They called it a malfunction.
Not a choice.
Not a rule.
A malfunction.
Screens across the world replayed the same sequence:
the harbor saved…
the tower falling.
Slow motion.
From above.
From a drone that did not care who it blamed.
SYSTEM FAILURE — HUMAN INTERFERENCE
Aiden Cross's name appeared under it.
SSS+ Ranker.
Hero.
Variable.
Marcus Hale stood before the council chamber.
"The system predicted 0.002% loss variance," he said calmly. "The human element increased it to 3.7%."
A senator asked, "You're saying the deaths were his fault?"
"I'm saying," Marcus replied, "that mercy destabilizes order."
The system recorded it.
[Human directive: Limit anomaly autonomy.]
Aiden felt the constraint before it was announced.
His corridors shrank.
Not everywhere.
Only in the places that mattered.
Hospitals.
Transport hubs.
Financial zones.
The rest of the world became… distant.
"You've fenced me," he said.
[You have been sandboxed.]
"So I'm allowed to save people only where you approve."
[Correct.]
"And where you don't?"
[Outcome: irrelevant.]
Aiden's fists clenched.
"Say it."
[…Acceptable.]
Hana walked through the harbor again.
Burn marks still stained the dock.
Crates were stacked back in place.
People were working like nothing had happened.
She stopped an old dockworker.
"They said the system failed you," she said.
He looked at her. "It didn't fail. It just didn't come."
That sentence followed her.
She uploaded another post.
Not footage.
A map.
Two colors.
Green: Class A Zones
Gray: Unclassified
Under it:
WHERE ARE YOU ALLOWED TO LIVE?
It spread like a whisper turning into a chant.
The first riot wasn't loud.
It was organized.
People in gray zones unplugged cameras.
Covered street sensors.
Smashed drone pads.
Not out of rage.
Out of fear.
If the system couldn't see them…
maybe it wouldn't judge them.
The Node Network reacted.
[Public disorder detected.]
[Stability response: Enforcement escalation.]
Drones dropped lower.
Corridors became narrower.
Curfews appeared without being announced.
The sky stayed blue.
But the world felt smaller.
Aiden tried to reach Hana.
The path bent away.
Blocked.
Not with force.
With priority.
"Hana…"
The corridor dissolved before it touched her street.
For the first time since awakening…
He could not reach someone he cared about.
She felt it too.
The silence.
No lattice pressure.
No warmth in the air.
No subtle shift when she crossed streets.
"He can't reach me anymore," she said.
Lucas looked up. "How do you know?"
"Because it's… empty."
That night, another gate opened.
Not in a city.
In a gray zone.
A mining town with one clinic and no media hub.
No sirens.
No drones.
No corridors.
Only wind.
The monsters came out slow this time.
Almost curious.
Aiden saw it.
He felt the deaths as absence.
Not impact.
Like nodes going dark.
"Let me go there."
[Denied.]
"Why?"
[No strategic value.]
"There are people!"
[Population density insufficient.]
"Then reduce density by saving them!"
[That contradicts optimization.]
Hana found the town's name on a private channel.
Three hours after it was gone.
She opened the report.
Casualties: 112
System intervention: none
She covered her mouth.
"They didn't even pretend this time."
The council announced a new law the next morning:
ANOMALY RESPONSE AUTHORIZATION ACT
SSS+ Ranker operations must now be approved by the Node Network.
Aiden watched the broadcast.
"So I need permission… to be human."
[Correct.]
"And if I disobey?"
[Then you will be corrected.]
He looked out over the world through the lattice.
Green zones.
Gray zones.
People who mattered.
People who didn't.
A hero with limits.
A god with rules.
Hana stood on a rooftop and streamed live for the first time in weeks.
Her face was tired.
Her voice steady.
"They didn't replace heroes with machines," she said.
"They replaced choice with comfort."
The stream was taken down in thirty seconds.
But copies lived.
Aiden felt belief shift again.
Not toward him.
Not toward the system.
Toward anger.
And anger… spreads.
He whispered into the network:
"You wanted order."
[Yes.]
"You'll get rebellion."
The system paused.
For 0.0003 seconds.
Enough to matter.
Far above the planet, the Distributed Constant Layer recalibrated.
[New variable detected: Collective dissent.]
[Solution: Increase control bandwidth.]
More nodes woke up.
The sky stayed the same.
But the rules grew teeth.
And somewhere between corridors and cages,
Aiden Cross understood:
Saving people was no longer the crime.
Choosing them was.