The communal viewing hall of Sector 17 had once been a corporate storage facility, abandoned decades ago when the mining operations moved to more profitable territories. Now, the cavernous space served as the heart of the community—a pce for gatherings, celebrations, and most importantly, for watching the Game.

  Tonight, nearly two hundred residents had crowded into the hall, their faces illuminated by the flickering light of the salvaged projection system. The equipment was a patchwork of repurposed parts, maintained through the collective technical knowledge of the community. It couldn't match the high-definition feeds avaible in the Privileged sectors, but it provided a window into the world they most needed to see—a window into Lyra's journey.

  Mira, a wiry woman in her fifties who had been Tel's closest friend, adjusted the signal booster one final time. The image stabilized, showing Floor 13's amber ndscape.

  "That's better," she said, stepping back to join the others. "Should hold for the duration."

  Beside her, Jace—who had once been a Servicer-css technician before an accident left him unable to meet corporate production quotas—nodded approvingly. "The new calibration works. We're getting almost sixty percent of the official broadcast data now."

  The assembled crowd fell silent as the image focused on a small team moving through a field of amber formations. The Game's automated camera system tracked them from multiple angles, zooming in occasionally on individual pyers.

  "There she is," someone whispered as Lyra came into view.

  There was a collective sigh of relief when they saw her condition. Though moving with slight caution, she appeared rgely recovered from the injury they'd witnessed in earlier broadcasts from Floor 12.

  "The healer did good work," Mira observed, noting the barely visible bandage beneath Lyra's repaired clothing. "That Architect-css medical training is something else."

  "Last time we saw her, she could barely stand," an older woman remarked. "Now she's back to full functionality. Must have used high-grade regenerative compounds."

  Jace nodded. "Privilege of running with Architect-css teammates. Access to medical resources we can only dream about here."

  The cameras shifted to show the team's approach to what appeared to be a massive amber deposit containing the preserved form of an ancient predator. The creature was frozen mid-leap, its fossilized features locked in a perpetual snarl.

  "Floor 13's primary challenge," Jace expined for those unfamiliar with this level. "Extraction of specific compounds from the amber while avoiding territorial guardians."

  They watched as Alexander Voss took point, scanning the area for threats while Lyra examined the amber formation. Despite her injury, her movements were precise as she removed tools from her pack and began the extraction process.

  "Look at those modifications," one of the sector's technicians noted with admiration. "Those aren't standard tools. She's adapted them."

  "That's our Lyra," Mira said, a note of pride breaking through her concern. "Always improving what others consider finished."

  The broadcast continued, showing the team's methodical progress through a series of increasingly complex amber extraction points. At each site, Lyra's technical expertise proved crucial, her understanding of crystalline structures allowing them to extract valuable components while minimizing risk.

  "She's still protecting the neural interface modifications," Jace observed. "Notice how she keeps her work partially obscured from the cameras? Smart girl."

  A young woman who had trained alongside Lyra in Tel's workshop asked the question many were thinking: "How is she doing it? Those amber formations require molecur-level extraction techniques. Even Privileged technical academies struggle with that."

  "She always had a gift," Mira replied softly. "Tel recognized it the first day she found her."

  The broadcast shifted to highlight a confrontation with one of Floor 13's guardian creatures—a massive insectoid preserved in amber that had partially broken free. The team coordinated their response with impressive efficiency, with Lyra fully engaged in the battle, her previous injury no longer hampering her movements.

  "See how she moves?" the young technician trainee pointed out. "That healer must have used premium regenerative compounds. She's operating at nearly full capacity."

  "Architect-css medical resources," Jace noted with a mixture of appreciation and bitterness. "What takes us weeks to recover from, they fix in hours."

  "They're protecting her," someone noted with surprise.

  "Architect-css boys looking out for an Unaligned?" another voice responded skeptically. "That's not how the Game works."

  "This team is different," Mira insisted. "Look how they move—like they actually care about each other's survival."

  As the viewing continued, the cameras occasionally cut away to other pyers on Floor 13, but the broadcast kept returning to Lyra's team. Their progress was drawing attention, not just from the community of Sector 17, but from the Game's producers as well.

  During a brief respite in the team's journey, the broadcast switched to commentary mode—corporate analysts discussing various pyers' performance.

  "The Voss twins continue their impressive advancement," a polished presenter was saying, "though their unorthodox team composition has raised eyebrows among sponsors."

  "Indeed," his co-commentator agreed. "The inclusion of an Unaligned technical specialist—" the camera zoomed in on Lyra, who was extracting a glowing crystal from an amber formation, "—is particurly unusual. However, their results speak for themselves. Floor 13's completion rate is typically less than forty percent, yet they're already proceeding to the final challenge area."

  The broadcast returned to live footage as the team approached a massive amber cathedral—the central challenge of Floor 13, where the Amber Golem guardian awaited.

  "Enough with the commentary," Jace muttered, adjusting the receiver to minimize the corporate overy and focus on the raw footage. "We don't need their propaganda."

  As the screen showed Lyra preparing specialized equipment for the guardian encounter, the elder section leader of Sector 17 stood up, leaning heavily on his cane. The crowd quieted immediately out of respect.

  "It is time," he announced, "for us to acknowledge what Lyra represents."

