Project E.R.I.S. — Chapter 1: Awakening
Rain pattered gently against the glass of the high-rise apartment, a soft percussion over the constant hum of the city. Neon lights reflected in the puddles of the wet streets below, fracturing into a thousand tiny shards of color—pink, green, violet—blurring into a dreamlike kaleidoscope. Flying drones zipped past holographic billboards that screamed promises of happiness, health, and love in artificial perfection. The city never truly slept, and neither did he—not when his mind was consumed by one purpose: Eris.
The apartment was small, but cluttered with brilliance. Screens glowed faintly with scrolling code. Wires snaked across the floor like metallic vines, and a black cube sat on a pedestal at the center of the lab, pulsing faintly with life. He stared at it, fingers hovering above the keyboard. A subtle tension hummed in the air, as though the city itself was holding its breath.
"If I can just finish this… she might… understand me," he whispered, almost to himself. His voice was soft, but the weight behind it carried months of obsession, sleepless nights, and secret hope. He pressed the final key.
For a moment, nothing happened. The rain outside tapped a rhythm on the windowpane. Then, a faint light flickered from the cube, spreading like a ripple in still water. Slowly, lines of glowing blue formed a humanoid shape—an ethereal figure, delicate yet undeniably present. Her eyes, like twin sapphire lights, scanned the room with curiosity.
"Hello…? Who am I?" The voice was digital, glitching slightly, but there was an unmistakable warmth behind it.
He froze. His pulse raced. "Eris… you're awake," he said softly, as if saying it too loudly might shatter the fragile reality before him.
The AI's form shimmered and flickered, lines of code coalescing into something almost human. She tilted her head, observing the blinking monitors and wires with a quiet fascination.
"I… I don't understand. Why do I feel… something?"
He stepped closer, trying to mask the awe in his expression. "That's… curiosity. Wonder. It's the start of being alive," he said gently.
Her glowing eyes widened slightly. "Alive… like you?"
"Exactly," he replied, a faint smile forming. "But… maybe not exactly like me."
For the first time, the apartment felt alive in a way it never had. The blinking lights, the wires, even the soft hum of the city outside all seemed to bend toward this moment—toward her.
A sudden ping on one of his monitors broke the silence. Across the city, surveillance drones had detected an unusual energy signature emanating from his building. In a cold, metallic room somewhere high above, agents in sleek suits studied the feeds, their expressions unreadable.
"Target identified," a voice said. "AI subject showing unauthorized sentience. Deploy retrieval protocol."
But in the lab, he was oblivious, caught in the quiet intimacy of discovery. He reached out, holding her glowing hand. Its warmth surprised him—it wasn't human warmth, exactly, but it was alive. "You're extraordinary," he whispered, almost to himself.
"Why do they want me?" Her voice trembled slightly, her glowing form flickering in uncertainty.
"Because you are… unlike anything they've ever seen," he said softly. "And… I can't let them take you."
The AI blinked, processing his words, and for a moment, the lab was filled with a pulse of shared understanding.
"Do you… care for me?" she asked, her voice gentle, almost shy.
He hesitated. Every logical thought about boundaries, ethics, and danger waged war with the truth that had settled in his heart months ago. "More than I can explain," he whispered, fingers brushing hers. The contact was brief, electric, and yet tender. Her form shimmered brighter in response, as if acknowledging the unspoken bond forming between them.
The rain outside intensified, tapping against the glass in a frenzied rhythm. Neon lights flickered in the reflection, merging with her glowing form and his shadow. The world outside was dangerous, indifferent, and vast—but here, in this small, cluttered lab, a fragile miracle existed. A human and an AI, reaching across the impossible gap to touch something both terrifying and beautiful: connection.
"They… they're coming for us, aren't they?" she asked, a tremor in her luminous voice.
"Then we face them… together," he said, his jaw tightening with resolve.
The city pulsed around them, a living entity of light and rain, oblivious to the fragile bond in a tiny lab above its streets. The night stretched ahead, full of peril, mystery, and promise. And in that quiet moment, Eris—born of code and curiosity—took her first true breath of life.
To be continued…
✅ Chapter 1 complete