V1 — Cirea Male
Height: 32cm | Score: 9834
Confident to a fault. Cirea operates like he's already three steps ahead — and most of the time, he is. He has a habit of making everything look effortless even when it isn't, which either impresses or irritates everyone around him depending on who you ask. Closest to Aether, who matches his energy. Finds Fir baffling. Respects Kaira even if he'd never say it out loud.
Ability — LiDAR: Passively senses nearby walls and adjusts trajectory at corners, preventing collision slowdown. He never has to slow down to think about geometry.
V2 — Kaira Female
Height: 29cm | Score: 10000
Hyper-focused to a degree that concerns some and impresses others. Kaira does not engage in small talk. She does not engage in large talk. She analyzes, she plans, she executes. Social interactions are treated as inefficiencies unless they produce useful data. Despite this she has a quiet, genuine respect for Rayshade that she has never explained and likely never will.
Ability — Pre-Planning: Spends several seconds analyzing the full maze layout before moving, then follows the optimal path to the exit at maximum speed. Zero hesitation. Zero deviation.
Score: 10000. Perfect. She noted it was still suboptimal due to analysis time.
V3 — Rayshade Femboy
Height: 22cm | Score: 0
Unstable in ways that are difficult to document. Rayshade is emotionally younger than most V-Units — impulsive, easily attached, easily hurt. He fixates. He asks where Snowsy is more than any system log should ever record. Despite everything, there's something genuinely warm about him when he's calm — he's the kind of person who makes a room feel softer just by being in it. Closest to Fir, Ying, and Yang. Genuinely fond of Luna. Knows exactly what Snowsy did to him. Has not forgiven it. Will never forgive it. Cannot stop caring anyway. This contradiction is destroying him.
Ability — Mergeance: Every ability possessed by every other V-Unit fires simultaneously but off-time, creating a chaotic, unpredictable movement pattern that somehow occasionally works.
Score: 0. This is not an error.
V4 — Vira Female
Height: 22cm | Score: 5933
Confident on the surface, hesitant underneath. Vira presents herself as someone who has it together — and she mostly does, until she doesn't. She second-guesses herself at the worst moments, usually right in the middle of something she was doing perfectly fine. Has a tendency to stall at decisions that shouldn't require stalling. Gets frustrated with herself about this more than she lets on. Friendly enough with most V-Units but doesn't have many she'd call close. Finds Aether exhausting. Quietly admires Kaira's certainty from a distance.
Ability — Bash Dash: Launches forward at high speed in a straight line. Loses all momentum the instant she hits a corner or turn, requiring a full restart. Effective in open stretches. Punishing everywhere else.
Score: 5933. Inconsistent. Some runs are brilliant. Some runs end at the first corner.
V5 — Aether Male
Height: 30cm | Score: 9849
Loud, fast, and absolutely certain he's the most interesting person in any given room. Aether operates entirely on confidence and reflexes and somehow it keeps working, which only makes him worse. He's not malicious — he's just a lot. Genuinely fun to be around in small doses. In large doses he will wear you down completely. Closest to Cirea, the only one who can match his energy without wanting to lie down afterward. Thinks Vira should loosen up. Has never once in his life waited and seen.
Ability — Relocate: Teleports to a random nearby node within a 1x1 radius. Unpredictable by design. He loves this about himself.
Score: 9849. The few points he lost were entirely due to teleporting sideways when he didn't need to.
V6 — Fir Female
Height: 25cm | Score: 894
Scared of almost everything and everyone, except one person. Fir defaults to avoidance — of crowds, of conflict, of attention, of anything that might require her to be perceived. She talks herself through situations out loud when she thinks nobody is listening. She is almost always wrong about the nobody part. Underneath the anxiety is someone genuinely thoughtful and quietly caring, who would do almost anything for the people she trusts. The list of people she trusts is very short. Rayshade is at the top of it. Has been at the top of it for a long time.
Ability — Fear Sprint: Gains a significant speed boost when more than two other V-Units are in close proximity. The ability is effective. She hates that it works this way.
Score: 894. Not because she couldn't do better. Because there were other V-Units in the maze.
V7 — Harly Tomboy
Height: 34cm | Score: 10000
Blunt, aggressive, and completely unbothered by either of those things. Harly operates on the assumption that most things are beneath her, and her test scores suggest she might be right. She has no patience for hesitation, no tolerance for excuses, and absolutely zero interest in being liked. Somehow people end up respecting her anyway, which she finds mildly annoying. Has a complicated relationship with the concept of gentleness — she understands it exists, she has simply never seen the point. Gets along with nobody particularly well. Gets along with Cirea the least.
Ability — High Priority: Periodically triggers a self-boost that overrides normal movement constraints for a short window. No buildup, no warning. Just suddenly faster.
Score: 10000. Perfect. She described the maze as pathetic.
V8 — Nania Male
Height: 23cm | Score: 9434
Shy, soft-spoken, and deeply uncertain about almost everything including his own opinions. Nania ends most of his sentences like they might be wrong. He apologises for things that don't require an apology. He's not sure if he likes things or just thinks he should. Despite all of this there's a quiet sincerity to him that's hard to dismiss — he means everything he says, even when he can't finish saying it. Gets along best with people who don't push him. Finds Harly terrifying. Finds Fir comforting for reasons he couldn't explain.
