are we clear?” He turned his head toward her with a smile full of bad intentions.

Viara grabbed her gun at her left side and aimed it in the teenagers’ direction. With eyes still on Zeke, she fired at Xena, who fell to her knees. Annie didn’t dare to help her or even move to her lifeless body that fell to the floor without a single thought. Annie’s eyes were tearing up while her heart was pounding, wondering if Viara knew it wasn’t just Xena hiding behind the shadows for protection.

Viara’s eyes got wide with pride for what she hit.

“Absolutely.”

Chapter Text

Uzi Doorman doodled in her tiny black sketchbook while her Senior-year math teacher rambled on to the class like background noise. It was a pleasure being in the back of the class instead of the front due to all the crap kids do without getting caught.

Passing notes.

Vandalizing school desks.

Cheating on tests.

Forget the front, you could pretty much anything in the back unless you were caught.

“D. F is multiplied by 18.”

“Correct, Emily.”

Uzi lifted her head to the girl sitting in the middle of the class, all proud of herself for answering the question right.

Black hair in pig tails and her glossy blue eyes behind her extremely large glasses.

Nerd.

That’s all Uzi thought. Nerd.

She rolled her violet eyes and went back to drawing her anime, praying for school to end sooner than expected to

𖥂

Walking through the school halls of absolute chaos, Uzi tapped her fingers against her thigh in boredom, aiming for the door leading to the parking lot outside.

The huge double doors actually looked satisfying. Through the windows, the sunlight looked bright as always, especially after eight hours wasting her damn life on school and not something worth anything. The metal handles, easy to push but as she strolled over toward them they looked heavy and difficult.

Uzi’s brain pressed the exhausted button and her eyes began to close, soon tripping on something that probably wasn’t even there when she was conscious.

Just before she hit the floor, she was caught midair in the arms of her crush.

“You okay? You dozed out for a second there.”

Uzi blinked, wondering what had just happened to her till she met Thad Campson’s eyes. Green and full of feign innocence, like a monarch butterfly.

“Uhh yeah, yeah. Just tired is all,” Uzi blushed as she gritted her teeth. Thad placed her back onto her feet, legs quivering. “Thank you.”

“Not a problem,” He replied, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Oh Thaddie?”

Both teenagers turned to find Lizzy Hadyline leaning on the lockers on the right of the hallway, amidst some of the chaos. “Over here!” she sneered.

Her stupid blonde hair in that same ponytail and her cunning pink eyes that only showed something worse on a reputation than making out. Her black and fire-colored cheerleader outfit looked smaller than usual, like she pulled her skirt up or something to get the jocks to notice her. And overall, her smile. A smile that made you want to rip it off her body and shove down that glittery thing she calls a ‘mouth’.

Desperate.

That’s all she screamed. Even playing the rich girl in this school, she was still desperate.

Next to her was none other than her package deal bestie. Doll Rubinson. The quietest girl in the class and maybe even the entire school. Long navy hair was in a braid (Lizzy’s doing), red eyes that saw right to your soul, and dark tanned skin, like Uzi’s but darker, like her personality. Her outfit was clean and shiny, like she just grabbed it from the washer minutes before. Her smile? There was no smile. Only pursed lips and a furrowed brow. Like she was only hanging out with Lizzy due to being actual moral support. Something Lizzy wasn’t.

Thad sighed, lightly lowering his head in reluctance. “See ya around, Uzi.”

“You too, I guess.”

Uzi turned back to the doors and groaned. Why the hell is it every time I try to have my crushes, they’re either awkward or interrupted?

She powerwalked toward the doors with her anger as a motor, trying to reach them before she fell on something invisible with nothing to save her. Uzi pushed open the doors to reveal the blazing hot sun and the warmth of freedom that never felt so enclosed. She adjusted her black bat-winged backpack on her sweater and sped over to a rusted yellow bench that looked too old to be there or even sat on. Uzi’s exhaustion got the best of her and landed straight on the bench, careless with the fact that it could’ve broken any second.

She leaned her head back and slid her black beanie above her dark gloomy eyes to shield her from the sun.

Finally, some rest.

“Uzi! How was school today!”

Uzi jumped from the bench that crumpled to her surprise. Her eyes widened with fear and hatred. Not even five seconds of just sitting down and my father comes in with his beat-up blue Jeep. Where the hell did he even come from?

A car just ten feet away from her spawned into the asphalt parking lot, awaiting her arrival.

Uzi groaned. “It was alright. Could’ve been worse.” She strolled her way to the car in front of her and opened the door to the shotgun.

“I see,” her father adjusted the mirror and Uzi slammed the door on the jeep.

He started the engine, pushed the gas, turned the steering wheel to the left while spinning the car out of the parking lot exit.

“Back when I was a kid, I got bullied. A lot,” Uzi’s father enunciated in the last sentence, as if he was trying to pronounce it without getting it wrong.

That damn English language. Really needs a whippin’now and then, doesn’t it?

Her father drove onto the road where rush hour was beginning to start. Cars zoomed up and down the highway while some kids from school were walking home, which was only across the street from what Uzi saw.

Huge shiny wooden apartments that looked like they belonged to rich people, but even those couldn’t top the Doorman luxury she lived in.

