Jin's hand froze in mid-air. That voice... it was terrifyingly familiar. He turned around incredibly slowly, his golden screen still illuminating his suddenly pale face.
There she was, falling to her knees in the rough dirt. Julia!
His field of vision began to drown in a flood of crimson red. A rapid, hysterical flashing took over, and the counters jumped wildly: [Emotion Index: 0.12... 0.15... 0.20...]. His metallic heart, which had known nothing but frost, began to beat violently against his chest, as if trying to break his ribs to reach her.
"Please..." Julia whispered, her tears burning the dirt as she looked directly into his dark eyes.
Jin's fingers, extended toward the father, trembled. In his mind, the System's orders screamed: Exterminate, exterminate, exterminate! But his hand refused to obey. He fell into a deadly hesitation, breathing heavily, looking back and forth between the trembling father and the girl who had melted his system, while his red screen warned of an imminent explosion.
And suddenly... Zzzzzzt!
An intensely hot blue laser beam pierced the father's chest from behind.
Julia's eyes widened in deadly shock. Her scream was cut off in her throat as she watched her father fall face down, motionless, with black ash rising from his body.
Jin spun around in sharp shock. From the shadows of the mountain trees stepped Kyle. His thermal gun was still smoking, and a cold, provoking smile split his face.
"What did you do, Kyle?!" Jin yelled in a hoarse voice, forgetting his cold Inspector mask for a moment. "This mission was mine!"
Kyle laughed with absolute coldness, blowing the smoke from the barrel of his gun. He stepped forward slowly and arrogantly until he stood next to the corpse, looking at Jin with disdain. "You were too slow, Number 1. The System does not wait for those who hesitate."
Kyle spat on the ground near Jin's feet and added with a tone full of disgust, "You disgust me, Jin. The rumors are true then... you've started to rust."
Kyle turned around and left to report his success, leaving Jin standing in the middle of the chaos, while Julia screamed hysterically, holding her father's burning body.
Jin realized the disaster he was in. Kyle would tell Zoro about his hesitation. He had to act immediately to save what was left, and to save this girl from being executed as an accessory to the target. With a swift, harsh movement—to hide his trembling hands from Mika's cameras in the vehicle—Jin grabbed Julia by the arm and pulled her up forcefully, activating magnetic cuffs around her wrists.
"The rebel target has been eliminated," Jin said in a loud, robotic voice for the System to pick up. "This girl will be transported alive. My system detected a rare anomaly in her data... I will present her to the Supreme Leader as a test subject."
Throughout the journey back to the capital, Jin didn't say a word. Julia cried silently in the back, and every sob from her was like a stab in his chest.
As soon as he arrived at headquarters, Jin headed with heavy, measured steps toward the metallic throne room. He knew Kyle had beaten him to it.
Supreme Leader Zoro was sitting in the dark, his eyes gleaming with suppressed anger. "Does Inspector No. 1 now need someone to finish his missions for him?" Zoro's voice echoed in the hall, terrifying as usual.
Jin took a knee, keeping his facial expression like a block of ice. "My absolute loyalty is to you, sir. I was not hesitating; I was evaluating the situation tactically. The target was not just a rebel, and the girl with him carries ancient codes. If I had fired immediately, we would have destroyed valuable data. I let Kyle do the dirty work, and I brought you the real prize for interrogation."
Zoro stayed silent for a long time, scrutinizing Jin's face as if looking for a hidden lie. Finally, he spoke slowly: "A tactically acceptable excuse... but I do not accept excuses twice. Take the girl to the medical wing immediately. I want to know everything about this 'anomaly'. Dr. Aris is waiting for you."
In the medical wing, sterile and white as death, stood Dr. Aris. He was a very calm man, wearing a crisp white coat and smart medical glasses reflecting streams of data.
Jin walked in carrying Julia in his arms; she was in a semi-coma from the shock. He placed her on the bed.
"A new sample?" Aris asked coldly, passing a scanner over Julia's head. Suddenly, the doctor's hand stopped. Terrifying numbers reflected on the glass of his lenses.
Aris turned slowly toward Jin, a strange glint appearing in his eyes. Then, in a swift, unexpected move, Aris pressed a hidden button under his table. The security cameras in the room shut off, and the room's lighting shifted to a dim blue.
"What are you doing?!" Jin immediately placed his hand on his weapon.
"Disabling the surveillance for sixty seconds," Aris said in a calm, entirely different voice, free of the robotic tone. Aris approached Jin bravely, looking directly into his dark eyes. "I can see your red screen, Jin. I see your racing pulse on my monitors... and I know you didn't kill her because you couldn't."
Jin's jaw clenched. "One more word and I will shoot you dead for treason."
Aris gave a faint, reassuring smile. "Kill me, and Zoro will know that Number 1 has a heart. Don't worry, Jin. I am not Zoro's hound. I belong to the 'Forgotten Cell'. We are a secret organization inside the capital, waiting years for this day."
Aris pointed toward the collapsed Julia. "The girl you saved... her energy is capable of destroying the entire central chip of the capital. She is the key to bringing down this cursed system. And you... you are not just a glitch. You are the shield chosen by fate to protect her."
The room's lighting returned to its harsh, normal white, and the cameras turned back on at the exact moment Aris took two steps back, returning to his cold mask.
"The girl is stable, Inspector," Aris said in a loud voice for Zoro to hear through the system. "I will need your personal cooperation. She will stay under your guard in your private quarters, and we will conduct daily experiments on her... for the Leader."
Jin stood stunned in silence. He had walked into this room to hide his lie, only to find himself entangled in a massive conspiracy to bring down the world he had spent his life serving.