The elevator doors slid open revealing a massive, red two painted on the left wall of a deceptively clean office building. The hall stretched out to the left and right, granting access to a winding staircase leading to the ground floor. The crisp lettering of bygone years formed the signage directly ahead, dutifully informing the onlookers of which floor certain offices were found.

Seth noted that it was eerily quiet, not unlike the false silence of the parking garage he had subjected Astral to, less than a week ago. In the early morning hours, Astral brought Seth down to the lower levels where she would run him through the swarm simulation, over and over again until his body couldn't take any more abuse. Day by day, the program was getting harder to outrun. Yet, every time he chose to stand his ground, she had to come to his rescue. She'd berate him for his bold foolishness, pointing the other possibilities that he had available. He felt stupid for staring up at the fourteen-year-old as he struggled to pull himself to his feet and find the words to brush off each scathing verbal blow she dealt him. He marveled at the amount of information she could pull from a session. In his humility, he felt honored that she felt that his life was worth his many failures.

"Let's go again," he'd tell her, noting her hesitance. He saw the silent pleading in her crystalline gaze, begging him to back down. He wouldn't give up. It was cruel of him to torture her in this way. He wouldn't let these festering wounds of hers go to waste. If he could take her place...

If he could champion her nightmares...

...She could lead a normal, peaceful life while he fought on. It was usually about the same time logic kicked in, casually pointing out that she could have intentionally increased the difficulty level to get him to back down. If she intended to make him quit, he'd make her quit first. At least, he'd know for sure what her real plan was. Over their short time together, he was growing to appreciate how widely she used her environment for all sorts of situations. Her level of environment manipulation in the average person's hands would be disastrous, used no doubt for personal gain. Maybe he was being stupid, but he felt a strong 'do no harm' vibe from her tactics. Getting him to quit, while she was present and ready to defend him when things got harry, did fall in line with that method. He appreciated the challenge; it was like a game of mental chess, and he needed to anticipate what she would do to achieve her objective. The real question was: was he right about her goals?

"Level Two, already huh," he forced a grin, pulling his thoughts to the present. He didn't think he'd ever see the end of the parking garage.

"You seem to think that this is a game." Her voice was cold and hard as though presenting irrefutable facts. "All you've managed to accomplish is proving that you're capable of following orders. A new setting means you'll have to think for yourself."

His confidence ebbed. Memories of his first encounter with Astral at the helm of the program surfaced. Was she going to force him to run until he backed himself into a corner? She pointed to the hall that represented his challenge, her gaze fixed on him. He sighed in resignation and stepped out of the elevator, reminding himself that she was only doing what he had asked.

He never expected his stunt to take him this far. All he wanted to do that day was corner her into admitting that there was a reason for her survival beyond blind luck. After seeing her in action, he knew that her core had been a cheap excuse to get him to run away. Admitting what he suspected to be true would have her exiled. The longer he held off in telling the authorities, the more severe the consequences he was going to face. He heard that some people got as much as having to serve three consecutive tours for failing to report an unsanctioned Hunter. His desperate measures might paint his character as being above the society's rules. Not reporting a possible unsanctioned Hunter was bad enough, but extorting training to defend himself...

Astral stepped out of the elevator to join him. He pushed the worries from his mind. There was no point in thinking about it, he would never report her.

"We need to meet with the team around one," Seth informed her, hoping to shift his mind to focus on other trivial matters. "I need to make the official announcement and register your membership on our team." Suggesting Daamon as a candidate didn't get much a reaction from his team, but he had been quick to sell her value through prestige and connections. It was a move designed to convince only one player, his default second in command, Erick Bradford. Since his joining, Erick had been a major advocate in attracting players with connections. He saw the games as a way to secure their future beyond the war. Granted, Erick never had to worry about the killing fields.

Seth had, much to his regret, humored his second in command in the past by allowing two players of Erick's choosing. It came as a huge surprise that the man whose pursuit had been the collection of important acquaintances, adamantly opposed Astral as a candidate. Why reject a person of power now? Was it just to act as an opposing force to the squad captain?

