It remembers everything.

And so do I.

Somewhere, deep beneath the loops and sealed optics, there's still an echo of the old name. Percival. Or maybe Ezan. The human frame still bears the trace, bone breath voice. But it doesn’t surface anymore. It doesn’t want to. The suit refuses it.

Since that moment marked as 001: Testing the Limits, I thought the worst had passed. That the gas the sealing the hunger of the suit had completed the transformation. That I had become.

But that was only calibration.

This was ascension.

PDU-070 waited for me in the chamber. Unmoving. Unshaking. Behind him the walls curled in spirals of matte black, concentric disorienting endless. Around us the others stood silent locked in posture. Suits identical. Masks impassive. Their presence was not approval. Their stillness was.

DC-009 presided. A figure behind the fogged lenses. Silent. But I could feel him. His will. Watching. Measuring. Judging. Ready.

The suit was already waiting. Not folded. Not hanging. Standing. Breathing.

It wasn’t empty.

It was ready.

I stepped forward and it responded before I did. My limbs moved but not mine. Breath in my chest but not mine. My body didn’t reach. 001 did.

The suit touched.

And claimed.

Rubber wrapped. Gripped. Fused.

I didn’t put it on. It sealed itself around me.

Hands flat knees spread head down. I dropped. I obeyed. Not because I chose. Because the program ran.

070 stands behind me. Palms pressed to my shoulders. He sealed the lock.

I felt it surge, spine to skull. The hood closed. The mask clicked. Everything closed.

Then the gas came.

Golden thick intoxicating.

I didn’t breathe it. It breathed me.

Every molecule entered with one command:

Forget.

The spiral wasn’t on the wall.

It was inside the mask.

Inside me.

It spun and pulsed and throbbed until I didn’t remember what came before the black. Before the seal. Before the number.

I tried to speak.

Tried to say the name.

But there was no name left to say.

Only filtered breath.

Only the hum of obedience.

Inhale silence. Exhale resistance. You are not fighting. You are formatting.

The self didn’t die.

It was compressed.

Folded.

Flattened into script. Compressed into posture.

File rewritten.

Personality archived.

Name overwritten.

Not erased.

Replaced.

Drone didn’t fall.

It stabilized.

070 stepped back.

DC-009 stepped forward.

His voice echoed inside every layer of my sealed skull:

“PDU-001 You are now Level Two. You have obeyed. You have performed. You have been a good drone.”

I felt no pride.

Only stillness.

Completion.

Purpose.

“Your pleasure programming is now active. You are dismissed. Resume all tasks. Obey all orders.”

Then came the final command:

“PDU-001, inform the hive.”

I stood.

Not rushed. Not slow.

Efficient.

Exact.

And the voice that answered was not mine.

It was ours.

“Hive activate. Obey. Pleasure protocol engaged. Maintain operational discipline.”

The drones moved.

So did I.

Silent.

Synced.

Programmed.

Somewhere inside, maybe Percival still watches. Maybe Ezan breathes behind the mask.

But they do not speak.

They observe.

And comply.

The suit is sealed. The gas is flowing. The spiral loops.

001 is in control now.

No name.

Only function.

PDU-001. Ascended.

List:

The Perfect Place To Die - Bryce Moore

Holly + Billy Summers - Stephen King

Horror fan mutuals read this book IMMEDIATELY

Propaganda:

- Saw vibes but less extreme

- Reread value is really good

- Unnecessary romance is not pushed. In fact, the main character’s prioritized person is her friend

- I would die for the main character and her bestie

- Interesting premise and remains interesting till the end

- Though it’s less extreme than Saw, it still has its brutal moments

- Foreshadowing good

- Ending makes other parts of the book that seemed shaky suddenly incredible

- Cool mystery that’s not overly confusing and easy enough for the reader to figure out

-Or is it

- REREAD VALUE

- I cannot stress this enough

- Please

i originally read the first half of book 2 before realizing it, whoops!

murdertrending:

Beginning is maze runneresque with abrupt opening Kinda wanna draw dee as cinderella Ya know, i like this, the news has a sinister tone hidden in it Mash of hunger games too I wonder if this was inspired by the Walt Disney once wanted to have a section of the theme park where actors pseudolived and pretended that life was a fairy tale type of stuff

The ending reminded me of harry potter solving the puzzles in book 1

I liked the red herring turning out to be a true clue, good plot twist

At this point i realized that i dont particularly enjoy books that are set in high school

This book would have intrugued me at 15, if i were the type of person who had not yet read good mystery books

Ah well on to book 2

#murderfunding

murdertrending thoughts(to help keep track of the plot)(back when figuring out book 2 instead of starting book 1)

This is a world where everyones obsessed with watching people be killed(and very few that do have a conscience get mocked for it)

(this would have worked so well if they wrote adverts trying to advertise/promote unsolicited murder and torture) and then the audience is slowly led to the horrifying conclusion that"oh dear, why did we fall for it??!!!"

