Chapter 49 DLC
DLC
Levi awoke to the hum of machinery.
His eyes snapped open, greeted by a metallic ceiling illuminated by strips of blue light.
The sterile, angular environment couldn’t have been further from the decaying corridors of the sanitarium.
Clean lines, polished surfaces, and the constant background noise of ventilation systems surrounded him.
He sat up, one hand flying to his face, searching for the headset that had been there moments before. Nothing. Just his own skin, no hardware, no neural interface. The other hand pressed against his inner arm where he’d felt the injection. No mark, no soreness.
But he remembered. The lab. The researchers. The blonde person in the other bed.
“Keep putting him back under until Asher comes back.”
Levi took in his surroundings, trying to orient himself. He appeared to be in some kind of sleeper pod, one of several arranged in a circular pattern in what looked like a spacecraft’s quarters. The aesthetic was all brushed metal and functional minimalism, the lighting low and blue-tinted.
A quick inventory confirmed he was wearing different clothing—some kind of utilitarian jumpsuit with multiple pockets and reinforced padding at the joints. A patch on the shoulder read “CSS DAEDALUS” above a stylized labyrinth logo.
This was definitely not the sanitarium. Not even close. He’d been moved to an entirely new scenario—from gothic horror to science fiction in the blink of an eye.
Or the jab of a needle.
The memory of reality kept intruding, sharper and more persistent than before. The lab was real. The headset was real. The researchers discussing him like a lab rat was real.
And Asher...
A cold spike of fear shot through him. Where was Asher? Was he the blonde person in the other bed? Was he even here in this new scenario?
Levi swung his legs over the edge of the pod, testing his balance before standing. The artificial gravity felt lighter than Earth's, giving his movements an unnatural buoyancy. A viewport on the far wall showed a starfield—either an actual view of space or an extremely convincing simulation.
A simulation within a simulation, he thought grimly.
A door hissed open at the far end of the room, the sound triggering Levi’s instinctive retreat behind one of the larger sleep pods. After everything he experienced, caution was second nature. Hiding and finding an excuse for it was better than being torn apart minutes after waking up.
Footsteps approached—confident, measured, familiar.
“Levi?” Asher called out. “Are you in here?”
Thank God. He stepped out from his hiding place to see Asher standing in the center of the room, scanning the surroundings with predatory focus.
His clothing matched the sci-fi setting—a black tactical uniform with various equipment attached to utility belts, and what appeared to be a holstered sidearm at his hip.
But his face, his posture, his eyes were exactly as Levi remembered.
He looks so handsome in a uniform...
For a heartbeat, they just stared at each other across the room, both processing the reunion, the new environment, the continuation of whatever this was between them.
Asher’s expression shifted from alert wariness to something raw and vulnerable, his shoulders dropping as recognition flooded his features.
Then Levi was moving.
He crossed the distance between them in rapid strides, desperation overriding caution.
He collided with Asher’s body hard enough to make them both stagger, arms wrapping around his waist with fierce intensity.
Asher’s arms came up immediately, one hand sliding up to cradle the back of his head, fingers threading through his hair possessively.
The kiss happened before either of them consciously decided on it.
Desperate, hungry, full of fear and relief and need.
Asher’s mouth moved against his with urgent precision, like he was trying to memorize the taste of him all over again.
Levi kissed back just as desperately, rising on his toes to deepen the contact, one hand sliding up to grip the back of Asher’s neck.
When they finally broke apart, both breathing hard, Asher pressed their foreheads together.
“I thought I’d lost you,” Levi whispered against Asher’s chest, embarrassed by the tears that sprang to his eyes but unable to control them. “When we were in that white place—”
“I found you,” Asher interrupted, his voice rough with emotion. “I always do.”
Levi pulled back just enough to look up at Asher’s face. “Do you remember anything? Between here and the sanitarium?”
A shadow passed over Asher’s features. “The white void. It felt... familiar. Like I’d been there before.” His grip tightened around Levi. “Then darkness. Then waking up here, without you. I started searching immediately.”
The confirmation sent a chill through Levi. Asher remembered the void. And Levi had seen the lab, seen what appeared to be Asher’s unconscious body in another bed.
Subject Kane.
