The drop was not simultaneous.
Eiran felt it immediately—the fractional delay, just long enough to register that the others were no longer sharing his motion. The platform segmented without visible seams, each section descending on its own timing curve.
SYSTEM NOTICE: DESCENT OFFSET — APPLIED
SYNCHRONIZATION: UNNECESSARY
Wind pressed against Eiran's chest as the stone carried him downward. Not fast. Controlled. Precise enough to deny panic.
He could no longer see the others.
No partitions. No walls.
Just distance, calculated into existence.
The descent ended without impact. The stone eased him onto a narrow corridor floor, already stabilized, already expecting him.
SYSTEM NOTICE: INDIVIDUAL ENTRY — CONFIRMED
FLOOR 12 — SUBPHASE CONTINUATION
So it wasn't over.
The corridor here was different—cleaner, sharper in geometry. Every surface angled slightly inward, forcing awareness of posture and balance. It felt less like a dungeon and more like an instrument calibrated for one body.
Eiran took three steps forward.
The air thinned subtly.
Not enough to suffocate. Enough to require adjustment.
SYSTEM NOTICE: RESPIRATORY LOAD — INCREASED
OPTIMAL RESPONSE: SELF-MODULATION
Eiran slowed his breathing without stopping. The pressure normalized.
The Tower accepted it.
He wondered, distantly, what the others were facing now. Not out of hope—but out of habit. Leadership reflexes did not die cleanly.
They lingered.
Ahead, the corridor branched—not into multiple paths, but into repeating segments. Identical length. Identical lighting. Identical texture.
No wrong choice.
No right one either.
SYSTEM NOTICE: NAVIGATION TEST — INVALID
METRIC SHIFTED
Eiran understood.
NULL was no longer interested in decision-making.
It was measuring endurance under monotony.
How long a mind could function when nothing reacted to it.
He walked.
Minutes passed. Or maybe longer. Time felt unreliable without shared markers.
Eventually, something changed—not in the corridor, but in him.
His pace slowed by less than a second.
The air responded.
SYSTEM NOTICE: OUTPUT VARIANCE — DETECTED
CAUSE: COGNITIVE DRIFT
The corridor did not punish him.
It compensated.
The floor's resistance adjusted, forcing his muscles to correct before his mind fully registered the lapse.
NULL was no longer waiting for mistakes.
It was preempting them.
Eiran exhaled slowly.
This was worse.
Punishment could be learned. Anticipation removed the lesson entirely.
Far ahead, the corridor finally ended—not in a door, but in open space. A circular chamber waited, empty except for three raised platforms positioned far apart.
He stepped inside.
Only one platform activated.
SYSTEM NOTICE: REINTEGRATION STATUS — DENIED
CONDITIONS: UNMET
Eiran stood alone in the chamber, the absence of the others no longer dramatic—just procedural.
Floor Twelve had finished separating bodies.
Now it was isolating intent.
And Eiran understood with quiet certainty:
If they met again, it would not be because NULL allowed cohesion—
But because someone had proven they could survive without it.