However, the houses weren’t successful in captivating her attention.

A familiar classmate of hers jaywalked across the street, looking regretful and disappointed. Long brown hair pulled up in a messy bun slid down her face and soft pink eyes that seemed too innocent to belong to a teenager. Ivory skin, looking whiter than ever but worst of all, she was alone.

Uzi squinted at the girl.

Annie.

Without…Xena?

Before Uzi could question it, her father swerved into the turn lane on the left and the traffic light above went green, jolting her in the car as her father hit the gas and spun the steering wheel once again. The speedometer went up to forty-five miles-per-hour in less than five seconds and it only got higher, almost causing her to puke from pure surprise and carsickness.

“But as time went on, I felt like it would never end. End the end, it’ll just be a while till it takes effect. At least, that’s what I had to learn when I was your age. Just the hard way, however.”

Uzi didn’t even realize her father was still yapping about his high school stories from way back when. It didn’t help much besides the fact he wasn’t the best storyteller and high chance she took after him knowing her odds.

The only thing that wandered in her mind was Annie.

Alone.

Her and Xena were like the pair of their grade besides Lizzy and Doll. They were like them, but a nicer pair. Even if Xena spraypainted the middle finger on Lizzy’s locker. That was pretty cool of her though, not going to lie.

But they never left each other’s sides and always stayed put at home if the other wasn’t coming. They were connected like a joint and a bone. Without one, the other just doesn’t work.

So why was Annie without Xena?

Where was Xena?

Uzi jolted again, remembering her father was driving that car she was soon going to vomit in. He again, straight up tilted the car due to his speeding and wheeling antics down an avenue too familiar to forget from all of the years she went down it with her father. “Why can’t I drive? It’s not like I didn’t take lessons."

“Now now, Uzi. I’d let you drive if it weren’t for these damn phagelights going around,” her father recited for the thirty-seven millionth time.

“But they don’t normally reach this side of town. They’re normally at the gates!-”

“Normally. Do you know what day it is?”

Uzi thought for a moment, but nothing came to her mind. “No?” She answered.

“Fluctuation Day.”

Uzi’s eyes widened. The day that crapped on her life all those years ago was finally back to bite her ass once again.

Fluctuation Day was the day where all the Under Rank Phagelights would upgrade or downgrade in the ranks. Why was it a terrible day to be alive? Let’s just say for the phagelights that downgrade, the humans become their next stressball. Squeezing their anger out of them with no one to tell them what to do. It was technically a day of complete fear and rage for those things, which is the many reasons why the administrator of Hollowshine has to hold them back, which takes a lot of work from what Uzi’s seen first hand with her mother being kidnapped by one; disappearing somewhere

Uzi will probably never find.

“Oh,” Uzi didn’t say much after that, only knowing arguing with her father will gain her nothing but remorse and a weight on her chest.

Her father also kept his boundaries, knowing why that day felt so tragic to his daughter. Not just even her, but to him as well.

With his eyes fixed back on the road, he continued his trip down the avenue while his gray eyes failed to meet his daughter’s violet ones, who just placed her elbow on the door with her head leaning on her fist in frustration.

Even if they both didn’t say it, they both knew it.

He’ll never find his wife and his daughter will never find her mother.

Chapter Text

Speeding through the crowds of his kin, Nicholai panted nervously, afraid he was running out of time.

Come on, faster. Faster!

He sprinted past the other phagelights, heading in the direction where they were all slowly walking toward.

He couldn’t miss this meeting. Not for the world. Even if he was being hunted, this was everything to him. His reputation, his ranking, himself. This was Fluctuation Day and this was the day where the chaos usually began. He didn’t want to be a part of it and prayed he’d either go up in the ranks or just stay the same. Going down meant extreme insanity amongst Hollowshine and its members.

He was already a Third Ranker. The more he thought about it, the more miles he ran to get to that meeting. The last thing he needed was his boss giving him the stink eye once again. Especially after he slept on his nightshift.

As he sprinted down the hall, a firm hand fell on his shoulder.

“Why the hell are you running? The announcements won’t be till tonight. You’re not missing anything.”

Nicholai immediately stopped and turned to find a female phagelight with ginger hair and skin the color of unprocessed honey. She was joined with two others. A blonde and a brunette chewing gum.

“Faith? Amelia? Nancy? Aren’t you guys supposed to be at the meeting?” Nicholai caught his breath.

“The meeting isn’t for another hour. What made you think it was now? Did you read the schedule for today?” The ginger called Faith raised an eyebrow without worry, as if everything was fine and Nicholai was overreacting (which he was, no lie).

“Schedule? No one gave any out,” Nicholai cried.

“Exactly, you get it yourself.” Faith went to turn back to her friends till he raised a question that aimed for her attention.

“Where did you find one?”

Her eyes got wide with irritation. “They’re at the door when you first walk out. Josilie placed them there yesterday so people like you would actually pick one up and follow today’s times. Seems that was a useless idea. For you, anyway.”

Nicholai groaned. “Seriously?”

Nancy popped her gum in a deadpanned state. “Uhh, yeah.” Her voice was low and girly like one of those school bullies in the movies, holding up her pink phone while her gold eyes were glued to the screen. Nancy’s fingers swiping all over the bottom half at lightning speed as her nosy friend,

Amelia leaned over her shoulder watching her type.

