"When you subtract the human from the hero, what remains isn't a god. It's a statue." – Young Hero of Sterallum.
The silence in the apartment after the Resilientes left wasn't empty. It was heavy, filled with the hum of servers and the electric buzz of a transformation completing itself.
Gabriel sat in the dark. He didn't feel regret. He didn't feel relief. He felt... clear.
A blue light pulsed at the edge of his vision, sharper and colder than before.
[System Notification: Humanity Threshold Reached (0%).]
[Status: Absolute Logic.]
[Reward Unlocked: The Mirror of Desire.]
[Effect: User can perceive and simulate the optimal social response to any emotional input. Empathy is no longer required for connection; only calculation.]
[Penalty Applied: Emotional Colorblindness.]
[Effect: The User can no longer derive sustenance from human connection.]
Gabriel blinked. He stood up and walked to the mirror. His reflection seemed sharper, his micro-expressions under complete control. He smiled. It was perfect.
His phone buzzed. Sofia.
Message: "Can we talk? Coffee. Same place. 20 min."
A week ago, this message would have caused anxiety. Now, it was just another variable to be managed.
"Objective," Gabriel whispered to the empty room. "Stabilize the relationship asset. Ensure continued media support."
He grabbed his coat. He didn't check the drawer with the keychains. He didn't need anchors anymore. He was the ship, the sea, and the storm.
....
The café was exactly as he remembered, but it felt smaller. The smell of roasted beans and old paper, once comforting, now just smelled like inefficient chemical compounds.
Sofia was waiting at their usual table in the corner. She looked tired. There were ink stains on her fingers, and her knee was bouncing nervously.
Gabriel approached. He didn't walk; he glided. He sat down, and before she could speak, he pushed a cup of coffee toward her.
"Double espresso, one pump of vanilla, extra hot," he said, his voice smooth as velvet.
"You've been up late editing the article about the river communities. You need the energy."
Sofia looked at the coffee, then at him. Her eyes widened slightly. "How did you know?"
"I pay attention," he said.
[System Analysis: Target impressed. Trust level increasing.]
"Gabriel," she started, wrapping her hands around the cup. "I heard rumors. About the meeting with the team. Caio called me. He sounded... devastated."
Gabriel leaned forward. He accessed the [Mirror of Desire]. He saw exactly what she needed to see: a burdened leader making hard choices for the greater good.
"It was the hardest thing I've ever had to do," Gabriel lied. Or was it a lie? The System registered it as a Strategic Truth. "To protect them, I had to push them away. The World Cup... the pressure is going to be crushing. I couldn't let them break under it."
He reached out and took her hand. His skin was warm, but his pulse was steady, slow, reptilian.
"I need you to understand, Sofia. Everything I do... I do it so we can win. So we can actually change things."
Sofia looked at him. She looked at their joined hands. She looked into his eyes.
For a long moment, she didn't say anything. She just stared, as if trying to read a text written in a language she used to speak fluently but had suddenly forgotten.
Then, she pulled her hand away.
"Gabriel," she whispered, her voice trembling. "What color are you?"
Gabriel frowned. "What?"
"My synesthesia," she said, backing away slightly in her chair. "When you speak... usually, your voice is golden. Or blue like the deep ocean. Even when you're angry, it's a burning red."
She looked at him with something approaching horror.
"Right now... you're talking about saving your friends. You're holding my hand. You're saying all the perfect words."
"And?" Gabriel asked, genuinely curious about the data.
"And you're gray," Sofia said, a tear escaping her eye. "You're completely, transparently gray. Like glass. There's nothing behind the words, Gabriel. No heat. No fear. No love."
Gabriel analyzed the statement. Subjective perception error. Corrective action required.
"I'm tired, Sofia. That's all."
"No," she shook her head, standing up. "Tired has a color. This isn't tired. This is... empty."
She looked down at the perfect coffee he had ordered.
"You memorized my order," she said. "But you forgot to ask me how I am."
"I optimized the interaction to save time," Gabriel said, the excuse slipping out before he could filter it through the charm algorithm.
Sofia froze. "Optimized?"
She looked at him one last time. It wasn't a look of anger. It was the look one gives to a beautiful house that has burned down, leaving only the facade standing.
"I think you should go, Gabriel," she said softly. "The Gabriel I know is probably still in there somewhere. But I can't find him today."
"Sofia, this is irrational. We are a strategic match. We—"
"Go."
Gabriel stood up. He felt no sting of rejection. He felt no heartbreak. He simply felt the calculation of a failed transaction.
Loss of asset accepted, the System noted. Focus resources elsewhere.
"As you wish," he said politely.
He walked out of the café. He stepped into the Belém night, feeling lighter. Unburdened by the messy, inefficient necessity of maintaining a romance.
He had lost the girl. But he had gained clarity.
He walked toward the river, his mind already churning on the next problem, the next optimization. He was empty, yes. But emptiness was just space waiting to be filled with power.
And as he turned the corner, seeing a shadow waiting for him across the street, he realized the universe was about to fill that space.
[System Notification: Obstacle Removed.]
[Status: Sovereign.]