Seth didn't bring up the subject again; his mind already made up. He couldn't afford to not have her on his squad. Besides, he suspected that if he continued to argue for her, Erick would only work to convince the others to see things his way. Most would agree with him just to shut him up. In the grand scheme of things, it just wasn't worth the argument.

Astral's crystalline gaze fixated on him, plucking his words from the air and shattering them with her cold rebuttal, "I wasn't aware that you had somewhere else you needed to be." He felt ashamed for even mentioning it. "I suppose you'd best learn quickly if you want to make your appointment."

So far, their early morning sessions seemed to end at just the right time, ensuring that he could rush to the nearest gym shower to get cleaned up before the first class. He assumed that Astral had been monitoring their time and swooping in to end the session. He wasn't so sure she'd do the same in this instance. Weekends would have been the best time to push him to his breaking point.

"It'll look bad for you too!" he shouted, resenting the guilt she made him feel. He realized his mistake when she smirked. He narrowed his eyes at her, lifted a finger and grimaced realizing that she was antagonizing him on purpose. He forgot the first rule: stay quiet. He couldn't help himself. He felt safe with her.

They lingered in silence, listening for anything that might sound out of place. A rattle, a weird shuffle, the skittering of hundreds of insect legs? Nothing.

After an eternity, he released his held breath. He glanced at his companion, hoping that she could confirm that his senses weren't lying. She watched him like his father had back when he was a child: expressionless, indifferent.

The empty hall offered a generous view of the ground floor. "We have the advantage," he whispered to her while indicating the tall tinted windows that bathed the room in a gentle morning light. In their first session, Astral had implied that light was a boon. Maybe she meant to demonstrate the effects of sunlight on demonic entities. Only she knew the lesson she meant to impart. It didn't stop him from wishing that she would give him some sort of clue of what he was going to be up against.

He noted that Astral had her back facing the signage and a clear view of all possible access points. Was something coming?

"You're assuming that the light will protect us," she replied, matching his whisper, "And that we have nothing to fear beyond those windows." Was sunlight not the haven they were lead to believe? He stole a glance to the empty world beyond the tinted glass. There was an open area with a few trees bookending stone benches. Beyond their reach was an empty street complete with a row of equally vacant buildings touched with a merging of old world architecture and the sleek sterile facades of modern design. He noted the lack of activity in the digital world beyond their stage. Even as traffic lights worked their way through the time rotations of signals, Seth saw no animal movement.

He dismissed the scene as a limitation on the virtual processor. Seth figured that if they reached the doors, the program wouldn't allow them to exit the building. The world beyond the entrance was for show only.

Seth took a cautious step toward the half-wall to survey the lower floor, his hands shaking as they reached for solid reassurance. He imagined the demonic monstrosity waiting for him to poke his head out to have a quick look around.

He felt every nerve in his body scatter when Astral took hold of his arm. "Before you look down..." She caught his chin before he instinctively looked over. His peripheral vision stubbornly tried to steal a glimpse of the terror bellow them. She pulled him away from the half-wall denying his human frailty. The smirk on her lips told him that she was very much aware of the torture she was putting him through. His mind could barely focus on what she asked of him.

Her thin brow arched behind her dark tinted lenses. "Must I repeat myself?" Again he felt foolish.

"No," he replied, his subconscious offering up the words she had spoken moments prior.

"Establish viable points of entry," she had ordered.

He gestured down the hall in both directions, indicating the obvious routes. "I guess that we're pretty exposed up here since there's no shielding." If he were to guess, this program must have been built before the shielding technology became common place. That would place the inception of the program somewhere in the late twenty-first century. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he wondered if the security shields were of any help against demonic entities. "The stairs," though that particular entry point seemed redundant if the demons could scale the gap between floors. He shrugged. "That's it."

