Chapter 1 The Return Long, long after the great war, John Denver felt his breathing quicken as he walked across the soft sand of the beach. It wasn’t the heat, nor exhaustion; it was the weight of a trembling inside him that he couldn’t control. This fair-haired man in his mid-thirties felt as though the sound of his heartbeat could be heard beneath the waves with every step he took. The moment he saw the blonde woman in her thirties sitting on a lounge chair, the world fell silent for an instant. She sat there squinting under the sun, as if she had been waiting for him for a very long time. When she noticed John, she first lifted her head, then quickly stood up. John, on the other hand, hesitated for a moment; the tangled emotions of seeing a familiar face again flickered in his eyes. The very next second, the woman started running. John didn’t move. As if, should he take another step, the image would dissolve and the dream would shatter… He only watched the approaching silhouett...

 Chapter 2 Cold Metal At the same time, far from the beach, in a building in a distant area, long-barreled rifles, pistols, automatic weapons, grenades, and various types of equipment hung in neat rows on shelves lining the walls of a room. The cold gleam of metal combined with the room’s white lighting, creating a sharp, sterile atmosphere. Everything was arranged flawlessly; not a single weapon had been left haphazardly. Nathan Langford, in his mid-thirties, stood in front of a rack and picked up a rifle. He tested its weight, checked the barrel, then glanced at another model right beside it. A few steps away, Salih Ahmed, a dark-haired man in his forties with closely cropped hair, was examining another weapon with the same level of care. Both men were fully geared up: bulletproof vests, knee pads, shoulder guards… Only their helmets were still off. The visors of those helmets were capable of detecting even the slightest movement behind 15 centimeters of concrete. Looking at the ...

 Chapter 3 Hot Contact The team piled into an armored vehicle bearing no national symbols, emblems, or identifying marks. From the outside, it was clearly a military vehicle, yet it was impossible to tell who it belonged to. Its steel plating, matte-black body, and heavy wheels reflected the seriousness of the operation. The vehicle slowly entered an area that looked like an abandoned industrial town. The surroundings were filled with wrecked vehicles that seemed to have been left there years ago. Burned-out chassis, toppled fences, shattered windows, rusted heaps of metal… Most of the streets were covered with trash and scattered pieces of scrap. The entire area was silent—an ominous, dangerous silence. When the team disembarked, the air felt heavy, as if no one had lived here for a long time. Helmets went on. Weapons were shouldered. The team leader gave a brief hand signal. Nathan, Salih, and the others moved forward in formation. After only a few steps, the silence was suddenly...

 Chapter 4 The Fall Positions had been taken. Everyone had readied their weapons behind whatever cover they could find—vehicles, piles of scrap, chunks of collapsed concrete. Gunfire echoed intermittently, ricocheting off metal surfaces and filling the area with sharp, biting noise. Gideon shouted loudly enough for the entire team to hear: “Nathan! Arch! You’re with me! We’re flanking from the rear!” Then he continued quickly: “Salih! Neil! You stay here! You’ll provide cover!” At those words, a faint smile appeared on Nathan’s face. In moments like this, his composure was almost habitual. Salih, on the other hand, immediately protested, clear displeasure on his face: “Damn it… why am I staying here? I can flank too!” Gideon’s voice hardened instantly; he spoke in a tone that allowed no argument: “Don’t get on my nerves, Salih! I have no intention of carrying your dead body back to base. Focus on staying alive and support us!” That was enough to silence Salih. Suppressing his anger...

 Chapter 5 Game Over Elsewhere, Salih and Neil—a dark-haired man in his early thirties with closely cropped hair—were slowly pushing forward from their positions. They returned fire against the incoming shots, finding new cover with every step. Their breathing was ragged, sweat streaming down their faces. Eventually, they managed to take several enemies out of the fight. But it was only a brief moment of silence. Then, a larger group appeared from behind. As the mass of shadows closed in, a storm of gunfire poured over them. Just as Neil was about to move to the next position, he was struck by a heavy blow to the shoulder and collapsed to the ground. The impact of the bullet left him unable to move. Now, Salih was the only one still standing. From a distance, he could see Arch still fighting, trying to hold the position near Nathan and Gideon. But the enemy was multiplying from every direction. There was nowhere left to run, nowhere left to hide. At that moment, another gunshot ran...

 Chapter 6 Hesitation John and Nadia left the beach together and walked toward the hotel where they were staying. The sound of their footsteps echoed in the quiet corridor. When they reached the door of the room, Nadia touched the lock, opened it, and turned to John, inviting him inside. As they entered the room together, a brief silence settled between them. It was a luxurious room with a view of the sea. John’s gaze wandered involuntarily over Nadia’s curves; every time he looked at her, a contradiction stirred inside him, a tension he couldn’t quite make sense of. The moment the door closed, Nadia wrapped her arms around John’s neck. She moved closer, her lips nearing his—so close they were almost touching—when John suddenly pulled back, panicked and uneasy. “You know…” he said, trying to steady his breath. “Since you left… I haven’t done this. Not once.” A mix of surprise and pleasure appeared on Nadia’s face. Her eyes widened slightly, then a warm smile spread across her lips....