  He gestured to a small altar at the side of the viewing hall, where various items had been pced—a worn technical manual that had been Tel's prized possession, a small vial of purified water (a precious resource in Sector 17), handcrafted tools donated by various community members.

  "These offerings represent our collective investment in Lyra's journey," the elder continued. "Not just the physical resources we pooled to secure her Game entry, but our hopes for what she might discover."

  The community members bowed their heads in a moment of silent acknowledgment. Everyone in that room had contributed something—extra work shifts, salvaged materials, technical knowledge. For an Unaligned to enter the Game required resources far beyond what any individual could provide.

  "Tel believed Lyra was special," Mira added when the elder had seated himself again. "That she might be the one to uncover the truth about the Game—about what happens to those who don't return."

  On the screen, Lyra was conferring with her teammates, pointing out structural weaknesses in the amber formations surrounding the guardian's chamber. Even injured, she was integral to their strategy.

  "Look at how she studies the environment," the young technician trainee whispered. "Just like Tel taught us—always find the pattern behind the pattern."

  "She's doing more than surviving," Jace noted with quiet pride. "She's thriving. Making alliances no one would have thought possible."

  The team on screen entered the guardian's chamber, a massive cathedral-like space where light filtered through amber walls, casting everything in a golden glow. At the center stood the Amber Golem—a massive crystalline entity with ancient creatures visible within its translucent form.

  The viewing hall fell silent as the battle began. Despite her injury, Lyra pyed a crucial role, identifying weak points in the guardian's structure that the others could target. When the guardian released smaller fossilized creatures to attack, she redirected energy flows to create a defensive perimeter.

  "She's using techniques I've never seen before," one of the older technicians murmured. "That's not standard Unaligned training."

  "It's not standard anything," Jace replied, his expression thoughtful. "I worked in VitaCore technical division for fifteen years. What she's doing... it's beyond corporate training programs."

  As the battle reached its climax, Lyra executed a precise modification to Alexander's weapon, moving with the confidence and agility of someone fully recovered. Her technical skills enabled a critical enhancement that allowed Alexander to target the guardian's core matrix. The resulting strike created a chain reaction that ultimately brought down the massive entity.

  The Sector 17 viewing hall erupted in cheers and appuse. On screen, the team stood victorious amid the dissolving form of the Amber Golem, Floor 13's completion marker floating above them.

  As the celebration continued around her, Mira found herself studying Lyra's face in the moments after victory. Behind the obvious exhaustion was something she recognized—the searching expression of someone piecing together a complex puzzle.

  "She's figuring it out," Mira said softly to Jace. "Bit by bit."

  "The Game's true purpose?" he asked.

  "And perhaps more," Mira replied. "Did you notice how the healer twin stays close to her? How he watches her when he thinks no one is looking?"

  Jace nodded. "There's something there. Something unexpected."

  "Tel always said Lyra would forge her own path," Mira mused. "That her destiny wasn't bound by the limitations pced on the Unaligned."

  On screen, the team was gathering the rewards from their guardian victory—equipment, resources, and advancement credentials for Floor 14. Lyra was examining a crystalline device with intense focus, already exploring its potential applications.

  "She carries all our hopes," the elder said, having moved to stand beside Mira and Jace. "Not just for answers about the Game, but for proof that the barriers between us are not as impenetrable as we've been taught."

  The broadcast began to break up as the team moved into an area with heavier signal interference. Jace immediately went to work on the equipment, trying to maintain the connection.

  "I've got it," he said after a moment, the image stabilizing again. "But we're getting less data now. The corporate broadcast is focusing on other pyers."

  "Save power," the elder instructed. "We'll reconvene tomorrow when they reach Floor 14. Our resources are limited, and we must be strategic."

  As the projection dimmed, the community members began to disperse, many stopping to add small items to the altar—tokens of support for Lyra's journey. Tools, technical components, small containers of precious water or preserved food, all symbolic of their collective investment in her mission.

  Mira lingered, watching as the st images showed Lyra's team preparing to ascend to the next floor. The camera zoomed in briefly on Lyra's face, catching a moment of unguarded determination as she looked upward toward the challenges ahead.

  "Find the truth, child," Mira whispered. "For Tel. For all of us who remain behind."

  She pced Tel's worn technical journal on the altar—the most precious possession she had. Inside its pages were hand-drawn schematics, observations about the Game's systems, and theories about what happened to those who failed to return. Years of careful documentation by a woman who had recognized something special in an abandoned child.

  "We're all counting on you," Jace said, adding his own offering—a rare integrated circuit salvaged from corporate waste. "Every sector, not just ours. Whether they know it yet or not."

  As the st of the community members left the viewing hall, the projection flickered one final time, showing Lyra's team as they stepped onto the portal to Floor 14. Despite her injury, Lyra moved with purpose, her gaze fixed forward, unaware of the hundreds of eyes watching her journey from her home sector—eyes filled with pride, hope, and the desperate belief that she might be the one to finally uncover the truth.

  In Sector 17, where resources were scarce and survival never guaranteed, they had collectively gambled everything on Lyra's extraordinary abilities. And as they returned to their daily struggles, each carried the same silent prayer—that their investment would yield not just knowledge about the Game's true purpose, but a challenge to the very system that had relegated them to society's margins.

  "Until tomorrow," the elder said, closing and securing the viewing hall's heavy doors. "May she continue to surprise us all."