Nicholai groaned once again in disappointment. “So when is the meeting?”

“Nineteenth hour. Like every year.” Faith placed her hand on her waist. Her short black dress, shiny and sparkly while her large-holed fishnet stockings showed more of her legs than what Nicholai would’ve preferred to see. Black two-inch heels, exceeding her height, made her taller among some of her kin. Then there was her hair. Half down and half up in a ponytail like she was styling to be noticed by Gracie Abrams.

“What time is it now?” he asked.

“17:56. We already told you you had an hour, idiot,” Amelia snarked, leaning on Nancy who didn’t even lift her eyes from the brick in her hands.

“Nicholai Elliot!”

“Oh, come on?” Nicholai turned to find his boss yelling behind him. Her pitch black hair was in pigtails while her espresso-colored skin gleamed brighter than his own. Toxic yellow eyes flashed her anger and domination toward him as she stood straight with her clipboard in hand. She wore her signature striking black leather ensemble with a bold, edgy design. The top, cropped leather bralette with intricate straps and a connected shrug-style jacket that only covers the arms while leaving the midriff fully exposed. The fitted leather pants featured metallic details like chains and straps, clasping on to her beltloops. “Follow me to my office. We need to talk.”

While his boss flipped through the stack of papers in her clipboard, Nicholai eyed the office with interest and nostalgia. He’d only ever been in his boss’ office once.

For last year’s Fluctuation Day

He got in trouble for being late to his first meeting with his last boss, but somehow was able to advance in becoming a Third Ranker. At least, by the grace of the administrator.

Nicholai didn’t understand what happened to his old boss after he ranked up. Normally phagelights would end up on the same team if they did but ever since he became a Third Ranker, he never saw his old boss again.

Sarah, he remembered. I wondered what happened to her after that.

Her office was then given to Nicholai’s new boss and boy did she change the place.

The little bookshelf that was once in the corner on the left had been completely replaced with a lamp as bright as his veins. The wooden floors that showed practicality and tradition were swapped with granite and gold edging. Even the framed pictures of his old boss were removed and placed with his new boss’s awards as a co-worker among the Second Rankers.

“What in the name of the Absolute Solver is this?”

Nicholai fixed his vision back on his boss as she slid a pamphlet to him across the dark wooden desk. He grabbed the file and slowly began to flip through it.

“Page 13,” his boss demanded

Nicholai turned to page 13 and there stood a certificate. An OFC.

OFC are the acronyms for Official Fluctuation Certification. A certificate only the administrator of Hollowshine can sign for upgradation or degradation. If the administrator signs it, it’s over and done. The fluctuation process is complete and there are no “if,” “ands,” or “buts.”

It was complete and that was final.

Nicholai’s eyes ran down the sheet. An upgradation file, he read the title. Below it were the policies, awards, the underrankers and teammates, but what laid at the bottom was the signature line.

And it was signed.

Signed by none other than the administrator herself.

Cynessa.

His boss stood up from her desk. “Why does this keep happening? Please explain to me why this keeps on repeating. Yandro couldn’t even perceive such a subject as this. You don’t do shit among Hollowshine. How the hell are you able to elevate through the ranks every year and do nothing to earn it?”

Nicholai blinked at her, trying to grasp the words to answer her civilly. “I-I-”

His boss raised an eyebrow, hands clasping her hips as her intimidating figure diminished his vocabulary of corporate words.

“I-don’t know.”

His boss signed in disbelief, like she knew those words or something far less interesting would come crawling out of his mouth. “If I see your chair empty in the boardroom tonight, I won’t hesitate to request a degradation file from the administrator myself. And don’t even make me have her sign it. Is that clear, Elliot.”

Nicholai sighed in disappointment. “Yes, Josilie.”

“My last name is Celestys. Use it,” Josilie snapped.

He sighed once again. “Yes, Miss Celestys.”

Chapter Text

“Alrighty. We’re home,” Uzi’s father turned into the crescent driveway that belonged to his enormous manor. He pulled out his keys from the ignition which immediately turns off his beat-up old jeep.

Both Uzi and her father jumped out and slammed the doors to the vehicle. She stared up at the sci-fi looking manor and sighed. Home sweet home.

The manor kept its ancestral bones—a grand staircase, tall pillars, and carved archways—but every surface felt as if it had been reengineered. The stone glowed faintly from embedded circuits. The windows were translucent data screens displaying constellations that changed with the hour. A hovering chandelier spun above the entryway, scattering prismatic light across the courtyard fountains that seemed to defy gravity.

The Doorman Luxury was everything but what Uzi truly wanted.

Uzi trotted up the stairs and toward the large silver double doors, placing her hand on the handprint feature to open them. A purple grid scaled itself across her hand and immediately opened the huge double doors.

The entrance hall of the manor was vast and open, with smooth metallic walls lined by strips of aqua-blue light that pulsed gently like energy currents. The floor had a clean, glass-like finish that reflected the glow, giving the whole space a calm, tech-driven atmosphere. Subtle holographic panels displayed shifting patterns and motifs, making the place feel more alive and connected to advanced technology.