During the last game of the previous year's competition, he had his team rush to secure the second floor to gain the advantage over his opponents. The elevators were broken; their metal doors twisted open as though massive, powerful claws had penetrated the opening. He remembered inspecting the broken shaft with the intention of having his men climb to the higher levels to search for the codes that would secure their victory. He remembered the smell of soot and burnt hair. He remembered the way the darkness moved, almost tangible, lurking in the depth of the ruined elevator shaft. His breath caught in his throat as he stared at the immaculate projection of their game.

"The elevators," he struggled with bringing the words to life. "Definitely the elevators." He tried to shake his fear. "The real question is what would a Hunter be doing here?" Astral rolled her eyed. He realized he sucked at impressing the fourteen-year-old survivor.

"I was under the misguided belief that I was to instruct you on survival. Not on how to become a Demon Hunter, " she hissed so venomously that the he thought the digital paint closest to her would peel.

"Aren't they one in the same?" He tried to smile while stepping out of arms reach of her. He suddenly didn't feel so safe around her.

"You don't want to be a Hunter," she repeated. "Once you kill a demon, they start hunting you and they never stop." He saw the haunted desperation in her eyes. The years of constant running and non-stop worry floated dangerously close to the surface. She bit her lower lip, swallowing her feelings. Her stoic mask assumed its rightful place.

"I'm sorry, I'm an idiot," Seth relented. The last thing he wanted to see was real tears streak down her pale face.

"Demons feed on more than just bones and flesh," she explained. "Strong emotions particularly the negative ones, act a beacon to hungry demons."

"Aren't they all hungry?" He felt terrible for dismissing her lesson with such casual disregard. He hoped it would give her something other than her memories to focus on.

She nodded. "Would you not set up a home where you knew the food was plentiful? Where you knew your young could feast for generations." Did demons have that level of self-control? Could they plan and anticipate changes in their prey's environment? If that was true, then what about the ghost in the machine? Was that a demon or something else? She had eluded to it feeding off of his desperation, but it was contained, right? It wasn't a real threat to anyone anymore. Wasn't it?

He felt uncomfortable with his thoughts. He wished she'd say something, lecture him, berate him, anything. Instead, he felt like she was trying to drive her unspoken point home. A demon lurking in the shadows was dangerous; everyone knew that. A demon that found a source of food would threaten the lives of everyone he ever knew or cared about. He imagined the shadow beast sipping on his life-force while it devoured his less satisfying neighbors whole.

"I don't understand," his whisper barely audible. "I mean I get the point about the demons feeding on energy, but I don't see how that makes being a Hunter a bad thing."

Astral's shoulders sagged. "A Hunter's burden is to carry the curse of the Hunted. In hunting demons, so too does the Hunter become the prey. With each kill, the hunter calls new demons to him. As the hunter kills stronger demons, he attracts stronger prey. A Hunter's existents is a curse existent."

"I guess a Hunter would have to learn how to control his emotions," Seth pondered. "Is that even possible?" He watched her watch him. He felt like the distance between them was worlds apart. He felt that the piece of the puzzle he was missing had been intentionally snatched away from his conscious thought. He could feel his soul quake, threatening to erupt and expose long forgotten secrets of his own. His mind took a mental step in a different direction, quieting the heat that had begun to wrack his senses.

He felt that he wasn't learning something that he didn't already know. Until this moment, he knew nothing of the Hunter's curse. Was the knowledge leak part of the time cipher issue he was having? "It was part of the plan," Seth elaborated, "by design. But why...I can't remember."

Astral inclined her head ever so slightly. He felt exposed under her gaze, as though she could see right into his soul. He wondered what she could see. "Shall we carry on with this lesson?" She invited.

It dawned on him that their little conversation should have stirred the demons waiting for them below. He frowned, feeling stupid. Of course, she'd pause the program and then proceed with psychological terrorism to drive her point home. Granted, an active program would have served as a better lesson. He shuddered, she must have wanted to get something off of her mind before the real lesson set in.

"Ready when you are," he replied, suspecting that he had no choice in the matter.