"I know this is all a little hard to take in" Ziya says as she tries to move debris to hide their small cave. "And I know you don't trust me anymore... but you have to understand".

"That everyone here is just nuts!?" Drake asks.

"Well... you're not wrong" Ziya says. "To be fair, most people in this game are convicts from death row. As for the rest of us... well, it's hard to keep your head on straight when you've died multiple times".

"Like us?" Drake asks.

"I'm not a convict, if that's what you're thinking" Ziya says. "I was thrown here against my will... all because of some stupid false accusation against my mother".

"What false accusation?" Drake asks.

"Oh, forget it!" Ziya says. "Everything has already been ruined. You won't trust me anymore, I can tell... I know you better than that. You'll likely not even believe what I say regardless of if it's the truth or not".

"Fair enough" Drake says. Ziya seems to pout as she stares at Drake. "What? You're at least right about that. I really wouldn't believe you".

"That's the problem, Drake..." Ziya says. "Can you at least trust me enough to let me help you?".

"No, I don't think I will" Drake says. "First of all, I don't know who I am or what's going on here! Suddenly, some crazy chick is telling me she'll help me after I witnessed her turn someone into a fucking silly straw! Does that seem reasonable to you?".

"Well... no, but-" Ziya begins to say.

"Exactly!" Drake says as he stands up. "So I'm going out there and finding someone that can make at least a little bit of sense!".

"No!" Ziya says as she jumps up. "You don't have any Respawns left! What are you thinking!?".

"That's another thing" Drake says. "What the hell is all of this Respawn business?".

"Well, some people are born with an ability called Respawn" Ziya says. "You and I happen to be two of such people. As well as everyone else here in Pyramid. These watches tell you how many more lives you have like a-".

"Like a video game..." Drake interrupts with a disapproving look on his face. "So I've heard".

"Yeah, well..." Ziya says nervously, "would you rather try to fight off an unprecedented amount of people without any lives, or would you rather stay behind someone with a lot of lives?".

"Also, that!" Drake says. "How do you happen to have so many!?".

"Do you... not remember how Respawn users work?" Ziya asks. Drake just stares at Ziya in disappointment. "Right... silly question, I get it" Ziya says. "I should've seen that coming... Anyhow, you can gain more lives, which will allow you to live longer".

"Wait, you can!?" Drake asks. "How!?".

"You're not going to like it..." Ziya says as she scratches the back of her neck. "You have to... kill the others. Stealing their lives adds to your own Respawn counter".

Drake freezes for a moment and says "So... how do you do it?".

"I'm sorry?" Ziya asks as she looks up at Drake with a shocked look.

"I mean" Drake says, "how do you... prepare yourself to take another man's life? Is it just... easy for you to do that and feel okay?".

"Oh... no" Ziya says. "Not at all... you remember how you said we were all nuts? Well... that's pretty much it. It's never been easy for me to just... kill someone. And it never will be... but I'm afraid that you'll have to learn how to do it if you're going to survive with me".

"And you really have no intention of killing me?" Drake asks in disbelief.

"I don't!" Ziya shouts. "I swear I'd never-".

"Of course it's too much to ask of you to tell the truth..." Drake says with a sigh.

"But I'm telling the truth!" Ziya shouts.

"Forget it..." Drake says. "If I'm bound to die, may as well have a fun run with the 'champion' or whatever bullshit that's about...".

"Drake..." Ziya says as she slowly gets closer to Drake. "You may not trust me yet... but I really have no intention of killing you, or letting you be killed. I know my word isn't worth much to you yet... but". Suddenly, Ziya reaches into her left pocket and pulls out some dry food. She then hands it over to Drake and says "Maybe this isn't the right time or place to try and... rebuild our old friendship, but... I'll do what I can, alright?".

Drake hesitates, but slowly takes the food from her. "You're giving this to me? Isn't this your only food?".

"Oh, it's not mine" Ziya says. "It was from that guy that attacked us at the stairs". Ziya then winks at Drake and says "You've gotta be resourceful".

Drake pauses for a moment and says "Why does that give me so much Deja Vu?".

Ziya giggles and says "I used to say that to you all the time! Whenever we'd go out to play as little kids, do things like climb trees together, I used to always create some weird contraption to make climbing easier for me. You were always taller than me, so I'd always have to find some way to keep up. Is your memory coming back yet?".

"No... I don't think so" Drake says. "But it sounds... vaguely familiar".

"So... do you believe me now?" Ziya asks.

Drake thinks for a moment and says "No... but it is the only clue I have so far to finding out who I am".

"So you'll let me help you?" Ziya asks.

"I'm screwed either way" Drake says, "so... sure, why not?".

"Great!" Ziya says as she sits down with a childish smile on her face.

"So... what now, Ziya?" Drake asks.

"You can call me Zizi... like you used to" Ziya says.

"... No" Drake replies.

"That's fair" Ziya says. "Anyways, for now, we're going to wait. If you're not comfortable with the current situation, then I'll give you some time to decide on what you want to do to survive. For now, we let the others kill each other off".