Uzi turned to her right, making her way to the living room. A luxurious, dark-toned interior featuring a massive wall-sized aquarium filled with coral, fish, and a large shark swimming gracefully inside. The room was richly decorated with gold accents, velvet furniture, and elegant lighting that rebounded off the glossy marble floors. The combination of opulence and the serene underwater view created a dramatic yet calming atmosphere that Uzi somewhat adored and disliked at the same time.

She skipped over toward the space, throwing her bag and plopping herself on the long plum-colored couch, her back smacking against the frame.

A moment later, her father finally showed himself trotting up the staircase outside and shutting the front door behind him, locking it using the handprint feature, only this time it was an aqua grid going down his hand.

“Are you sure everything was okay at school today?” He turned to his daughter in the other room.

“It was fine. I’m just tired is all. Almost fell asleep walking down the damn hallway.”

“Well, what did I tell you about binge-watching anime till three in the morning?”

Uzi groaned, pulling her beanie again up to her eyes.

“Plus, you know there is no napping till your homework is done.”

Dad, if I start my homework now, I’m gonna fall asleep doing it. Can’t I do it later before I pass out in the middle of it?”

Her father entered the living room, leaning on the wall in front of the aquarium. “Like I said, maybe don't watch anime till three and you’ll probably have a better sleep schedule.”

Maybe a second after those words left his mouth, he exited the room and down the foyer.

Uzi groaned once more, making sure her dad heard her exhaustion vibrating from her vocal cords. She ripped her beanie off her head and placed it on the couch, leaning left and straining herself while grabbing her math homework.

She placed it on her lap and began to go through it. Precalculious, yuck. Calculious, even more yuck. Statistics, just kill me.

Uzi threw her books by her beanie and buried her head in her caramel-colored hands, brushing her indigo bangs away from her eyes as she mumbled under her breath. Same shit every time. Why the hell did I expect anything more?

𖥂

“No, I’m not going out tonight. It’s too dangerous.”

Playing with her steak and mashed potatoes, Uzi listened to her father’s conversation on the phone across the long wooden dinner table.

“You’re not going either, David. In what world do you think you can go out there anyway? Let alone by yourself?...No, I’m not a chicken. It’s just the fact that today is the worst day to be out fixing the gate. Everyone knows the underranker phagelights go insane today. Even the mayer knows it. Why do you think she told us to stay indoors?...I don’t care what the administrator says. Maybe if she kept her pets under wraps, we would be able to fix that damn thing in time before the deadline.”

Uzi blew some hair strands from her face as she eavesdropped. She took a bite of her mashed potatoes and gagged with disgust. Did they serve this cold or something? How long was this thing out of the pot for?

“Listen, I don’t care. I will keep those gates unhinged if the administrator keeps her beasts unhinged. Understand?...Oh, so I’m the problem now?...I’m just trying to keep everyone safe tonight. Is that seriously a hard thing to do now?”

Uzi pushed her plate away and grabbed her glass of fizzy water, aiming to try to lose the terrible taste in her mouth.

“No, David. You’re not going. I don’t know how many times I have to say it.” Seconds after, her father’s friend ended their phone call and whipped his phone to his face angrily, staring at how long he had been telling this guy not to fix the gate.

2:47:34

Her father sighed, loud and deep, turning off his phone and placing it next to his plate. “Excuse him. Anyway, how was school today?”

“You already asked that question,” Uzi deadpanned as she downed her drink.

“Right, right? What, uhh, anime did you watch last night?” her father asked nervously.

Uzi’s eyes went wide, avoiding the urge to spit out her drink, placing it back on the table before she did so. “What?”

“I asked what anime you watched last night.”

“Uhh.” Shit! I watched Devilman Crybaby. He would never let me watch that. Even if I was seventeen. Uzi bit her lip, going through her brain for animes that weren’t Rated-R. “My Hero Academia? My Hero Academia,” she said again when she realized her first sentence was a question.

“Ahh, how nice. Anything else or was that it?” Her father questioned, cutting his steak.

“Nope, that was it. Just the regular first season,” Uzi smiled, hoping it didn’t look fake.

Her father never looked up to see the false grin. Eyes, still on the meat he was slicing through.

Uzi sighed with relief with a hint of grief. Making conversation with her father was hard, especially if every second of his life meant work. She could even tell he was doing his best not to create an employment grievance out of it. Probably because it was Fluctuation Day and things always got ugly on that day for work.

But it wasn’t just work. It was his wife. The person he lost because of Fluctuation day. It wasn’t just the tenth plague from Moses all over again, it was a key piece to a puzzle of the family that were scattered everywhere while no one knew where to start fixing.

Uzi shivered the guilt off her shoulders while her gaze lifted to the large grandfather clock that looked to be at least ten feet tall behind her father.

The hour hand was in between the numbers six and seven while the minute hand fell toward the bottom.

Only an hour and a half till the chaos began.

And neither her father nor her could do anything about it.

Chapter Text

“How long have you been sitting here?”

Josilie stared across the long shiny oval table to find Nicholai on the other end on the left side.

“Well, you told me to be early. So I was early,” Nicholai replied.

Josilie blinked. “And how early were you exactly?”

Nicholai pursed his lips. “Maybe an hour…or two.”

Josilie sighed. “Whatever. You’re not late which is unusual but I’ll take it. Where is everyone else?”

