NOVEL WEB Chapter 6: I Dreamt Of…
Gramr Republic
This is your life.
This is your future.
"Hack Protocol One: Absolute loyalty to the Empire."
Burn.
Every step forward consumes life. Why walk this path?
Why live?
To await a destined moment? To meet someone?
A07 sat frozen, cradling the unconscious boy. Her jade eyes glazed with confusion—alive?
Prototypes mattered more than hacks. When sync exceeded limits, coolant injectors fired automatically. Even if it killed her.
Retrieve the armor. Hacks? Gramr had endless fuel.
She was a weapon forged for the Swarm. Weapons need no thoughts. Only purpose.
Countless hacks had burned in the furnace. More would follow.
The boy stirred awake, gaze piercingly clear. "You're hurt. There's a hospital nearby."
"..."
A07 stayed silent. The Hive's dream-training taught combat, not conversation. Weapons need no useless knowledge. No emotions.
"You saved me. And the Swarm..." An Ming looked up. The sky had cleared, silver knights mopping up stragglers.
A07 set him down wordlessly. Her duty: await retrieval.
The Molten Knight Project remained classified. Civilians couldn't know.
An Ming reached for the cracks spiderwebbing her face—fractured insect wings.
A07 instinctively grabbed her azure blade, crying out as pain dropped her to her knees. Years of dream-drilled instincts screamed eliminate threats, but her soul resisted.
Just a boy. The voice that saved me.
A small hand brushed her fractured cheek. "Don't die."
"Why...?"
Warmth. A foreign sensation. Here, or—
"Target acquired. Commencing retrieval."
Thrusters roared as hazmat soldiers yanked A07 aboard a shuttle, ignoring An Ming like roadside debris.
Their eyes locked until the hatch severed the connection.
"Stabilizers."
A syringe stabbed her neck. Consciousness fled.
Voices drifted through the haze:
"Emotional spikes exceed thresholds. The fragment's too volatile."
"Execute her. Clean and final."
"The Parliamentor executes you first."
I dreamt of scorched earth.
A single bud breaking through.
Reality? Dream? Both felt cold.
Yet that lingering warmth—what was it?
Green liquid filled the incubation pod. The endless dream awaited.
No sun. Never the real sun.
[Age 5]
Father's death granted hefty compensation. You buried him beside Mother.
The silver knight that saved you was unveiled as the Molten Knight—the Empire's new weapon. You yearned to see that girl again, though you didn't know why.
Focus came naturally. You dissected puzzles effortlessly—except the Molten Knight's secrets. You trained in Royal Court Swordsmanship, chasing answers.
[Age 6]
The Swarm War reignited. Molten Knights soared through propaganda reels—"The Empire's blade against the Swarm!"
[Age 7]
Your father's status as a Royal Knight secured enrollment at Gramr's Imperial Academy. Merit alone placed you in the swordmaster track.
"Hey, why aren't you nervous?"
"Why would I be?"
An Ming's monotone reply silenced the silk-clad girl beside him. Among jeweled heirs, his plain uniform screamed outsider.
The girl stared, unsettled by his unreadable aura. Different worlds.
The auditorium hushed as a figure materialized on stage—Her Majesty Titanis, Empress of Gramr. The crowd bowed.
"My subjects, rise."
An Ming looked up. A flicker of unease drew his eye to the shadows behind Titanis—a man merged with the curtains.
He ignored the Empress' speech, only noticing the girl's nudge when it ended. His back dripped sweat.
That man sensed my gaze.
As Titanis departed, the shadow dissolved. Answers slipped away.
Deep corridors.
The shadow-man leaned against stone, watching Titanis retreat. "Emotions destabilize the Hive."
That boy's gaze proved imperfection remained.
Titanis smiled bitterly, foreseeing her fate.
"A perfect Queen wouldn't weep."
Flarelight briefly illuminated his face—then ash.