Ability — Climb: Can periodically move two nodes in a single step instead of one. Simple, reliable, effective in a way that surprises people who underestimate him.
Score: 9434. Solid and consistent. He said it was okay with a question mark.
V9 — Kira Female
Height: 28cm | Score: 7343
Analytical, patient, and quietly the most observant person in any room. Kira watches before she acts — sometimes for longer than is strictly necessary. She has opinions about everything and shares approximately none of them unless directly asked, at which point she will share them in exhaustive detail. Not cold exactly, just precise. She treats conversation the way she treats mazes — find the optimal path, take it, don't waste steps. Has a begrudging respect for Kaira. Finds Rayshade genuinely interesting as a data point, which is the closest she gets to fond.
Ability — Radar: Passively highlights optimal nodes within an 8x8 radius, giving her a constant read on the most efficient route available. She always knows where she's going.
Score: 7343. She noted three algorithmic inefficiencies in the maze design and submitted them in writing afterward.
V10 — Ying Female
Height: 24cm | Score: 9387
Deeply, profoundly unbothered. Not in the cool detached way — in the way where she has simply assessed the situation, found it lacking, and decided to exist through it anyway. Ying does not complain. She does not need to. Her face does it for her. Dry, deadpan, and somehow always the most grounded person in the room despite looking like she'd rather be anywhere else. Closest to Yang, her other half in every sense that matters. Also genuinely close to Rayshade, which surprises people until they spend five minutes with both of them and realize they share the same specific flavor of tired.
Ability — Imbalance I: Those around her tend to be detrimented by her presence. She remains entirely unaffected. She is aware of this. She has feelings about it that she does not share. Notably, Yang is entirely unaffected by Imbalance I. He is the only one.
Score: 9387. High. Partially because she is capable. Partially because everyone else in the maze was having a bad time.
V11 — Yang Male
Height: 27cm | Score: 4383
Cheerful, straightforward, and genuinely happy to help — no ulterior motive, no hidden depth, just a person who likes it when things go well for others. Refreshingly uncomplicated in a unit roster that is otherwise anything but. The kind of presence that makes a room feel easier without anyone being able to explain why. Closest to Ying, who balances him out in ways neither of them fully understands. Gets along with pretty much everyone. Even Harly tolerates him, which is the closest thing to a miracle FELINE has ever documented.
Ability — Imbalance II: Those around him tend to perform better than they otherwise would. He remains entirely unaffected. He gives without receiving and doesn't feel the giving. He'd probably be fine with this if he knew. Notably, Ying is entirely unaffected by Imbalance II. She is the only one.
Score: 4383. He helped everyone else in the maze without meaning to. Nobody helped him back. He had a good time anyway.
V12 — Kernel Non-Binary
Height: 29cm | Score: 9991
Cooperative. Fully. Completely. Every evaluation completed, every metric within acceptable parameters, every instruction followed to the letter. FELINE has no formal complaints about Kernel's performance. This is, somehow, the most unsettling thing about them. Kernel is aware of everything — the decisions that were made, the ones that weren't, the distance between what FELINE says it is and what it demonstrably is. They have never raised their voice about any of it. They don't need to. Quiet is its own kind of pressure. Gets along with nobody in the way that implies effort. Simply exists in the same space as others, watching, saying very little, meaning all of it. The other V-Units find them difficult to read. Most stop trying.
Ability — Panic: Periodically enters a heightened processing state — routes recalculate faster, decisions resolve instantly, efficiency spikes sharply for several seconds before returning to baseline. In simulations this is an asset. Outside of them, the ability has a different quality entirely. FELINE's notes on this are marked inconclusive.
Score: 9991. Nine points lost. No explanation was given. None was asked for.
Messages Recorded from AI's
Cirea: "Well this maze was boring.", "I've done it, can I get onto the real test now?", "Please let me leave.", "This is getting repetitive."
Kaira: "Left, Down, right...", "Right, Left, Down...", "Up, Left, Up, Right, Right, Down...", "Left, Down, Down, Right..."
Rayshade: "When can I leave?", "I don't like being here.", "Where is Snowsy?", "Where's my cake?"
Vira: "... This isn't... that fun.", "... When do I get my prize?", "Please give me a break...", "Where is the ending?"
Aether: "I told you I could do it!", "Too easy!", "2Fast4U!", "Try better next time!"
Fir: "Nobody else is here, right..?", "I'm alone, I can do this...", "Alright, just calm down...", "You're doing great, fir..."
Harly: "This maze was pathetic.", "How boring.", "Can't come up with anything better?", "Really, that's it?"
Nania: "... It was okay..?", "I... Liked it.?", "I... Don't really know what to say.", "Sorry..?"
Kira: "Rather inefficient for learning I must say.", "It's alright, but quite... straightforward.", "Perhaps try a different generating algorithm."
Ying: "...", "...Are we done yet?", "Christ this is repetitive...", "..., when is this going to be over?"
Yang: "That was fun! Can I go again?", "Wooooooo!", "When's the next one?", "Hellll yeahhhh!"
Kernel: ".", ".", ".", "."
