Black cut out the image as the sensation of being knocked backward filled my body, and the suddenness of reality jolted me back to my room. My eyes shot open, the soft green pulsing light a gentle contrast from the violent fire that had ejected me out of the game. I tore off my sensors and threw them down, frustration boiling under my skin.

Just my rotten luck. A flurry of messages pinged across the floating blue game interface, still active across my vision. I blinked as an alert from Cherry displayed apologizing for being rash, and Nano asking where we went. I closed my eyes, sending one of my own with words formed from my mind. The letters gathered with a simple thought, text blocks floating and arranging on my vision as I composed the message.

“It's fine. We can try again tomorrow,” I sent back to them. Though I knew it was unlikely we could capture Kelshala now. The Defenders would be on high alert and have the beacon moved by tomorrow night.

Another message appeared and I frowned.

“Great job, you really screwed us this time,” KenYedd’s message said as it flashed unbidden across my feed. He had sent it privately instead of in our team's usual group chat, probably wishing to avoid Cherry’s chastisement for being too mean. Still, he wasn’t completely wrong. I should have waited it out to see if they had another team member. However, my time in Galactica was limited. Curfew didn’t just mean we had to be indoors. For the clones, any power into our homes was also cut off, so as to not be wasted. High functioning devices got shut off, and no matter how many hackers I asked, either no one could be bothered to help a clone or the just didn't know how to prevent it from happening. Even now, I only had a few minutes left before lights out.

I swore softly. Sending off a message to Ken despite myself. “Would’ve been fine if you didn’t get yourself stunned, asshole.”

Far quicker than I had hoped, his reply manifested in my eues, blinking across my dark room.

"Keep telling yourself that, dead-weight."

I pressed my lips together, wishing he was right there in person so I could strangle him personally. Hopefully, this round was over soon.

Not wishing to see anymore unwarranted messages from Ken that night, I shut down after a quick goodbye to Cherry and Nano. We would reconvene at the same time the next night as usual.

I sighed focusing my eyes back on the room, watching as the virtual overlay faded away. The brown spotted walls filled my vision, the darkness of the room casting long shadows in the dim light. Already the bulb was flickering as the grids started to shut down across the lower city. I moved towards the bed, running a hand through my short hair. Now that the excitement of the game had left me, a heavy tiredness weighed me down. I sat down on my bed.

All I had to do was get through tomorrow, then I could play Galactica again. With that thought, I told Starla to shut down the lights, just moments before the power thrummed out. The sudden quietness was always eery, the absence of any white noise somehow more noticeable than the noise itself.

Despite that, it was only moments after my head hit the pillow that sleep overtook me.