Far in the north lies an isolated metropolis known as the City of Darkness, where one supreme law reigns: No love.
Love wasn't a fairy tale whispered to children at bedtime; it was a terminal disease. A malignant plague that had to be eradicated at its roots. Here, natural colors had been wiped from existence, leaving nothing but the cold gray of concrete and the sickly reflections of blue and red neon lights emanating from the System's screens.
Here in the City of Darkness, love is the first and only enemy. The Central System made sure every citizen understood this absolute truth, broadcasting it as a silent frequency directly into the microchips embedded in the backs of their necks: Affection is treason. Obedience is survival.
In this cold, metallic world, marriages weren't born from stolen glances or racing hearts. They were cold mathematical equations, precise algorithms calculated by the Main Server and forced upon citizens on their twentieth birthday. Genetic compatibility: 99.9%. Emotional connection: 0.00%.
It was either absolute obedience and loyalty to the System, or certain death.
Under the capital's sunless sky, heavy rain poured down, washing the glossy asphalt streets in hues of blue and red neon.
"Sir. The targets are cornered in Sector Four, the dead-end alley."
The crisp, disciplined voice cut through the endless drone of the rain.
Jin stood in the middle of the dark alley, his long black leather trench coat blending seamlessly with the surrounding shadows as if he were a part of them. He was noticeably tall, projecting a commanding presence over the area. He possessed an attractive olive complexion that broke the capital's usual pallor, and silver-gray hair with wet strands clinging to his forehead. He didn't blink as the rain slid down his sharp jawline and features, carved like a statue of black ice. His dark eyes, like two wells of absolute emptiness, reflected nothing but the cold glow of the city.
Beside him stood Mika—Inspector No. 7. She possessed a cold, calculated, mechanical beauty, sharp as a surgical scalpel. Her short black hair was cut with precise, geometric sharpness that allowed not a single strand to rebel, and her gray eyes resembled security camera lenses, devoid of any warmth or hesitation. She adjusted the collar of her strict military uniform, which didn't have a single crease, maintaining a rigid posture and a perfectly straight back that complied flawlessly with the System's protocols.
Mika swiped her slender finger through the air. Instantly, a transparent blue screen materialized, floating in the void. Her lips curled into a faint sneer of disgust as she read the glowing data. "Their Affection Index suddenly spiked to 15% an hour ago. They were caught holding hands in the public square. A sickening biological anomaly that threatens the stability of the capital."
In the corner of the dead-end alley, their love glowed like a final ember refusing to die out in a city of iron and ice. It wasn't a romance adorned with forgotten poetry, but a silent, desperate crime; just trembling fingers interlocking tightly beneath wet gray coats, and stolen glances carrying a warmth that defied the frost of the City of Darkness. They knew very well that every racing heartbeat recorded by their chips was a countdown to their inevitable death. Yet, they chose to taste this forbidden warmth for just a few seconds. In their final embrace under the rain, they preferred dying as humans burning with emotion over living as extinguished machines waiting to rust.
"Please!" the young man cried out, his voice trembling as tears mixed with the rainwater on his face, looking toward Jin. "We haven't hurt anyone! Just let us leave the capital! We'll go to the Wastelands, just please don't kill her!"
Jin raised his right hand, agonizingly slow.
He didn't care about the young man's cries, nor did he even glance at the girl weeping silently. He moved his fingers in the air, and with a faint hum, his personal interface appeared. It wasn't blue like the rest of humanity's. It was a holographic screen glowing in black and gold, hovering above his leather glove. It was the seal of absolute power, the "Administrator" screen... the mark of Inspector No. 1.
Jin coldly shifted his gaze to the bottom corner of his golden screen, where the most important statistic of his entire existence was displayed:
[Jin - Affection Index: 0.00%]
Absolute perfection. A flawless machine.
"Anomalies exist to be erased."
Jin's voice came out rough, low, and colder than a blizzard. There was no hint of anger in it, no sadism, just complete emptiness. He slowly lowered his hand, and his golden screen flashed with a crimson execution command. "Execute the purge protocol."
A flash of violent white light illuminated the alley for a fraction of a second, accompanied by the terrifying sound of an electrical discharge. When the light faded, there was no trace of the young man and the girl. Only a pile of black ashes melting quickly under the acidic raindrops.