"So... now I'm taking the lead?" Drake asks.

"Yeah, pretty much" Ziya says.

"So... how do you survive this game?" Drake asks. "Just... keep killing everybody and winning?".

"Well... that's not what I had in mind" Ziya says. "There was a rumor about someone who found a way to escape the game. They disappeared from the top floor, and no one has ever found their body... or so they say".

"So... a jailbreak?" Drake asks.

"Minus the 'jail' part, yes" Ziya says.

"What exactly happened in... the last game?" Drake asks.

"What do you mean?" Ziya asks.

"Well... that man earlier said you were the champion" Drake says.

"Oh... that" Ziya says. "When you win, they don't set you free. They put you back in the cell and prepare you for the next game. That's why I'm still here".

"And that man... Chris or whatever?" Drake asks.

"He... lost his arm" Ziya says. "He was killed, but revived. At the time, his arm was cut off, and since it was an injury that lead to his death, his arm... well, regrew. That's why he no longer has the watch".

"We can do that!?" Drake asks.

"Yeah, although it's still extremely painful" Ziya says. "The main cause of insanity here in Pyramid isn't from death row... it's from the many deaths that people here endure. The pain doesn't simply go away, nor do we forget about it... unless of course... amnesia".

"Then... all those people who are killed but not finished off?" Drake asks.

"Remember everything that happened to them" Ziya says. "Vividly so, at that. The person who killed them, how they were killed... the pain... the horrifying pain". As Ziya paused, she noticed Drake was staring at her in horror. Ziya couldn't find the proper response to divert attention from the grotesque detail see just explained. All she could think of to do what smile and laugh.

"Wonderful" Drake says. "I guess I really did die, and this is my Hell".

"Well, one of those two things are correct" Ziya says. "You did die, but this isn't your Hell. This is kinda... all of our Hell".

"Thanks..." Drake says sarcastically. "Really helping me out here".

"Anyhow" Ziya says, "you'll need to be prepared to protect yourself. It'll be hard for me to keep you protected all the time, so-".

"What about Chris?" Drake asks.

Suddenly, Ziya's face grows sour. "What about him?".

"Well, you said before you had a small group of people" Drake says. "Did you mean... like a team? If he survived the last game, then-".

"Absolutely not" Ziya interrupts.

"Why not?" Drake asks.

"Because he was a part of the team..." Ziya replies. "That's how I know he's unreliable".

"What happened?" Drake asks.

Ziya pauses and says "I'll save that story for later".

"Then what about a new team?" Drake asks. "Help some other people, and hope they'll agree to help us?".

"Well... it's not uncommon for that to happen in Pyramid" Ziya says. "Just let it be known, I don't personally want another team like... last time. I prefer it'd just be you and I. However, if that's what you really want...".

"Then let's go!" Drake says.

"Get some rest first" Ziya says.

"But... is it even nighttime?" Drake asks.

"Who knows?" Ziya says. "It's just better if you get rest whenever you can. As well as, we need those people to shorten the competition for us. The less people we have to face, the better".

"Alright, but-" Drake begins to say. Suddenly, he was interrupted by Ziya grabbing his head and gently placing his head on her lap. "Uhhh..." Drake says, however, Ziya seemed almost delighted by doing this. She began to stroke his hair and humming to herself as she tried to force him to rest. "Ziya?" Drake asks.

"Don't worry" she replies, "I'll keep watch for you. You can count on me". Then Ziya goes back to humming her song.

"Like hell I can count on you" Drake thinks to himself. "You've clearly lost your mind...".

Drake's eyes start to open slowly, a few hours later, as he could hear the faint sound of metal scraping against metal. Drake's head shoots up from off of Ziya's lap as he panics and looks over at Ziya. "Are you okay?" She asks gently as she unscrews the metal cap from her water canteen.

Drake takes a sigh of relief, then asks "I don't even remember falling asleep! How long was I out?".

Ziya just shrugs and says "I have no idea how to tell what time it is, or even what day anymore". She then takes a sip of water from her canteen.

As Drake takes a look at Ziya's eyes, he could see dark skin forming bags under her eyes. Her eyes, with the iris's bearing a gray color, nearly matching the bags that showed that she has lost so much sleep that she may as well be dead already. "Aren't you... going to sleep now?" Drake asks.

Ziya tilts her head to the side in confusion and says "But I feel fine".

"... Of course you do" Drake says. "So are we going to try to start that plan? Seeing if we can build a team?".

"Do you want to?" Ziya asks.

"It seems like the best chance we'd have" Drake says.

"Alright" Ziya says as she stands up. She begins rolling debris out of the way, so they'd have a clear exit. "But I warn you, this is not going to be as easy as you think it is".

The two of them walk out into the open, where many people gathered to fight. However, there were a lot less people than they had expected. "Seems like a lot of them are either already dead, or moved to the next floor already" Ziya says.