Nicholai shrugged. “What time is it?”

Josilie rose her eyes to the clock above the large dark-wooden door Nicholai was in front of.

6:59.

Immediately, the door slammed open to over a dozen third ranker phagelights running to their spinning chairs of black leather and shiny grey plastic. The sleek, futuristic conference room was filled within seconds. The bright LED light rings and lines that illuminated the space were flickering along with the chaos. Large arched windows along the left side let in natural light, balancing the room’s metallic and minimalistic design. Not to mention the insanity of the place.

Everyone sat down around the large table, leaving no seat open except one.

Nicholai’s gaze ran all over the room, looking to see who could fit the empty seat.

One phagelight with bobbed ginger hair and ivory freckled skin made her way to a chair on the right next to the empty one. The one and only Molasses Greythorne, favorited by Josilie herself, wore her signature outfit of a fitted black mini dress with a cropped black leather jacket over it. Her tiny black sunglasses only finished her style.

Next to her was a man that Nicholai couldn’t stand a day with without getting teased and bullied. Janai Ashvale’s long dark hair was pulled back in a low ponytail while his skin glittered like honey in the sun. His outfit was an all-black, tactical-inspired streetwear look with layered textures and metallic accents, wearing a sleeveless turtleneck top with a chest rig, paired with ripped black cargo pants adorned with metal rings, chains, and clips.

Next to him were the girls Nicholai encountered the hour before. Faith, Nancy, and Amelia, all sitting next to each other with their ex-friend, Sorena at the other left end of the table. Dark skin and dyed blonde hair in a bun while her black turtleneck crop top absorbed the sunlight at her back.

“Hey man, wassup?”

Nicholai turned to the left seat next to him, finding a guy with freakishly white curly hair and pale skin. He wore a jet black T-shirt layered over a fishnet long-sleeve shirt and paired it with high-waisted cargo pants full of straps and pockets. The look was completed with massive platform boots covered in multiple metal buckles with accessories like rings, chains, and chokers, enhancing the punk-goth aesthetic, giving the outfit a rebellious vibe that almost every third-ranker phagelight gave off.

Endrin Iglai sat next to Nicholai in both a casual and nervous state.

He was one of the newer phagelights from the past year, so the last thing he needed was to go back to being an underranker once again.

Nicholai shrugged. “Could be better. Honestly, I thought I was going to be late again this year.”

“I forgot about that. But aren’t you always late? What changed?” Endrin asked.

“My reputation.”

Endrin’s eyes got wide. “What do you mean? You moved up? Again?”

Nicholai nodded, just as confused as his friend was.

“No way. How?”

Nicholai shrugged once again. “Even Josilie was confused. Said something about me being the administrator’s favorite due to the many times she moved me up without explanation.”

“No offence, but I don’t see that being true with the many times you’ve overslept on shifts and meetings,” Endrin stated.

Nicholai nodded in agreement, no matter if it was blunt. “I don’t know. Maybe Josilie is on to something. Maybe the administrator likes me after all.”

Endrin scoffed, smiling and placing his feet on the table. “Maybe.”

“Attention, everyone.”

The room immediately went radio-silent, leaving only the ceiling fans to hum without anyone to drown out the noise.

Josilie stood in an extended stance, staring down at everyone sitting at the table.

“Well, that’s a first,” she remarked, slowly walking toward the back of the room, where a white table with about five hundred blue buttons unlabeled sat on top. “I don’t remember any of you actually staying quiet when I ask. Too bad you’ll all be gone by tomorrow.” Josilie pressed one of the buttons that opened a blue plasma whiteboard with what looked like a bunch of files with the tiniest words ever made.

Nicholai squinted at them but still couldn’t see what they said.

Immediately, Josilie’s body tensed, pressing button after button, as if she was trying to get rid of the files. She was soon successful when they got sent down into another folder and she sighed with relief. “Sorry about the inconvenience. Zeke was holding a meeting in this room yesterday. Don’t want to pull anything from his presentations if you understand what I’m saying.”

Nicholai blinked while Josilie pulled up a new folder that said J’s team right on it. She opened it up and there were the assigned missions and reports that were either checked off or unchecked from over the year. Different assignments for different people. The only person that actually did all of them was obviously Molasses, being at the top of the list with all her operations and objectives on the side, leaving the one who did the least yet to be known and probably on an entirely different page.

Nicholai knew it was him. It had to be.

Even if he already passed by some miracle, it was probably a mistake in the matrix.

No, it couldn’t. It was signed. Even Josilie was confused. It can’t be a mistake.

“Now then, today is Fluctuation Day if many of you forgot and didn’t know. The reason why it’s called that is literally self-explanatory. So if you don’t know what it is, look it up in a dictionary cuz’ I don’t have time for slackers.”

Nancy rolled her eyes at that answer while Janai stuck his tongue out.

Childish, Nicholai thought. Just childish.

“Congrats on those who realized what good they are here and very sorry to those who finally figured out what kind of shit they got themselves into. By that meaning you’ll either be stuck here, which I hope to God you won't be, or you’ll be transferred to another second ranker or even a third ranker. Only if you go down the system, of course.”

Endrin swallowed in fear.

Nicholai turned to the empty chair once again and down the left next to it.

