After a moment of timeless discontinuity, they find themselves in a bland office building, standing in a carpeted hallway. Various doors line the hallway, all closed except for one near the end.

{Shouldn't we be dead?}

Sable stumbles into front, and they slowly walk toward the open door.

Inside, she finds a large, hardwood desk, with a basic cushioned chair on one side and a fancy leather desk chair on the other. A futuristic computer of an unrecognizable brand sits atop the desk, and stacked papers rest to one side.

"Why, yes, you should be dead," says the faceless woman who spins to face her despite not having been in the chair or the room five seconds ago.  "The man who killed you was quite... motivated."

"Luckily for you...  The Company believes that you will be an, asset, in its ambitions."  She places a tablet on the desk in a single firm motion.

"Make your choice, but know that your other option right now is..."

She waves at the door, which doesn't look like a door any longer.  "Rather irrevocable."

Oh. That...

Fuck.

Hailey steals front.

"Explain those ambitions, would you?"

"Why, we here at The Company are in the business of gathering, making, and distributing the most trustworthy travelling companions a multiversal traveller could ever want, of course!  Our flagship product has a very high rate of user satisfaction!", she chirps, in an entirely differently disconcerting way.  "And you, would be perfect as one of our recruiters!"

"Go into the multiverse!  Meet new people!  Give them exciting opportunities!  And be rewarded for it with not only whatever you may find, but access to the Company's carefully-tailored product catalogue!  Go on, do take a look at it!"

...Gathering, making, and distributing companions?

Hailey looks down at the tablet, seeing row after row of thumbnails of people. Many of them are characters she recognizes.

Her gaze snaps back up to the woman. "You're slavers," she snarls.

"Oh, slavery is such a foul word for what the Company does, don't you think?"  She's still...  Chirpy.  "Let's not call our business model slavery!"

Her fists clench. She wants to deck this woman. Or storm out. Or both.

She turns to look behind her—

A stone wall, rough-hewn, until it comes to an ornately carved archway. The carved columns that make up the interior surface of the archway are covered in intricate runes, and an ethereal curtain of smoke flickers at the threshold in an unseen wind.

The bloody Veil fucking hell she can't escape her only option is to fight—

Sable takes front back. She's collected herself in the intervening minute or two out of front, and Hailey's going to wreck their only option to live through this if she punches out this recruiter. They have a better shot of tearing this mess down if they stay alive.

She takes a slow breath.

"I see."

Okay. Look back down at the tablet. There are choices to be made.

The face of a woman, reflected in the tablet's screen, holds up a finger of sssh, even as she says "I'll let you look over your options," and turns towards the paperwork.

And then the tablet...  Glitches.

The screen fritzes out for a second, and when it's back...

> Don't let my body see this.  I'm sure you've noticed that I was just possessed by Marketing.  I have my defenses, but I'd rather not test them.

> You have another choice.

> I don't like the Company any more than you do, and I'm not the only one.

> You could work with us, against them.

> You have the potential to be quite useful in taking action against the Company.

> You would, however, have to play along long enough to make yourself useful.

> If you don't want to do that...

> We have, at least, ensured that the Company can't just try, try again.

What.

Okay, if she pokes at the tablet, is there some kind of text input? Can she reply? Yeah, okay. 

> How would this work? And how do I know you're not just a trick played by the Company?

> The Skyblock Challenge has been rather thoroughly suborned.  If you take it, we can isolate you from the Company's systems quite comprehensively.  And they won't think to look, because half the time the Skyblocks of even extremely enthusiastic recruits become opaque to them.

> As for how you know I'm not a trick played by the Company - you don't.  I can't prove it.  My only safety is in my plausible deniability.  But...

> There didn't have to be *any* 'out', not even *that* one.  As horrible as it is.

Shit.

Okay.

That's a solid point. 

Fuck.

And really, their choices are pretty clear.

They've never been ones to give up.

So to start with she picks Skyblock, and watches as her budget locks in at twenty credits, and the rules show up on screen.

A hardcore challenge inspired by Minecraft Skyblock mod, in which you start on a piece of land floating in the sky on a empty world. Your starting benefits will look like this:

• 20 Credits (Spendable on exactly one companion of up to T5, and one body-mod or origin (See Origins))
• 1 Company Stamp
• 1 Company Smart Device
• 1 Skyblock

Skyblock challenge rules

You and your chosen companion will start on your Skyblock with a Survival Kit.

The Skyblock is a special Demiplane that is an empty and infinite sky with a singular structure within it. The structure is a 25-meter x 25-meter x 25-meter cube. The bottom half of the structure is solid sandstone and contains no ores, gems, or other materials. The top half consists of normal dirt. It contains enough nutrients to grow crops and is covered in grass except for a small pond that contains clean, drinkable water.

On the surface is also a single tree. This tree produces up to 5 large fruits a day. Each fruit provides enough nourishment to sustain an adult person for one day. These fruits rot 24 hours after being picked unless kept in a cold place, at which point they last for a week instead. Each fruit contains one seed that can be grown into a new tree that will bear fruit at the same rate. From the time of planting, it takes six months for the tree to grow to full maturation and start producing fruit. The tree’s wood is mundane and soft enough that it can be cut using the provided tools.

When you first arrive on the Skyblock you will also find the Survival Kit, a wooden crate that contains a tent for two people, two sleeping bags, an axe, a shovel, a pickaxe, a knife, flint & steel, ten emergency meals, and two canteens. Additional or replacement Survival Kits can be purchased for 5 Credits.