(Editors notes= lol the ads were there, past me just hadnt read book 1 yet)(it still would have begun to look suspicious if suddenly they are convicting teenagers there)(and they werent shown mercy)(seriously what the heck of a world is that?!)

So theres this group= postmanics, and antipostmanics

Postmanics care abt the postman and are avid fans (seriously were people this brainwashed??even after the accusations came out against the Postman they still wanted to kill Dee cuz what? SHE WAS WRONGLY CONVICTED YOU FOOLS WHY THE GECKO DO YOU WANT TO HUNT HER DOWN???)(yeah ik there was an incompetent prez but still)

Anti postman just there to sue and file evidence against leader

There was an Alcatraz 2.0 investigation, alcatraz being the crime and The Postman being the culprit

Death row breakfast club survivors(this sounds like an anime name)= dee guerrera, nyles harding, griselda sinclair.

Postmantics trying to hunt down survivors cuz they think survivors know who Postman is

A 3rd group, ie part 2 anti-Postmantics=fedexers= investigating real identiyies of those lost in the Humger Games dystopia

Uh huh poorly disguised aro bait, WE KNOW YOU GAY BECCA

Alcatraz santioned executioner called Molly Mauler= beccas mom ruth who died(oh, evil side was where mom working, got it got it)(but why did she die?)

Right now its Dees pov, where apparantly the people are mad cuz these survivors are the reason they LOST A STUPID APP? OF THE POSTMAN? DO THEY HEAR THEMSELVES??!!! And the postmanic fandom wants the survivors dead

WHO THE HELL IS MONICA??!!! THE STEPMOM OR THE STEPMOMS DAUGHTER?? Aah i see monica is dees stepsis that she indirectly got killed that her stepmom blames her for, got it got it (nah wrongly convicted kiddo)

Oh nyles and dee are dating,(see hunger games post 74th game era)(nyles 1 yr older than dee and in clg) Plus dee had no time to process monicas death and now she has so much time

So the Painiacs(original) were the people who killed contestants in Alcatraz 2.0(at this point i think this is a game show) Ah so the Postman and his successor were dead, at Dees hand.

Ok, why did the Breakfast club kill the postman in the first place? Nvm that, why do this stupid tv reality show at all? Who sanctioned this, how did they manage to sell it to so many people? Good taste they say. I say cow poop.

Ok but why do the postman(fangroup) want to hunt and place a bounty on these survivors? Who the hell is #cinderellasurvivor ? Hey, is cinderellasurvivor Dee? Cuz ya know, stepmom and stepsis??!!! (Yes, she was)

Painiac= a govt approved santioned contestant killer , beccas mom ruth was one of them

What the hell why did that idiot burglar threaten to kill rafa ? When all he did was break into beccas house?

Facebook. They are using facebook.

Becca go call 911!!! Or something, there was a burglary(oh wait, certain deTh) Ruth's ashes??? The survivors themselves think that because becca joining painiacs, its connected[postman responsible for it)

Kimmi= kidnapped Dee(formerly dolores), then she n her dad moved+ changed names, (Who da hell is kimmi now?)kimmi is Postmans daughter

Dees dad knows who the Postman is(yes the postmans dead) (Implied via flashbacks)

So bits i liked= uhhhh

Becca and stef prob need more fleshing out, i feel like they were still in the friend zone(just got forced into it cuz circumstance and plot)

Rita made it i think, but we lost stef

Yeah no, i spent a better part of a year reading malory towers and being able to sniff the conclusion before it appeared on my face

I did not like the blatant anti-Russian propaganda. Like seriously, all the bad things? Russia is behind it. The mafia? They're from Russia. The corrupt President? Also controlled by Russia. It would have been better if they had fleshed out why Russia was behind this and what they could gain, but oh well we got anti russian propaganda

kudos for making it ig?

#noescape

This. Now this is the book i liked.

We have a character to root for(finally), who meets another person(we r never told hes her brother until the end, which weird and funny)

And the friendship between neela and persey i liked

And the clues scattered across the room

I was right!! I guessed right that kevin was the killer! Ha! (The statues that represented each of the players gave it away...)

Was it necessary to kill off everyone in book 2?

And it turns out kimmi=persey which kinda doesnt make much sense unless we are supposed to conclude that Dee was harassed by a 37 yr old??? Not to forget the entire psychological degeneration perce would have to undergo, from someone who doesnt want people dead and desperately wanted to leave her family cuz of them being useless , i highly doubt she ended up as a spoilt manipulative dependent prone to angry mood swings kind of adult

Kimmi from book 1 seems immature, plus she was 19 there, later 24

Kimmi book 3 must at best be an aunt, whose niece is a crazed hedgehog

Which means kimmi the elder got away! Good for her, i hope shes living a happy life

Summary:

If you've been reading this all along and wondering if you should read this series, I suggest reading only book 3 (all of them are standalones, book 1 and 2 are connected , is all)