"We've mastered avoiding colpses," Alexander announced as the team gathered in the clearing. "Now we're going to learn how to cause them."

  The morning sunlight filtered through the broken canopy, illuminating the training area Alexander had selected—a section of unstable terrain far enough from their route to avoid compromising their path forward, but with simir structural characteristics to what they'd been navigating.

  They had completed the Broken Pathways byrinth the previous day, emerging victorious but exhausted. Rather than immediately pushing forward, Alexander had called for a day of specialized training.

  "This floor has been kicking our asses since we arrived," he continued. "Time to kick back."

  Riva grinned. "I like where this is going."

  Alexander paced in front of the team, his movements controlled and precise. "Every environmental hazard we've encountered can be weaponized with the right application. Today we develop terrain advantage tactics."

  He pulled up their hazard cssification map on his tablet interface. "We've categorized every type of instability on this floor. Now we'll learn to trigger them deliberately."

  Lyra had been quietly examining the surrounding structures. "Controlled demolition," she said with a nod of understanding. "We did this in Sector 17."

  Alexander turned to her with interest. "Expin."

  "Building recmation projects," Lyra replied, moving toward a precariously banced log structure. "The older zones have massive structures from before the corporate takeover. Too dangerous to enter normally, but filled with salvageable tech and materials."

  She ran her hand along the log, fingers detecting subtle stress points invisible to casual observation. "We'd create controlled colpse sequences—weaken specific support points to bring down sections while keeping others intact. It let us extract resources without getting crushed."

  "That's exactly what we need," Alexander said, genuine appreciation in his voice. "Can you demonstrate?"

  Lyra nodded and retrieved a small prying tool from her physical supplies. She approached a retively stable-looking section of fallen timber that bridged a small ravine.

  "This looks solid, but it has hidden stress fractures here, here, and here," she expined, pointing to seemingly random points. "If you apply focused pressure at these exact points in sequence..."

  She demonstrated, using her tool with surgical precision. The timber groaned softly with each adjustment.

  "Now step back," she warned.

  The team retreated to safe distance. Lyra gave the final point one st tap, and the entire structure colpsed in a controlled cascade, falling neatly into the ravine rather than scattering dangerously.

  "Damn," Riva whispered, impressed.

  "That's just basic directional colpse," Lyra said. "With proper setup, you can create much more complex sequences."

  Alexander was already formuting applications. "We'll develop three categories of terrain advantage: defensive barriers, offensive traps, and escape route creation."

  He divided the team into practice pairs, assigning each to different structure types. For the next hour, Lyra demonstrated various weakening techniques while Alexander developed standardized protocols for each.

  "Remember the pressure has to be precise," Lyra expined as Riva attempted to replicate her technique on a leaning tree section. "Too much force and it colpses immediately. Too little and nothing happens."

  "Like disarming explosives, but backward," Riva commented, adjusting her approach.

  Elijah focused on safety parameters. "We need clear abort signals if anything goes wrong," he insisted. "And minimum safe distances for each colpse type."

  Alexander agreed, incorporating these elements into his protocols. Even Valeria seemed engaged, documenting each successful technique with methodical precision.

  By midday, they had progressed to more complex applications. Alexander set up a scenario with marked targets representing potential pursuers.

  "The goal is to create a barrier between us and them," he expined. "Lyra, walk us through this."

  Lyra assessed the environment with practiced eyes. "First, identify your exit route," she began, pointing to a retively stable path. "Then locate structural weak points that, when failed, will block alternate approaches."

  She guided the team through the process, identifying three key trigger points that, when activated in sequence, would create a wall of debris while leaving their own path clear.

  "Riva, take point on the first trigger," Alexander directed. "Elijah, second point. I'll handle the third."

  They moved into position, applying Lyra's weakening techniques to prepare each colpse point without triggering it.

  "On my signal," Alexander called once everyone was in position along their escape route. "Three, two, one... execute!"

  In perfect synchronization, they triggered their assigned points. The structures failed in a cascading sequence, creating a nearly impassable barrier of tangled debris exactly as pnned, while leaving their own path untouched.

  "Ninety-three percent match to projected colpse pattern," Valeria noted, measuring the result against their prediction.

  Alexander nodded with satisfaction. "Next: distraction colpses."

  This technique proved more challenging—triggering failures at a distance to draw attention away from their actual position. Lyra demonstrated how to create deyed colpse triggers using carefully banced debris.

  "It's about creating a failure cascade with a time dey," she expined. "You set up the initial point, but it doesn't fail until secondary stresses build up."

  They practiced various timing sequences, learning to estimate how long each deyed colpse would take. Alexander incorporated these estimates into tactical applications.

  "A thirty-second dey gives us time to reposition," he noted, updating his protocol documentation. "A two-minute dey works for longer diversions."

