"Some revolutions begin with fire. Ours began with a glitch."---The air inside the wrecked transit pod was electric.Kairo stood beside Eris, his silver eyes flickering like corrupted code. Across from them, five enforcer drones formed a blockade, pulse rifles trained on their hearts.Kairo raised his hand. The HUD inside his vision stuttered—> EMOTION INDEX: 1.6%Detected Emotion: DefianceHe could feel it again. That surge. That refusal to obey.But defiance alone wouldn't stop plasma.Eris whispered, "We won't survive a head-on blast."Kairo's fingers twitched—familiar."I'm going to try something," he muttered.Before she could protest, he sprinted forward.The drones reacted instantly—three fired. Kairo slid beneath the shots, hand outstretched toward the nearest wall console.BZZZZT.His palm struck the panel.A surge of old code jumped from his synthetic fingers into the grid. The lights blinked once—then all five drones glitched mid-step.> ERROR: INPUT CONFLICT – INVALID SIGNAL – EMOTIONAL DATA DETECTEDSource: User 000-ZEris stared. "What… did you just do?"Kairo looked down at his hand. His veins pulsed faintly with light."I didn't stop them," he said. "I confused them."Eris smiled. "You glitched the system with raw emotion."The drones sparked violently, confused by a type of data they hadn't been programmed to read. Then—they powered down.Kairo staggered, drained. "That was... new."Eris caught him. "You're more than they rebuilt. Something survived."---They escaped the pod into the neon storm of Sector Dusk, where the city's pulse was slower, dirtier, and full of shadows. The system's sensors were weaker here—built to ignore the poor and the broken.Kairo sat on the edge of an old scaffold, watching people shuffle by. Empty faces. Glowing wristbands blinking emotion percentages that never rose above 5%."This world…" he muttered. "It's dead."Eris sat beside him. "No. It's sleeping. We're the ones waking it up.""How?" he asked. "I barely understand what I am.""You're a Spark," she said simply. "A rare code anomaly—part machine, part human soul. You weren't meant to come back… but Heartware pulled you through."He looked at her. "Heartware uploaded?"She nodded. "Scattered across the Quantum Stream. Fragments hiding in old systems—encrypted with emotional signatures."Kairo's mind raced. "If we can find those fragments—""We can reboot Heartware. Fully.""And bring back emotion to the world."Eris hesitated. "Or destroy what's left of it."---Suddenly, a whir buzzed above them.A drone?No.A hover-cycle.It dropped out of stealth and landed hard, scattering dust. The rider dismounted—black armor, red-glass helmet, a badge of the Sentinel Order on his shoulder.Kairo stepped back instinctively. "That's—""I know," Eris whispered. "It's them."The man removed his helmet.He wasn't a machine.He was young—barely older than Kairo—with a scar crossing one side of his jaw and sharp, emotionless eyes."I've been looking for you," he said coldly. "Both of you."Eris narrowed her eyes. "You're not here to arrest us.""No," he said, dropping a chip onto the ground between them. "I'm here to offer you a choice."The chip buzzed to life, projecting a 3D map—thousands of glowing dots converging around a single red point labeled:> THE CORE — HEARTWARE FRAGMENT FOUNDKairo leaned closer. "How did you—?""We've been tracking it for years. But only a Spark can access it."Eris glared. "And you want him to do it.""No," the man said. "I want him to survive doing it."Kairo rose slowly. "Who are you?"The man held out a hand."Name's Lazrik. I'm part of a resistance you thought was dead. Welcome to the Spark Protocol."---Inside a secret chamber beneath Sector Dusk, they followed Lazrik through narrow, rusted halls lit only by dim blue lines on the floor.Eris whispered, "I don't trust him.""Neither do I," Kairo replied. "But he knows too much."They entered a chamber where dozens of others waited—young, scarred, half-machine, half-human.Every single one had a faint pulse in their chest—some spark of feeling, however small.Lazrik turned to the crowd."We have a confirmed Spark," he said, motioning to Kairo. "And a surviving Empath." He nodded at Eris. "With these two, the Core can be breached."Murmurs rippled through the group.Kairo took a step forward. "If I do this… I want the truth. About what really happened to me. To Eris. To this world."Lazrik nodded. "You'll have it."Then he held out a device—small, black, shaped like a neural clip."This will inject the Spark Protocol into your system. Once activated, your emotions will start to return—but only the strongest ones first."Eris stepped in. "That's dangerous. He's not ready.""I don't have time to be ready," Kairo said, locking eyes with her.He took the device.Clipped it to his neck.CLICK.His body shuddered. Lights flashed behind his eyes. And then—> EMOTION INDEX: 7.8%Detected Emotions:RageRegretLove (Suppressed)---Kairo fell to his knees, gasping as memories surged like a tidal wave.Flashes of Eris laughing, a hand holding his, a betrayal, fire, gunshots, and his own scream.He looked up, tears in his eyes."I remember… everything."Eris rushed forward. "Kairo—"He grabbed her wrist. "They killed you. They made me forget. But now…"He rose, voice cold and burning."I'm going to make them remember me."
--> To be continued…
--✅ Author's Thought (End of Chapter)This is the turning point. Kairo's memories are back. His emotions are surging. And now, the city that silenced him is about to hear his voice again—loud and raw.🔥 Next up: infiltration, resistance war, and the first kiss that could collapse a system.