No one knows who "X" is.He has no face. No voice. He gives no speeches, appears on no screens, does not walk among us. And yet, he rules everything.They say he has been in power forever. Or at least, since before anyone can remember. The streets of the city are built under his name, his shadow, his order. There are no elections, no protests, no need—according to them. People call him "X" because he doesn't even have a real name. Only a symbol. An unknown that no one dares to solve.And yet, life goes on.Because it has always been this way.
My name is Eran, and I am absolutely nobody.I live in Zone 3, the middle part of the city of Nivalis.Each Zone is internally divided into sectors and levels, up to a maximum of 20 per Zone. It's not something they teach at school, but everyone knows: the lower the level, the older and more forgotten the place.These levels don't change your social status—a person from Zone 3 is still from Zone 3, whether you live on Level 2 or 18—but they do determine things like access to services, proximity to transport centers, or simply whether the lights flicker at night.It's an elegant way of saying: "You're part of the system, but not important enough to be on top."And if for some reason you ever wanted to disappear without anyone noticing your absence… the lower levels are perfect for that.
Zone 3 is not luxurious, but it's not a hole like Zone 5 either. Here, the light is stable, food is enough, and the public school is decent. No one kills themselves trying to get out of here, but there aren't many reasons to stay either.
I wake up every day at 6:00 a.m.I eat synthetic bread and a protein capsule.I walk alone to the station, where the automated voice reminds me that "efficiency is progress."Then I go to school, where I get average grades, listen to average lessons, and sit among people just as average as I am.
I don't have epic traumas.I don't have hidden abilities.I have no enemies, no allies, no buried secrets in my past.I am, in short, just another NPC.
The city is divided into five vertical zones, like rings rotating around an invisible core:
Zone 1: Where the richest live. White towers, flying cars, floating gardens. You almost never see them on the street.
Zone 2: Professionals, engineers, scientists. Everything is automated, clean, and bright.
Zone 3: Us. Office workers, teachers, technicians, students. The middle point of everything.
Zone 4: People who work nonstop. Factories, maintenance, transport. Crowded, but still inside the system.
Zone 5: Outcasts. No one goes there by choice. Not even the patrols. They have no access to the networks or services. They say the zone is "closed for maintenance," but we all know that's a lie.
The only law is Silence.You don't speak ill of "X." You don't ask questions. You don't look for history.School makes it clear: what happened before "X" doesn't matter. Only stability matters. Peace.No one is interested in breaking what already works.Or at least, that's what I thought.
Today was a normal day… until I found the sheet.It was between the pages of my notebook, though I swear I hadn't put it there.A yellow, crumpled sheet, with a single word written in black ink:"Remember."And beneath it, a symbol I had never seen before: a circle crossed by a jagged line.It wasn't an official message. It wasn't a joke. It was… something else.
I hid the sheet before anyone else could see it.And for the first time in a long while, I felt something move inside me. Something small, but real.Curiosity.
In a city where nothing changes, where everything follows a perfect cycle, a sheet out of place is the most dangerous thing you can find.I didn't know it then, but that word—"Remember"—would be the beginning of the end.And I, a simple nobody, would be dragged into history against my will.
End of Chapter 1