There sat the world’s most loud and immature phagelights in Hollowshine. Axima Rogue cracked his knuckles while his friend Cassandra Fox bit her dark nails. He couldn’t see much down the rest of the table as Endrin’s head was balancing on his fist in his face, which was surrounding most of Nicholai’s view on the left side for the most part.

“Molasses, would you like to take the lead on this one?” Josilie turned to her.

Hah! Knew it!

Molasses stood up from her seat and strutted next to Josilie with what looked like files in her hands that Nicholai swore weren’t in her hands before. Folders that read everyone’s serial numbers in the top-left corner of the file.

Nicholai squinted at the serial number stacked at the top.

V-X00100000

Viara.

Nicholai’s eyes widened at the vacant seat across from him. Where’s Viara?

“Why hello, bozos,” Molasses remarked.

Total Josilie move.

“It’s good seeing you all once again for the very last time,” she feigned a smile. Her sharp toxic gaze aimed at Janai as he rolled his eyes in unpleasant expectancy.

“As you know, every year on this day, we all set off into the big boardroom to get our statuses publicly announced. The first rankers will direct you to the room if you’re one of those people who forgets where it is all the time,” eyes still on Janai. “Here I hold the files of all your progressions and failures. Each has your serial number on the front so make sure this doesn’t end up in the wrong hands. Got it?” Her sweet cunning voice immediately dropped into a crazy yandere tone at the last sentence, as if messing with the files was going to interfere with an invisible relationship she had with them.

Molasses strolled over to the long table behind everyone on the right side, placing each file in front of their faces with their serial number on it.

“No opening them now,” Josilie stated as she stared at the guy next to Nicholai, short blond hair with dark tanned skin. Kind of like Nicholai’s but less of a tan and more burnt if anything.

Elexo Haydro, who had his file half open, slowly dropped for the sake of his boss snapping at him. “Then when can we see them?”

“When I say so,” Josilie deadpanned, sternly. “I hope that’s understood.”

Elexo rolled his eyes and obeyed, leaving it closed for the rest of the meeting.

“Anyway, all of these files basically determine if you are worthy to elevate in the ranks or fall behind in them. They won’t tell you willy-nilly but it will give you some idea of where you might end up. Maybe even help you fix up the mistakes for next year,” Molasses explained.

She made her way to the other side of the table, stumbling across Viara’s empty seat.

Staring at it for a moment, she turned to Josilie with her brow furrowed. “This is the first time I’ve seen Vlexaire late for any meeting. Is something wrong?”

Josilie smiled, slowly shaking her head. “Not at all. I just dismissed her. Duskmoor wanted to see her before tonight.”

Molasses’ eyebrows rose. “What for?”

Josilie shrugged. “Beats the hell out of me, but he normally prefers to keep everything classified. So I wouldn’t bother with it. If anything, you all should be happy or sorry for her. Who knows what awaits where she’s at,” she smirked

Normally if any third or underranker met with a first ranker or even the administrator herself, it either meant a huge promotion or big time trouble. But from the smug look on Josilie’s face, Nicholai could tell that she knew something about the meeting, but his mouth refused to open for silence and obedience’s sake.

For a split second, Molasses’ expression turned from jealousy to worry, but quickly back to determination. “Well then, good luck to her.” She dropped Viara’s file onto the table by her seat, continuing to place them until she was finished giving Nancy hers.

She strolled back over next to Josilie and stood to face the table.

“You all know the drill for tonight,” Josilie reminded. “Stay in line and out of trouble. If any of you need me, I’ll be with Zeke in the back of the boardroom.

Meeting dismissed.”

Chapter Text

7:34. Viara looked at her tiny black wristwatch.

That was just a half hour? She thought, staring at the second hand ticking to the time.

Viara groaned and turned back to the gold double doors that lead back into her new boss’ office. Immediately, as if on cue, the doors shut when her eyes met them once more. All she did was stare at them for a second in a deadpanned state, like she knew this would happen. I can see what Josilie meant by “get in and get out.”

She turned back around to face the long white-walled corridor that looked as if it went on for miles. Mingling and sprinting phagelights were all over the place, as if they had all the time in the world…and didn’t at the same time.

Walking down the hall, thoughts of the new year seeped into her mind. She couldn’t understand if she was prideful for the work and effort she put into Hollowshine, or if she was afraid of it. As if the only thing drawing her to accept the position was the power it held and the secrets it revealed.

But was that it?

If so, what was she fearing?

Why was there some sick feeling in her stomach that was telling her to get out of it all?

What was happening and why was it bugging her now?

“Look out!”

Immediately, some long wooden broom stick came down in her direction, slamming her right in the head.

She cursed under her breath as a couple of maids entered the scene of Viara gritting her teeth and holding the side of her head in pain, the broomstick slamming against the white marble flooring.

“Are you okay?” one asked.

“I promise we didn’t mean it,” another pleaded.
Behind the tiny group of maids, one made their way to the front with a waterfall of tears going down her eyes. “Please don’t tell the Upper Rankers. I beg you.”

Viara looked toward them. A human maid with platinum blonde hair and gray eyes full of fear was asking her for something very little. Something so little, it was almost nothing compared to what she was asked to do back at the asylum.