 Chapter 7 Quantum Core In a wide control center illuminated by cold, bright lights, John’s face was visible on the screens through Nadia’s point of view. On another screen, the entire room could be seen—John and Nadia embracing each other. From that moment on, the rules prohibiting intrusion into user privacy were activated, and the visuals were removed. Along the walls, dozens of screens displayed graphs, signals, and streams of data. Engineers sat at rows of desks, headsets on, working. Some typed rapidly on keyboards, others monitored data flows, while a few focused intently on biometric charts. On the screens in front of them, the conversation between John and Nadia in the hotel room was streaming live, word for word. On a side panel, John’s heart rate, hormone levels, stress responses, and adrenaline flow were tracked through real-time graphs. On another screen appeared Nadia’s quantum processing traces: wavering, unstable, constantly shifting patterns. The extraordinarily co...

 Chapter 8 The Tic Adam stormed out of the central software room and moved quickly down the corridor. On the screen of the transparent tablet in his hand was an urgent message sent moments ago by one of the engineers. He scrolled through it again, his brows knitting even tighter. Problems were piling up one after another, and Adam Solberg felt himself being pushed further into a corner. Something was wrong—clearly wrong—and it unsettled him deeply. When he reached the door to the sterile zone, the sensors opened it automatically. The moment he stepped inside, the sharp smell of disinfectant hit his nose. This was the mechanical maintenance area for robots; smooth white walls, bright lights, and metallic surfaces illuminated everything with clinical precision. In the center of the room stood a large operating table. Lying on it was a naked male robot, its synthetic skin completely stripped away along the right shoulder and arm line. The mechanical skeleton beneath—hydraulic joints, ...

 Chapter 9 A Different Metabolism After Salih said, “I’m exiting the game under my QX23 reference,” the opposing faction member who had approached him took him by the arm and gently helped him to his feet. The moment Salih stood up, he instinctively checked his leg. The sharp pain caused by the bullet was still vivid in his mind, yet when he moved his leg, there was no problem at all. It was as if that terrible pain had never happened. He rotated his ankle, bent his knee. Everything was normal. Just then, Nathan, Gideon, and Arch walked over toward him. Neil joined them a moment later. Nathan—who minutes ago had looked like he was on the brink of death; Gideon—who had been shot in the chest… all of them were standing upright. There wasn’t a single wound on their bodies. A mix of shock and anger crossed Salih’s face. “Damn it!” he said through clenched teeth. “These new suits hurt like hell. This is insane…” Nathan raised the transparent tablet in his hand, a mocking smile on his fa...

 Chapter 10 Team Spirit The five-person group—three robots and two humans—returned to the vehicle they had arrived in after the simulation operation. Once they stowed their gear, weapons, and heavy equipment inside, they climbed in one by one. Arch took the driver’s seat. Gideon sat beside him in the front. In the back, Nathan and Salih sat next to each other, while Neil took the seat behind Arch, quiet as usual. The vehicle started moving. As the ruined scenery of the abandoned industrial zone slid past the windows, the atmosphere inside gradually calmed. Keeping his eyes on the road ahead, Gideon spoke: “Nathan… Salih… how long are you staying this time? Fifteen days again?” Salih kept watching the outside. Nathan let out a light breath. “Yeah,” he said. “We’re here for fifteen days. But next time might be a bit later. I don’t know about Salih, but for me it’s getting a little tight financially.” Salih turned his head toward Nathan. He paused for a moment, then burst out laughing...

 Chapter 11 Taste Receptors The vehicle headed toward the bar located just outside the abandoned town. From the outside, it looked like a rundown wooden building, but inside it was a hub where humans and robots involved in war simulations spent time together. Metallic and human-like voices blended into one another, making the walls of the bar vibrate with a constant hum. Quantum robots were nearly indistinguishable from humans, while deterministic robots were easier to recognize. The five-member team stepped inside the bar. Arch led the way, followed by Gideon, Nathan, Salih, and Neil. They found an empty table and sat down. Soon, a waitress approached. She wore a simple uniform, and from her expression alone, it was hard to tell who was human and who was a robot. She took their orders: Nathan asked for a foamy German beer. Salih ordered a whiskey. Neil chose a light drink. As for the other two robots at the table, the waitress didn’t ask any questions. She automatically placed ite...

 Chapter 12 The Breaking Point Evening had already fallen. The lights stretching along the shoreline cast trembling reflections across the surface of the sea. John and Nadia, dressed in elegant evening attire, walked toward the entrance of the luxury restaurant. Nadia’s dress shimmered gracefully as she moved, while John’s suit made him look even more composed than usual. As they stepped inside, a warm, dim atmosphere welcomed them. A male waiter immediately approached, bowing his head slightly with a polite smile. “Welcome. Please follow me to your reserved table.” The waiter led the way, and John and Nadia followed him to the sea-view section of the restaurant. Beyond the large glass windows, the darkness of the night was traced with delicate glimmers from the coastal lights. The soft sound of waves could be heard through the glass. The waiter gestured toward the table, inviting them to sit. Nadia smiled and took her seat. John sat across from her. The table had been prepared wit...