[Mission Accomplished: Emotional anomaly purged successfully][Reward: +50 System Loyalty Points][Total Balance: 99,900 / 100,000 Points][Alert: You are only 100 points away from reaching the rank of "Absolute Guardian"]
Mika closed her blue screen with a swift motion and bowed her head with blind respect. "A successful purge operation, sir. The System commends your efficiency."
Jin turned to leave the alley, his steps measured and rhythmic. But, before he could take his third step, he froze in his tracks.
Ding!
The sharp robotic sound echoed directly inside his skull. It wasn't a standard police precinct notification. This deep chime came directly from the Main Server of the Supreme Leader, Zoro.
The golden screen expanded in front of his face, displaying flashing red letters:
[SSS-Level Alert: Unknown and intense emotional energy detected.][Location: The Forgotten Outer Sector (Village No. 9 - Village of the Outcasts).][Entity Status: Error 404 - Not registered in the database.][Mandatory Mission: Proceed to the location immediately. Analyze the software glitch. Execute immediate termination.]
"Sir?" Mika asked in surprise, noticing his sudden halt.
"Prepare the field vehicle," Jin said without turning to look at her, his eyes still glued to the red letters. "Our destination is outside the capital's walls."
The journey to the forgotten sector only took half an hour, but it was enough to transport Jin to a completely different world.
The moment the sharp-edged black vehicle landed on the outskirts of the village, Jin opened the door and stepped out. He paused for a moment. His senses, accustomed to the smells of chemical sanitizers and engine oils in the capital, were suddenly under attack.
There was no acidic rain here. The smell of damp earth filled the air, mixed with the scent of burning wood nearby. There were no neon lights, but real, warm, yellow sunlight hitting his pale face for the first time in years. The sounds of strange insects, the rustling of leaves... everything here was chaotic, unorganized, and alive in a way that deeply disturbed his internally programmed precision.
Jin walked with heavy steps through the dirt paths of the village. As soon as they saw his long black coat and the golden System badge on his chest, the villagers began to back away in terror. Mothers hid their children, as if they were seeing the Angel of Death walking before them, and men bowed their heads, their eyes glued to the ground, terrified of making eye contact that could mean execution.
The place reeked of fear. Everyone ran to their homes to hide; some actively avoided looking at Jin, women fled, children cried, men trembled. This fear was nothing new to Jin; he was used to it. The fear that confirmed to him that the System was operating efficiently.
But, as he passed through the small village square, searching for the source of the "glitch" the System had indicated, his footsteps suddenly stopped.
There, near an old well deep in the forest, she stood.
A vibrant masterpiece amidst the grayness of existence. Her long blonde hair, smooth as polished glass and soft as luxurious silk, cascaded down her shoulders and back like a tranquil waterfall of liquid gold.
She wore a simple linen dress. She wasn't afraid. She wasn't looking at the ground. She tilted her head up toward the sky, holding a small wild flower in her hand... and she was laughing. And her eyes... they were two deep lakes of clear sky-blue, shining with a brilliance Jin had never seen in the eyes of the capital's citizens. Her pure, milk-white skin reflected the warm light, highlighting a slender figure and a captivating body that pulsed with supreme natural femininity, despite the simplicity of her rough linen clothes which failed to hide the contours of her attractive figure.
Her melodic laughter, pure and free of any restraints, pierced the terrified silence of the village like a forbidden magic spell bringing the dead back to life. He had never seen this combination of beauty and boldness on a human face. In the capital, beauty was artificial, and the muscles responsible for smiling had atrophied in citizens generations ago. He automatically raised his hand to open his golden screen, pointing the scanning system at her to read her data and identify her as a "virus" for termination.
But, the moment his cold glass eyes met her blue eyes shining with life, something impossible happened.
Thump.
A powerful, sudden, and violent beat echoed in Jin's chest. It wasn't an electronic sound. It was his real heart, the biological muscle he had forgotten existed, slamming against his ribs with a force that almost broke them.
His eyes widened in shock. He felt a strange heat, hot and stinging, rushing through his veins and flowing to the tips of his fingers. His breathing, which had always been calm and calculated, suddenly became heavy and erratic. A suffocating feeling of anxiety, confusion, and something else he had never experienced in his entirely programmed life began to invade his nervous system. It was as if he were being electrocuted from the inside out.
He clutched his chest with his left hand, taking a half-step back while his eyes remained locked on Julia, his right hand still raised in the air.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
The sound of the System's alarm in his head was no longer a calm chime; it had become a frantic, continuous screaming. He struggled to look at his golden screen, which had always been the symbol of his stability and perfection.
The screen was no longer golden.!!!!