"What's a little girl doing in a place like this?" A deep voice calls out from the right side of Drake and Ziya. A man, much taller than the both of them approached. He looked rather muscular, and had a very threatening atmosphere. "This place is dangerous for a little girl like yourself. Why don't you leave the fighting to the boys?". As he got close enough to Ziya, he puts one hand on top of Ziya's head, and leans on her.

"Cute..." Ziya says. She then tilts her body to one side, then quickly crouches as she spins, sliding one leg under both of the man's feet. Effectively tripping the large man, Ziya grabs a sharp piece of shrapnel in her hand, then grabs Drake's hand. "Close your eyes!" She shouts to Drake as she holds his hand and thrusts the metal at the man's throat. Drake closed his eyes, and heard the sounds of watery gargling noises. When Drake lets go of the metal and reopens his eyes, the man was grasping at the metal stuck in his throat. As the man pulls the knife out of his neck, the number on Drake's watch goes from a "0" to a "1".

"Congrats" Ziya says as she pats Drake on the back. "You finally have a life!".

"Out of context, that sounds more like an insult than a compliment" Drake says. Drake then looks down at his own hands, shaking.

However, as he looks past his hands, he could see the hole in the large man's neck sealing shut like magic. The man stands up and tilts his head to the side until you can hear his neck popping much like how someone would pop their knuckles to prepare for a fight. His watch went from a "5" to a "4". "If that's how you want to play, you little bitch!" The man snarls.

He begins slowly walking closer towards Ziya. Ziya, however, didn't seem very concerned. Instead she inspected the ground beneath her, took two steps backward, then looked up at the man. Ziya then looks over at the debris to her left, as there were chunks of cement with rebar sticking out of it, like debris from a war zone. "There's nothing here that can save you now" the man says in a growl. "You should've run when you had the chance. No weapon you can find in this entire floor will be enough to-".

Suddenly, the man was interrupted by Ziya sliding a small shard of metal against a small rock. The rock pressed the metal upwards, with the sharpest point sticking up. The metal passed right into the man's foot, like a spike, forcing him to jump from the sheer pain. The very moment the man was distracted by the sheer pain, Ziya jumped up and grabbed the man's head. Using gravity as leverage, she created enough force to throw the man's head into the rebar, causing the rebar to pierce his skull. The man went silent immediately, and took a while to Respawn as he was stuck on the rebar.

"This is our chance" Ziya says. "Let's get out of here".

"But..." Drake says as he stares at the man's watch, the number changing from a "4" to a "3".

"No time to think" Ziya says, "I told you making friends isn't easy. Let's go!".

"Hold it" a man says as they approach from behind. "You may have gotten rid of quite the obstacle for the rest of us, but we ain't about to just let someone like you just walk on outta here!".

As Drake and Ziya turn around, they were approached by a group of three people. On the opposite side of them, the large man had finally slipped off of the rebar and was getting back up. "This is a really bad time for you to have only one Respawn, Drake!" Ziya says.

"Hey! Don't announce that shit!" Drake shouts.

"Ooh, one Respawn?" The man at the front of the group says. "Interesting... This will be easier than I thought".

"W-Wait, can we cut a deal here?" Drake panics.

"There are no deals here, boy" the large man behind them says as he approaches.

"If it's a deal yer wanting" another man in the group, the one standing on the right side says, "ya have little time to spit it out".

"Look!" Drake says as he holds up Ziya's watch.

"Ninety-One!?" That same man panics. "How the hell did ya get that, little miss?".

"So, teams? Anybody?" Drake panics as the large man gets closer.

"You're going to have to try a little harder than that" the man at the front of the group says, "if you-". Suddenly, he was interrupted by the man on the right who was speaking earlier crushing his skull with a rock.

"Georgie, what the hell?" The man on the left panics.

"No hard feelings" this man, Georgie says. "If ya can't beat 'em, join 'em!". Then Georgie caves in the other man's skull too. Georgie looks up at Ziya and Drake, then says "Run".

All three of them take off quickly, leaving two dead men to Respawn, and one very angry man with them. The very angry large man tried to follow after them, but once they picked up speed, he gave up on the chase and decided to take his anger out on the two others that were left behind. "That was... something" Ziya says as the three of them run.

"Can ya blame me?" Georgie asks. "Those two each had two more lives. I'm sure they can take it!".

"Are you that scared of the number ninety-one?" Ziya asks.

"Ya kidding!?" Georgie asks. "If ya got that many, yer a lot more of a threat than that large man behind ya! I'm not takin' my chances!".

"Great!" Drake says, "glad to have you".

"Ya mean yer glad I'm not killin' ya?" Georgie asks.

"Something like that" Drake says.

"So, this is yer team then? Georgie asks. "A wimp and an artistic murderer?".

"Artistic?" Drake asks.

"Murderer?" Ziya asks.

"Well... I mean... if the boot fits" Drake says.

"You still don't trust me?" Ziya asks.

"Well... I mean..." Drake says.

"Bicker later, when we're not runnin', ya dimwits!" Georgie says.