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SYSTEM INITIATED:
Simulation 5: Subject Trey O'Malley
Simulation Parameters: Fatal Trauma Trigger Imminent
Commencing Simulation...
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Trey appears in a chaotic landscape—an abandoned, war-torn neighborhood. Shattered glass crunches beneath his feet as he takes cover behind a crumbling stone wall. Gunshots crack the air, echoing like violent thunder. Shouts ricochet off the broken walls, growing closer.
His breath is ragged, his shoulder pressed against the rough surface of the rock. Sweat stings his eyes. Just ahead, a beaten-up car rests in the middle of the road, its doors flung open—a possible escape. He takes a deep breath and dashes toward it.
Bullets explode against the ground around him, kicking up dust. A sharp, hot pain sears his shoulder, and he stumbles—his body slamming back against the stone wall, panting and clutching the wound. Blood drips between his fingers, warm and sticky. He grits his teeth and forces himself to keep moving, desperate to survive.
Turning a corner, he almost crashes into an old man draped in a black, tattered robe. The man stands calmly in the chaos, his eyes dull and distant.
"Hey, traveler, where are you going?" the old man asks softly.
"They're trying to kill me! Can't you see?" Trey shouts, his voice strained and desperate.
"So?" the old man replies, his expression unreadable.
"So I'm running for my life, what the hell?" Trey snaps, glancing back at the sound of approaching footsteps.
"If you don't die here, you'll die there… or there." The old man's finger stretches out, pointing into the gray, endless horizon. "So what's the point?"
For a moment, Trey's heartbeat falters. The pain in his shoulder seems to fade under the weight of the man's words. An unbearable stillness swallows the chaos—a thought begins to form, cold and suffocating.
"Hey!" a voice shouts.
Trey turns instinctively—*bang!* The world blurs. A bullet pierces his forehead, a burst of blinding pain, and his legs buckle beneath him. His body crumples to the ground, eyes wide, vacant, staring into nothingness. The old man watches, unmoved, as the echoes of the gunshot fade into silence.
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SYSTEM COMPLETE:
Simulation 5: Subject Trey O'Malley — Trauma Trigger Executed
Results: Subject Dead — Immediate Termination Required.
Simulation Over.
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