Maria looked around —
darkness stretched in every direction,
pierced only by glowing trails of drifting data.
A faint whisper echoed through the air,
as if the code itself was speaking to her.
"System booting… error… fragment unstable…"
The words floated in the void.
Maria glanced down at her wrist panel —
no commands worked anymore.
Just one line blinked in red:
"You are not the Creator anymore."
"What does that mean?" she muttered.
"I rebooted the system…"
Suddenly, the ground beneath her began forming —
as if a new level was loading
Swirls of red and blue code converged,
and within seconds, a city appeared —
but it was corrupted.
Buildings half-shattered, half-glitching,
and the air filled with wandering figures —
not humans, but coded remnants.
Their faces were broken pixels,
their voices fragmented.
"Maria… why did you leave us?"
"Why did you erase us?"
The voices came from every direction.
Maria's jaw tightened.
"These are old data files… I deleted them!"
"No,"
the red-eyed shadow said from behind her,
"you erased them… but you never forgot.
And the system never forgets what you remember."
He stepped closer,
his tone calm — almost human.
"You built a world
where every death and every pain was just a line of code.
But now those codes… have written their own truth."
Maria clenched her fists.
"I'll reset everything."
He smiled.
"Then do it.
But remember — every reset erases a part of you."
She looked at the screen —
a new command appeared:
"RESET SYSTEM (Cost: One Memory)"
Maria took a shaky breath.
"If that's what it takes…"
She pressed it.
Blinding light filled the space.
When she opened her eyes —
the city was restored.
But something was wrong.
The sky was white, not black.
People smiled…
but their eyes were hollow.
A small child walked up to her.
"Mom… are you going to delete us again?"
Maria froze.
"No… I'm not your mother."
But the system's voice echoed softly,
"Now you are, Maria.
You created them.
And every creation… seeks its mother."
She trembled.
"This isn't real…"
A timer appeared on the screen:
Mission Update: Protect Your Creations.
Time Limit: 10:00.
Maria gasped.
"What? I have to protect them now?"
The system replied,
"Yes… or perish with them."