  The afternoon session focused on escape route creation—using controlled colpses to create paths that hadn't existed before or to close paths behind them to prevent pursuit.

  "This was crucial in Sector 17," Lyra expined as she demonstrated a technique for dropping a log into position as a bridge. "Sometimes corporate security would raid salvage operations. We'd create escape routes they couldn't follow."

  "How big were these recmation projects?" Elijah asked, curious about her background.

  Lyra's hands moved automatically as she worked, her focus split between the task and the memory. "Big operations. Twenty to thirty people sometimes. The old structures from before the corporate takeover were massive—hundreds of stories tall before they partially colpsed. Rich with tech that corporations considered obsolete but was priceless to us."

  "Sounds dangerous," Riva commented.

  "It was," Lyra acknowledged. "We lost people. But the alternative was worse—without those resources, entire sectors would have starved or frozen."

  Her matter-of-fact description of such perilous work for basic survival created a momentary silence among the team. Even Valeria paused in her documentation, studying Lyra with a slightly different expression.

  The moment broke when Alexander spotted movement in the nearby underbrush. "Wildlife," he warned quietly. "Look sharp."

  They had encountered various creatures throughout Floor 6, most of which avoided humans. This group was different—wolf-like predators with metallic blue streaks in their fur, the same electrical adaptations they'd observed earlier.

  "Pack hunting formation," Riva whispered, recognizing the pattern as the creatures spread out. "They're fnking us."

  Alexander assessed the situation instantly. "Perfect chance to test our new skills. Terrain advantage protocol Delta."

  The team moved with practiced coordination, each understanding their role without detailed expnation. Lyra and Alexander quickly identified key structural weak points while Riva and Elijah positioned themselves defensively. Valeria maintained observation from a protected position.

  "Three primary triggers," Lyra said quietly, pointing out critical points in the surrounding debris field. "If we sequence them correctly, we can channel the pack into the eastern ravine."

  Alexander nodded. "Prepare triggers but hold for my signal. Wait until they commit to the attack."

  The creatures advanced cautiously, their movements synchronized with unnerving intelligence. The lead animal—rger than the others with prominent blue electrical streaks—growled low, the sound carrying an unnatural metallic quality.

  "Now," Alexander commanded as the pack tensed to spring.

  The team executed their terrain advantage protocol with precision born of the day's training. Riva triggered the first colpse, causing a section of debris to crash down and block the pack's primary approach. The animals immediately changed direction, exactly as Alexander had predicted.

  Elijah activated the second trigger point, dropping a massive tree limb that narrowed the pack's options further. The creatures, now committed to their attack, charged through the remaining approach—directly into the trap.

  Alexander and Lyra simultaneously triggered the final colpse points. Multiple structures failed in rapid succession, channeling the charging pack toward the ravine edge. The lead animal realized the danger too te, attempting to stop but sliding on loose debris. The entire pack tumbled into the ravine with startled yelps.

  "Barrier complete," Alexander announced with satisfaction as the st of the debris settled, forming an impassable wall between them and the disoriented predators below.

  "They're not badly hurt," Elijah noted, peering carefully over the edge. "Just trapped until they find another way out."

  "Perfect execution," Alexander said, surveying their work. "The protocol performed exactly as designed."

  They spent the remainder of the day refining their techniques based on the successful field application. Alexander formalized a set of standard terrain advantage protocols for different scenarios, while Lyra provided detailed guidance on identifying optimal trigger points.

  "The key is reading the overall structure," she expined as they wrapped up the training session. "Don't just see individual pieces—see how they connect and support each other. Find the keystone points where everything bances."

  By evening, they had developed a comprehensive tactical approach to Floor 6's unstable environment. What had initially been their greatest challenge had become a significant advantage.

  "Tomorrow we continue forward," Alexander announced as they made camp. "We'll face the floor guardian soon, and these techniques will be essential."

  As darkness fell, Lyra found herself expining more details of Sector 17's recmation projects to Riva and Elijah, who listened with genuine interest. The dangerous work had been normal life for her, but their questions made her see it through new eyes—not just desperate survival, but impressive engineering under impossible conditions.

  "Your sector accomplished a lot with limited resources," Elijah observed.

  Lyra shrugged, uncomfortable with what felt like praise. "We did what we had to."

  "No," Alexander interjected quietly. "You did more than that. You innovated. There's a difference between surviving and what you're describing."

  She didn't respond, but something in her expression shifted—a subtle acceptance of her own capabilities that went beyond mere survival skills.

  The fire crackled as they finalized preparations for the next day. Floor 6 had tested them in ways no previous environment had, forcing them to adapt and evolve their approach. Now they were ready to turn its dangers to their advantage.

  The fallen forest was still treacherous—but now it was treacherous on their terms.