Maeson pressed her small hands against the cold glass of the big tank. The clear liquid bubbled softly. The person floating inside looked exactly like her. The pale skin and the short dark hair were a perfect match. Even the tiny scars on the chin were the same. The only difference was the heavy metal collar. The woman in the water did not have one. Wires ran from the top of the glass tank down to the head of the sleeping woman. Maeson felt her heart beat very fast. She could not breathe well. Ava walked up beside her and gasped loud."How can there be two of you?" Ava asked in a quiet voice. She looked at the tank and then at Maeson. Kael stepped into the bright white room. He rubbed his sore neck. He looked at the giant glass tube and frowned deep. "The game master plays cruel tricks. He makes copies to confuse us. He wants us to doubt our own minds." Maeson shook her head. She kept her eyes on the floating face. "This is not a simple trick. I can feel a strange pull. When I look at

Maeson stared at the young boy. The sad words hung in the quiet air of the factory. She felt a sharp pain in her chest. Her real brother was here. The game master had taken him and turned him into a weapon. The boy looked so fragile. He looked nothing like the cruel monster from the digital garden. Tears rolled down his pale cheeks. He took another step toward the raised platform. He pointed a trembling finger at the heavy metal wrench in her hand."Please," the young boy begged. "The bad man is coming back. He will use my mind to hurt you. He will use me to kill everyone. You have to stop me before he takes control again."Maeson dropped the bent wrench. The heavy tool hit the metal floor with a loud clang. She shook her head. She would never hurt her own family. She climbed down the short metal stairs. She walked up to the crying boy. She knelt on the dirty floor and looked right into his dark eyes. She reached out and hugged his small shoulders. He felt cold and thin."I will never

Maeson stared at the cold metal chair beneath her tired legs. The small gray room smelled like old paper and strong soap. A loud clock ticked on the plain white wall. Tick tick tick. The sound echoed in the empty space. She looked at the stranger by the closed door. He wore a neat brown coat and black shoes. He held a small purple key in his right hand. The metal of the key caught the dim light from a single bulb above. He watched her with dark eyes that held no warmth at all."Who are you right now?" Maeson asked in a dry voice. Her throat felt rough like sandpaper. She tried to stand up. Her legs felt very heavy and weak. She sank back down into the hard chair. The stranger did not answer her question right away. He walked toward the center of the room. His shoes made no noise on the gray floor. "I am the keeper," he said in a low tone. "You broke the simulation." "You deleted the game master." "You think you won the war." "But you only opened a new box." "This is the dark vault."M

Maeson looked at the man. The man possessed the exact same face. He wore dark armor. His eyes were cold and hard. The night air blew cold wind across the flat roof. Ava took a step front and raised her sharp blade. Kael stood by her side with his empty weapon. The dark sky hummed with the sound of a hundred hovering ships. Black pods continued to drop men on the panic below them. The city was a prison today. Maeson felt a deep chill in her bones. The copy looked at her with a blank expression. He did not blink. "I do not understand," Maeson said. She kept her voice low. She did not want to show fear. "You are another clone. The system makes copies to confuse us." The man shook his head. He placed his helmet on the tar surface. "I am not a clone," he replied. "I am the upgrade. The game master found flaws in your human heart. He built me without those flaws. I feel no pity. I feel no fear. I only follow the prime directive." Ava gripped her weapon handle. She glared at the new man. "We

Maeson pulled the thin metal wire from the neck of the older man. Sparks flew from the fake skin. The man in the white suit screamed a loud mechanical sound. He was not a human at all. He was an android built to guard the core. The green laser pulsed below the glass floor. The color change meant the target was new. The beam would not burn the earth today. It would send a wake signal to every pod in the deep underground. The man grabbed the wrist of Maeson. His grip was tight like a vice. He tried to pull the wire back. Maeson held on with all her strength. She planted her boots on the floor and pulled hard.Kael jumped up from the ground. He ran to the man in the white suit. Kael wrapped his strong arms around the waist of the bad android. He pulled the man backward to break the grip. Ava grabbed her dropped blade from the floor. She rushed forward and swung the sharp edge. She hit the arm of the android. The fake skin peeled back to show thick wires and metal bones. The man yelled an