Aside from the structure's position being locked into place, the Skyblock follows normal laws of physics. The structure is not indestructible. Additions to the structure are subject to gravity unless some power or other means prevent it. The sky follows a 24-hour night/day cycle, but the climate is always moderate. Any kind of weather can occur including rain, snow, hail, or even tornadoes. You have a guaranteed six months before any dangerous weather effects appear, after which point it is random.

Your Skyblock is a basic Demiplane that can be upgraded over time. However, unlike normal Demiplanes, you and your retinue cannot make portals nor teleport yourself into or out of the Skyblock at will. All travel to and from your Skyblock is restricted to a weekly portal that will open up on every seventh day from 00:00 to 23:59. This portal is large enough to accommodate the passage of a human-sized being and will open in the center of the topmost layer of the Skyblock. It comes with all Company standard protections and Neutral, hostile, and uninvited eyes will not notice a portal’s presence, activation, or use, and cannot pass through.

The portal will lead to a random world. The maximum DR of the world is equal to the number of months since you have started plus three. For example, in your first month, the maximum DR of the world is 3, in the second month it will be 4, etc etc. This, of course, caps out at DR 10.

You will have access to the world as long as the portal is open. The portal will appear at a random, but narratively relevant, spot within the setting and cannot be moved. You will have 24 hours to gather any resources you desire, including Companions. Any members of your Retinue not on your Skyblock when the portal closes will be forcibly pulled back. As a penalty, the next portal will be open for 1 hour less for each Retinue member teleported like this. If that would reduce the timer to below zero, the portal will not open and the remaining penalty time will be taken out of the next portal opening. Timers for penalties and portal schedules can be found on your Company Smart Device.

Capture timers are not reduced. A Stamp will still take 72 hours to capture. In-progress captures do not count as Retinue members and will not be teleported to your Skyblock when the portal closes, nor will they be teleported when they are fully captured. Captures of this nature will add them to your retinue, assign them all the benefits, and grant you Capture Credits, but they will be stranded in their world unless they were brought through the portal before it closed. However, they can be sold remotely even when the portal is closed. If they are not sold, Companions can be collected by purchasing a Visitation Pass for that world or by the portal randomly opening in their world again. In this situation, they will count as Retinue members, and they will be teleported to your Skyblock when the portal closes again.

• You may upgrade your Skyblock to allow the designation of an enclosed area that can be accessed as a Pocket Space via your Company Smart Device
• The Skyblock is dimension-locked. No dimensional hoppers can teleport out of it while the portal is closed. Their powers function fine outside of the Skyblock, but they are also subject to the rules of the Skyblock and will be forcibly brought back when the portal closes.
• Dimensional transportation, through teleportation, vehicle, or other methods such as Dragon Break, can still be performed from other worlds. This means that while the portal from your Skyblock is open your multiversal travel options are not limited. However, when the portal closes, you will be yanked back to the Skyblock no matter what world you are in.
• Quick Missions for worlds that the portal leads to will be offered while the portal is open. A Mission is considered failed if the portal closes before it is done. No Mission will require or offer transportation to any other world.
• Powers that claim Domains will still function correctly, but claimed areas cannot be linked to the Skyblock in a way that allows for any kind of communication or travel.
• If you die not on your Skyblock while the portal is open, your body(and soul) will be automatically pulled back to the Skyblock when the portal is closed, including any gear you have equipped on you. Normal R.I.P. rules still apply otherwise.

Well, that's quite the situation. They need a way to protect against falling off the Skyblock, and the purchased body-swap is the best way to do that. First instinct is teleporters, but there's no easy way to filter by specific powers like that. The ones whose names she can remember are all tier five-plus or boys, so that's a write-off. Next idea she has is more reliable, though.

She types "Spider" into the search box, and up come various instances of Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, and more. Her eyes land on Spider-Gwen. Damn, tier five, can't afford that and a companion at the same time, and she's obligated to take a companion.

Except...

The screen - blips, and Spider-Gwen is now Tier 4.

This is the most we can do to give you an edge, here and now.  I hope it helps.

The chat window closes.

..What.

Okay, that's promising. She checks the details... it looks like this Spider-Gwen instance is modified to have biologically-integrated web-shooters rather than the usual tech-based kind? That's pretty helpful. Can't share them easily, but can't lose them, and they can fuel them just by eating. 

Handy. She takes it.

Now they need a companion. Empty island with nothing but a food source... what they really need is someone who can help them build up. Someone who can help them produce missing materials.

Wasn't there a girl in My Hero Academia who had a perfect power for that? Right, Momo Yaoyorozu.

She types the name into the search box, and she's Tier 4. Perfect.

Sable selects Momo as their companion, and then takes a moment to consider.

Are they really doing this?

{Yeah, Sable. You're right that we don't have a better way out than trying to trust this Opposition, whoever they are. Maybe we can tear this place down.}

{It sucks, but maybe we can make a difference! Can't let ourselves give up now.}

{It is our steadiest course, and our best shot at a clean break.}

It's the only option that doesn't involve either death or kneeling. They're doing this.

{Yeah. Plus, you can make it up to Momo when we meet her.}

Well. That settles it. {Thanks, girls.}

She looks back at the faceless, possessed woman. "I've made my choices."

"...May they serve you well."

And everything goes black once again.