And we need you on our team to take out anyone that wields this type of power. Understand?

Oh, she understood alright.

The maid looked only about forty but her height still couldn’t match Viara’s, who was just a mere eighteen-year-old.

Viara sighed and nodded reluctantly. “Fine. Just do your job,” she removed her hands from the side of her head and grabbed the long broom from the floor, handing it to the blonde, “before I’m the one that flays you alive. Understand?”

The little maids nodded, quickly grabbing the broom and running off in the other direction.

As they sprinted off, Viara stared at them with a grim expression.

She knew she was bluffing and would never be able to do something like that.

She wouldn’t.

She couldn’t

I can’t.

Due to everything that’s happened to them, happened to her, what made her think she could inflict more pain on the poor servants who were just doing the very job that the administrator wanted them to do?

Clean. Tidy. Maintain.

And the cycle repeats.

Viara sighed and finished her walk down the hallway, meeting at a tiny narrow wooden door the size of a tall bush. Opening it, she sighed once more with relief.

The Boardroom.

A grand, futuristic stage featuring sleek geometric designs and bright, metallic lighting. A long, illuminated runway extended into the audience area, where the black chairs were seating a balanced number of phagelights. Towering LED panels while spotlights frame the stage, it gave the venue a modern, high-tech elegance.

Viara recalled Zeke explaining to her that there were many ways to enter the boredroom, but the First Rankers normally prefer the underrankers to go through the main doors to keep them all in line.

To know their place, she recalled him saying.

She only walked about two feet till she met the first empty row of chairs in the back. She sat in the chair next to the left of the runway she came down. She crossed her arms and stared at the stage in impatience. The stupid meeting wasn’t going on till another half hour, so what the hell was she doing there?

Zeke again explained that being early is a good policy, especially among the Second Rankers since they have a reputation for being loyal when it came to time management. But he never exactly said how early.

Viara thought a little longer. Longer than she should, wondering if this was her future. What she truly wanted.

Ever since she was twelve, her life was changed for good, and it wasn’t for the better. She knew her parents were ashamed of her but they also knew that it wasn’t her choice.

It was never her choice.

The only thing she knew how to do was lie and stay obedient. Unlike most phagelights, she remembered everything. Her injection, her pain, her own life before the slaughter. That was something she kept from even her trusted former boss only because if she ever found out, she would be eliminated from existence.

Phagelights were meant to do two things and two things only.

To stay stupid and to stay loyal. Refusing to do either meant even more pain than anything she could ever imagine. Even the injection was less wounding than what the Administrator had in mind of her definition of “maim.”

Viara knew it would only be a matter of time before she found out. Someone would tell because of a way she didn’t normally act or feel. Which is why she was forced to be the monster she never asked to be.

She wanted revenge, she wanted victory, she wanted an end to everything, but who was she to ask? She only killed who was on the list. Now, there was only an entire new stock of patients to be assassinated and didn’t even know it. She knew the humans in the heart of Hollowshine wanted an uprising against her kin. She was all for it as well, but that would mean even the friends of the people she killed would be after her personally, and that was understandable.

So, how was this going to end?

Well, first thing’s first, she had to play the servant game till someone stupid enough to face the Administrator asks for a hand. Even then there would be a choice to accept it or decline it, either actually taking a stand toward her vile leader or keeping up with the loyal part of her vile play.

Viara groaned as another aching thought seeped into her mind.

"Protect him. You’re the only one who can. No questions asked.

Just do it."

Viara was only sixteen when she was called to the Administrator’s meeting room.

Alone.

She remembered being extremely frightened, shaking even. The first time she felt fear in the last five years. The air was filled with chemicals and thermal air, only blurring her crappy vision even more.

She recalled the Administrator’s eyes, her bright toxic yellow eyes staring right into her burning and sobbing soul. Her smile was sweet but behind it, something dangerous. Something cold and brutal.

"This is the only request Cynthia asks of you. Even if she is no longer here with us, her last promise still remains and you will keep her promise, since she cannot no more. Underst-o-ood?"

Viara shivered, remembering her words glitching when she spoke, like a machine inside of a human’s body. "Who the hell is Cynthia and who does she want me to protect?"

"You’ll figure it out. You’re smar-rt enough to do th-a-at yours-e-elf." A young girl, no older than fourteen, mimicked a voice that wasn’t hers. A glitching, chilling, and condescending voice. A timbre no fourteen-year-old should ever have. Her milk-chocolate brown hair was placed in four low ponytails while her skin was tanned, even if she hadn’t seen the sky in ages.

Her gaze left Viara’s and towards the First Rankers behind her. "Take her to be reprogrammed. And this time, make sure her code knows who I’m talking about."

Both phagelights obeyed and roughly grabbed Viara’s wrists.

She was then taken away and dragged into a large room that looked to be owned by a scientist with the amount of toxic liquid that was everywhere.

She struggled in their grip, but all she did was have them grip her tighter. Her wrists ached and her heart pounded in her chest when she saw the chair. A pain no phagelight should ever feel was placed in her fate, only scaring the hell out of her.

Viara screamed and cried for help.

Nothing.

The only thing that replied to her cries were the hum of machines around the chair. Around the torture device the Administrator called “The Reprogrammer.”

