Aidan's fingers drummed against his notebook, eyes glued to the whiteboard, but his mind was far from the formulas being written in chalk.
Three system signatures. Two minor. One that almost matched his.
He needed to identify them without drawing attention. The wrong move could turn curiosity into conflict.
The classroom clock ticked louder than usual. Every passing second felt like a countdown.
The system interface slid into view silently.
[Task: Establish Contact – Candidate: Subject X]
[Risk: Medium]
[Simulation Suggestion Available]
He dismissed it with a blink. Right now, he needed more than simulations—he needed information.
After the last class, he approached Emily again. Her insight yesterday had unlocked his first clue, and she didn't seem suspicious yet.
"Do you hang out with that guy from math class?" he asked casually as they walked out.
"Jeremy?" she said. "Not really. He's kind of... intense. Not in a bad way, just too serious lately."
"Didn't used to be like that?"
She shook her head. "He used to slack off. Then, suddenly—boom. Top scores, wins at chess club, even helping teachers with AI math programs."
System-induced growth. Aidan could relate.
"What about the guy he hangs out with? The one from lunch?" Aidan continued.
Emily squinted. "You mean Raj? New transfer from the UK. Barely talks to anyone but Jeremy. They both give off 'next level gamer' energy."
That confirmed it. Jeremy and Raj—likely two of the five.
Back home, Aidan opened the system's simulation interface on his phone. It had evolved again. The UI now featured a map—a local grid showing movement heatmaps.
[System Insight v1.3: Social Mapping Enabled]
[Interaction Density – School: 87%]
[Anomaly Cluster: Jeremy + Raj – Detected Proximity Threshold Consistent Over 3 Days]
[Correlation Probability: 89% – Shared System-Like Activity]
He zoomed in on their locations, mentally plotting ways to interact.
Then something strange happened.
The grid pulsed.
[New Alert: Passive Surveillance Signal Interference Detected]
"What the hell?"
A new prompt appeared.
[Your system is being observed. Source Unknown. Risk Level: High]
Aidan's pulse quickened. "Observed? How?"
No answer.
It meant one thing—someone else had a system with a surveillance feature. And they'd found him.
He turned off the interface immediately.
Later that evening, he skipped dinner and sat in the backyard under the half-dead tree. Cool wind brushed past as the sun dipped beyond the skyline.
"Show me my mental stat growth," he said aloud.
[Stats Overview]
Cognitive Agility: +12%
Decision Speed: +19%
Pattern Recognition: +26%
Risk Forecasting: +8%
Overall Progress: 15% toward Tier-2 Simulation Capacity
Aidan sighed. Progress was good. But if someone else could spy on his system, he wasn't the only one evolving.
That night, he dreamed of trees made of code, branches splitting endlessly—each fork a decision, each leaf a potential failure.
He woke up to a ping.
[Emergency Simulation Available – Danger Prediction: Physical Threat]
The interface glitched briefly before stabilizing.
He sat upright, rubbing his temples. "Physical threat? From who?"
[Location: Outside School Gates – 11:10 AM]
[Simulation Summary]
→ Jeremy confronts Aidan
→ Raj remains silent, analyzing
→ Minor altercation
→ Observation ends with Jeremy leaving after tension spike
→ Potential warning issued
"Run the alternate path."
[Alternate Simulation]
→ Aidan takes longer route
→ No confrontation
→ Jeremy notes absence
→ Suspicion lowers
The system gave him the decision.
[Choose Path: Standard Route / Alternate Path]
He selected the standard route.
He had to face it. Avoiding was safer, but knowledge was power.
Later, just as predicted, Jeremy waited by the gates, arms crossed, Raj by his side.
"You've been poking around a lot," Jeremy said quietly.
Aidan didn't flinch. "Curious minds."
Jeremy narrowed his eyes. "Don't dig into things you're not ready to understand."
The tone was threatening, but his posture wasn't. It was a warning. Not yet aggression.
"I'm not the only one playing this game," Aidan replied calmly.
Jeremy gave a small, almost surprised laugh. "You really think it's a game?"
Then he turned and walked off, Raj following in silence.
The system chimed as they disappeared.
[Data Capture Complete – Profile Match: 92% – Subject Jeremy Confirmed as Minor System User]
[Subject Raj Status: Unknown System – Potential Tier-1.5 or Above]
Aidan stared into the distance. Raj wasn't just Jeremy's sidekick. He was something else. Quiet. Analytical. Watching everything.
The next stage of the game had begun.
And for the first time, Aidan realized—surviving wasn't enough.
He had to outlearn, outthink, and outpace them all.