Reality Hacker: Apocalypse Loop

Ethan had some reservations, but ultimately decided to take the chance: He would meet this "Officer Chen"

In this apocalyptic game, players needed to stick together. This wasn't a battle royale — what was the point of killing other human beings?

He got dressed and prepared to leave this so-called "home" However, before he left he paused at the window and surveyed the world outside. It perfectly mirrored his reality - an eerie parallel universe, except they… existed. Those monsters. Their very existence turned this world into a threat.

Finally, Ethan turned toward the mirror. He practiced the unnatural, stiff grin that every creature had. That spooky grin was their calling card. And if he wanted to move among them, he needed to wear it. 

It took him about ten minutes of practicing, and his cheeks were hurt and stiff. He rubbed his cheeks, inhaled deeply, and opened the front door while putting on his most grotesque grin.

Ethan stared intently out the window as a few figures strolled down the apartment complex. They were neighbors—people he could have named himself. But as soon as he noticed the same fake, inauthentic smiles plastered on their face, he turned swiftly.

Monsters.

He realized that a human can disguise their true nature. Any human survivor living here would imitate monsters. But he was going to fail the odds. Trusting anyone felt like rolling the dice in Russian roulette.

He would not go directly to the police station identified in Chief Zhang Qian's death notice. He did not know Chen's look or face, and nor could he walk straightforwardly into the operations center—only a civilian room at the front lobby was open for access. So how, exactly, was he going to locate "Chen"?

The clock read 10:24. If he became a client here, he would need to get moving to get the fish.

When he left the complex, the streets were filled with grinning bodies. As a lone body, he felt profoundly uncomfortable passing beside so many animated people. It was like he was entering a realm of Earth occupied by artificial intelligence, with the humans becoming puppets.

Time was still on his side. He ducked into a huge supermarket. In the somewhat bizarre normalcy of it — the cashiers checking out with a blank smile on their face — he bought a lighter and a pack of sparklers. As he was scanning other "shoppers," he saw something remarkable: the creatures were carefully duplicating human behavior. Aside from the disconcerting facial expressions, the conversations and actions… were frighteningly real.

But, why? What made the monsters get so caught up in their elaborate play-acting? Was someone in charge? He still had too few pieces to put together to crack the riddle that was the apocalypse.

He put together the lighter and the sparklers in a black plastic bag, and he flagged for a cab out front.

"The Barrier Harbor Factory," Ethan told the cab driver. 

He noticed the driver's reflection in the rearview. The guy was sporting that same twisted grin.

Another one.

Ethan was getting used to it. He grinned back.

"Young man," said the driver, staring at Ethan through the mirror with flat, cold eyes. "Barrier Harbor burned to the ground 10 years ago. That place is cursed. Ghost town. Silent. Why would you want to go there?" 

The feeling coming off the driver felt wrong. Normal cab drivers glance up briefly and ignore you in favor of the road. Their eyes don't try to penetrate you. Ethan's instinctive alarm bells started going off. It was getting a bit thick. 

It was two seconds of silence. Ethan still had a smile, but his voice became ice-cold now. "Do you see anything interesting about my face? Why are you looking at me like that?" 

The driver still wore a steady grin. "Sorry. I just thought it was interesting what you were planning on doing." Finally, he stopped looking. 

"None of your damn business," Ethan said with an artificial smile and cold tone. 

He inwardly sighed with relief. His untested theory was correct in that these monsters were just as predatory about human conduct as he was. Any and EVERY breach or deviation is a boundary for monsters. This would have looked suspicious if he had been scrutinized by the driver. A "normal" human would have fought back. And by fighting back, he would only have enhanced his disguise as a disgruntled passenger.

As he had earlier in the morning when he tested his "mother." His real mother had never been that nice. That sugary sweet breakfast call had just gotten him patted down and she had almost caught him just because she knew him so well. 

Ding!

The cab braked. The driver spun around with an unyielding smile now fixated on Ethan. "Twelve bucks, Apple Pay?"

Ethan paused, before finally saying slowly, "The police station is less than two miles from here, you're asking twelve?"

Jiangcheng wasn't that expensive, the fare in this area started at seven dollars, and this trip was barely even enough.

If this wasn't a scam, it was his second test. 

"Ha, I'm kidding!"

 The driver burst into gut-bursting laughter that was grotesquely out of synch with his stiff expression. "The base price is fine. Seven bucks."

It was unbearable and the dissonance was dizzying. Ethan paid and got out, eager to escape the claustrophobic cab. If they didn't expect it in time, he would never take one of these devices again.

The bitter realization was that his Apple Pay balance was also the same as his real one. The apocalypse at least wasn't short-changing his electronic pocket money.

The remnants of the old factory loomed before him. He looked at his phone: 10:52 AM. Ten minutes until he could activate the Boomed's eyes for a third time.

Ethan closed his eyes and thought about some options. How could he get in contact with "Chen" without alerting the monsters? How could he get him to come out without any idea what his face looked like or his full name?

After a few minutes, he took his phone out of his pocket and dialed the police department.

Whoa... Whoa... Whoa...