The chair was a metal seat with tiny plastic tubes full of the toxic yellow acid that ran through them like veins. At the end of the tubes were tiny sharp barbs that were placed at the armrests along with cuffs and chains.

Both the First Rankers threw her into the chair with her chest slamming against the edge of the seat, her heartbeat banging into her ears. Viara turned her head towards them, gripping the seat with her hands still vibrating with fear.

"Please."

They walked over on each side of her and pulled her into the chair, cuffing her arms and legs to it. She screamed and kicked at her restraints.
"Trust me, Vlexaire. This won’t hurt a bit." The phagelight on her left grinned. A voice dark, cold, and Australian left his lips. She could recognize that voice anywhere now. Even the darkest corners of her mind, it was a glowing terror that brought her to where she was now.

Both phagelights grabbed the barbed tubes and pierced her skin as they dug them into her arm. The bright yellow acid that ran through her veins was bleeding out from her arm, only to be vaccinated with more of the intoxicating liquid. The last thing she remembered was screaming. The smiles on the phagelights as they watched her suffer.

It was then, her eyes went black for a second till some kind of three-pronged symbol lagged into the darkness of her vision. The color of the toxic acid. For only about three seconds, the symbol was gone and her vision was pitch-dark for a long, long time.

It was then she woke up in one of the infirmaries with an aching head and tiny scabs all over her arms. She recalled her old boss entering the room.

Sarah Yandro

She said to her that the reason why Viara was there in the first place was due to a massive bomb that the humans used to try to kill some of the phagelights. Not to mention that she was one of three that survived the fifty-eight phagelights destroying the building.

Viara knew she was lying. She saw everything. From what the Administrator said to her to the three-pronged sigil that appeared in her pitch-black brain. There was another thing however. Sarah’s voice felt awfully joyful and gullible, like she didn’t know she was lying. So the only conclusion Viara could foresee was the fact that Sarah was telling these lies but wasn’t actually lying to her. Just telling her what the Upper Rankers explained to Sarah herself.

That’s when she knew that there were no other phagelights that could remember anything but her and all she needed to do was hide it the best she could.

It was then that Sarah’s boss entered the room. Black pigtails with espresso-colored skin.

The day when Josilie Celestys gave her the promotion to become a Third Ranker, a promotion she had been waiting nearly five years to be asked for.

It was both the most sorrowful and glorious day of her life.

It was then she realized who she was supposed to protect but the unknown name Cynthia scarred her mind like the human blood on her all-black outfit.

“Well, bless my heart. Is that Viara Vlexaire I see?.”

Viara jumped as she turned to the runway to meet a phagelight around her age with dark hair and red highlights running through some strands. Her skin was darker than Josilie’s with the only glow of the tiny windows of the boardroom being her only reason why she isn’t one with their dark walls.

Her attire featured a cropped black tube top paired with high-waisted cargo pants accented by a silver chain detail. Over it, the phagelight wore a black and red plaid cropped jacket, adding a casual yet edgy touch. The style is completed with tall, chunky black combat boots featuring multiple straps and buckles, giving it a bold streetwear aesthetic.

She was one of the only phagelights that wore another color other than black, only because she was a First Ranker and could do whatever the hell she wanted.

“Dorina Dambrook? What are you doing here?” Viara gasped as she bowed and slowly stepped away from her seat.

“I heard about the promotion. It’s not often Zeke finds others worth his use.” Dorina placed her hand at her waist. Her voice carried richness and respect to her tone, low but controlled, each word measured and deliberated. “I’m proud of you.”

Viara blinked as she never heard such words come out of a phagelight’s mouth in her entire life. Mostly complaining and other upper ranked egos condescending her was all she got. But Dorina was something else. She was kind, dedicated, and saw talents locked away in souls just by looking at them.

Viara forced a smile, “Thanks. It’s not often I get praised for doing the same old shit over and over again.”

“You act like it’s nothing. You’re a Second Ranker now. That should count for something, shouldn’t it?” Dorina sat in the seat Viara was once in, still smiling up at her.

Viara sighed and sat down in the one next to her instead. “I guess. I just feel like Zeke is gonna be ten times worse than Josilie. Not saying Josilie was terrible in any way but just the fact that he didn’t give off a demeanor I could trust when he gave me the promotion. You know what I mean?”

Dorina gave her a sympathetic smile. “Zeke’s been here a while. Probably the reason he’s a First Ranker to begin with is because of the demeanor he gives off. Sure, it makes him super intimidating but I’m sure somewhere down the line, he knows what it’s like to be in your shoes,” she said as she placed a hand on Viara’s back.

“And why doesn’t he understand that?”

“Maybe because it’s been a while since he was in your shoes. I mean, you’ve only been for like what? Six years? And how many years has he been around?”

“Like ten or something from what he’s said? But what does this have to do with me?”

Dorina sighed. “He hasn’t felt your place in years. Probably why he’s like the way he is. But trust me, girl. You really gonna let that bring you down after you’re already up?”

That question hung in the air for a while. Dorina stared back toward the stage as she waited patiently for the phagelight’s answer. Only before Viara could answer it, the lights went dark and the underrankers flooded in the main entrance.

Viara’s gaze fell to her tiny wristwatch.

It was 6:59.

The show was about to start.