Was Asher another test subject? A real person trapped in the same beta test? The revelation seemed both obvious and impossible. If true, it meant Asher wasn’t just a character in the game but a real person, a human being—one who didn’t remember that he existed outside of the game.
How long has he been here? When did he forget how to be a person?
“I saw something,” Levi said carefully, watching Asher’s reaction. “When everything went white. I think I... woke up, for a moment.”
Asher’s entire body tensed. “Woke up where?”
“In a lab. There were people in white coats. Equipment. I was strapped down with a VR headset on.” Levi hesitated, unsure how much to reveal. “I think you were there too. In another bed. They called us ‘subjects.’”
Asher’s expression shifted through several emotions in rapid succession—confusion, fear, anger, and finally a terrible, possessive intensity.
“It doesn’t matter,” he said, voice dropping to that dangerous register that made Levi want to shrink away from him.
“Whatever’s out there, this is where we are now. Together.”
His hand moved to Levi’s face, thumb brushing across his lower lip with deliberate pressure. “That’s all that matters. That we’re together.”
The touch sent a confused mixture of comfort and apprehension through Levi.
This was still Asher—dangerous, possessive, focused entirely on him to the exclusion of all else.
If he was a real person trapped in the simulation, his obsession with Levi was no less concerning.
Perhaps even more so, knowing it might continue beyond the game.
“I’m not going anywhere,” Levi assured him, the words coming naturally despite everything, pressing himself harder against Asher. I’ll find a way to get us both out of here next time. We can leave together, and we won’t have to be scared or in pain or alone again.
Relief washed over Asher’s features, quickly masked by his usual confident demeanor.
He pulled away, though one hand maintained contact with Levi’s waist as though he were unwilling to break physical contact entirely.
“Good, because I don’t intend on letting you leave me again,” he said.
“We have to stick together, no matter what.”
As if on cue, an alarm began to blare throughout the room, red emergency lights pulsing in sync with the sound. A computerized voice announced: “Warning: Unknown containment breach in Sector 7. All personnel report to emergency stations. This is not a drill.”
“Sector 7?” Levi repeated, looking around for any indication of their location.
Asher pointed to a schematic on the wall—a detailed map of what appeared to be a space station or large spacecraft. They were in the crew quarters, Sector 3. Sector 7 was labeled “Research Containment.”
“Containment breach?” Asher’s hand moved to the weapon holstered at his hip. “Whatever it is, we’ll handle it.”
The door at the far end of the chamber hissed open again. This time, several figures rushed in, wearing uniforms similar to Asher’s but with different insignias. Levi’s breath caught as he recognized them despite the change in appearance.
Jasper, Owen, Zoe, Maddie, Elliot, and Tyler. The same NPCs from the campsite and sanitarium, now reskinned as crew members.
“There you are!” Maddie exclaimed, her hair still bright purple, but now half her head was shaved. “Why aren’t you at your station? We’ve got a Class 4 containment breach!”
“The specimens from LV-347 got loose,” Owen added, pushing up his glasses before his fingers danced across a holographic tablet. “Three maintenance workers are already dead. The captain wants all security personnel armed and ready in five minutes.”
Elliot, now sporting some sort of insignia on his lapel, looked between Levi and Asher with thinly veiled disdain. “We have actual work to do.” His gaze lingered on Asher’s arm still wrapped around Levi’s waist. “The rest of us would like to survive this situation.”
Levi watched Asher’s expression shift, his eyes flat as he glared at Elliot. “You have something to say, Elliot?”
“Asher, don’t—”
“I’m your lieutenant, Ensign, you’ll address me as such. Now, why don’t you let Ensign Mercer go? You’re clearly making him uncomfortable,” Elliot snapped. He gaze shifted to Levi, his voice softening. “He hasn’t hurt you, has he?”
Stupid fucking romance option—
Asher drew his weapon and fired three times in rapid succession.
Blue energy pulses struck Elliot in the chest, throat, and forehead, dropping him to the floor. Before the others could react, Asher had adjusted his aim and fired again, hitting Tyler directly between the eyes.
“What the fuck?!” Jasper shouted, diving behind a sleep pod for cover.
Maddie and Zoe screamed, scrambling backward toward the door. Owen stood frozen in shock, an easy target that Asher dispatched.
“Asher, stop!” Levi grabbed his arm, trying to prevent further bloodshed.