 Chapter 13 Intersection John was striding quickly toward the restaurant exit. Tension, determination, and pain were interwoven on his face. Just as he neared the door, two people walked in from outside. Salih and Nathan. As John passed by them, both men instinctively glanced at him. The tense, hurried demeanor of this unfamiliar man—and the emptiness in his gaze—caught their attention. But John said nothing, slipping past them and heading straight out. Nathan, having visited the place before as a tourist, had already witnessed a few tense incidents like this. Salih raised his eyebrows slightly. “Strange…” he murmured. For Salih, this was the first time he had encountered such a charged moment. Nathan shrugged, though the curiosity in his eyes was hard to hide. The waiter noticed them and approached. “Gentlemen, your table is ready,” he said. The waiter led the way, and Salih and Nathan followed him to their reserved table. As they sat down, the dim lighting of the restaurant made ...

 Chapter 14 Tsx-Nadia When John entered Adam’s imposing office, the door closed silently behind him. The room was vast; digital screens stretched along the walls, displaying continuously flowing data, algorithmic graphs, and live feeds of activities across the island. The most striking feature of the office was the massive glass wall. From there, nearly the entire island could be seen in a single panoramic view: the beach, residential buildings, green zones, the distant laboratory complex… everything looked as if it were held in the palm of one’s hand. Adam was seated in a large chair behind his desk. His hands were clasped together, his expression calm and controlled as he looked at John. John, on the other hand, was standing. Anger, disappointment, and pain were tangled across his face. He began to speak. “I… yes… I truly believed she would come back.” His breath trembled. “But no… there’s a puppet standing in front of me. And I couldn’t accept that.” Adam watched him without say...

 Chapter 15 A Tear After leaving Adam’s office with heavy steps, John passed through the door as it closed silently behind him. Inside, the room returned to its familiar stillness. Adam picked up the transparent tablet resting on his desk. A long list appeared on the screen: code names, version numbers, prototype identifiers… Each one carried the digital identity of a different unit, a different existence. He scrolled slowly. Then he found the line he was looking for. TSX – Nadia His finger hovered lightly over the name. He opened the related menu and activated several programming commands. Data streams poured down the screen like rain; indicators showed network connections being reconfigured. He watched the progress bars for a moment. Finally, the notification “Completed” lit up on the display. Adam set the tablet aside in silence. He leaned back. Taking a deep breath, he lifted his head and looked toward the massive glass wall. The island lights shimmered faintly in the darkness,...

 Chapter 16 The New Order The chair where Nadia had just been sitting remained empty. It was positioned in the heart of a large social complex surrounding the restaurant. Walkways, recreational areas, accommodation buildings, and leisure centers spread out around it. But just beyond these facilities, a very different world began: High-security laboratories, Advanced research centers, Quantum data-processing stations, Simulation hangars, And workspaces where humans and robots developed together. All of these structures stretched across a vast settlement. The entire settlement sat on a single large island. It had been chosen as the safest zone, farthest from radiation. The island’s name: Tetria. After the great war, Tetria had become the largest scientific consortium on Earth. Long ago, a few nations had restarted nuclear experiments. Though intended as a show of force, these experiments activated the planet’s fragile fault lines and caused massive earthquakes. Nuclear thermal plants...

  Chapter 17 Wealthy Clients The next day, Nathan and Salih, preparing for a new operation, were in the equipment room with their other team members. Each of them was putting on their specialized suits, checking their weapons, and preparing their gear. In fact, Nathan and Salih were not here to fight—they were entirely recreational clients. Nathan was a high-level stockbroker in his country. Salih was a wealthy businessman in the oil industry. Like every client who set foot on Tetria Island, they were here to experience adventure, excitement, and adrenaline. But there was one rule for every client: • They had to make a special agreement with Tetria. The purpose of this agreement was clear: • While clients were enjoying themselves, • The suits they wore collected real-time psychological and biological data. Nathan and Salih were aware of this system—and willingly participated. The advanced combat suits they wore were not just armor. They were equipped with sensors that measured: • P...

  Chapter 18 Bait Tactic Suddenly, the sound of gunfire erupted throughout the area. However, these sounds were not part of their operation. The team knew this; their own simulation hadn’t started yet. Until activation time arrived, their weapons and mission programs remained inactive. The groups currently in combat were entirely different teams. Just like them, these were other factions made up of humans and robots. Each simulation group had its own unique program code. This code only activated during a designated time window. When the code became active: • Their weapons functioned, • Damage simulations began, • All sensors started collecting data. But while the code was inactive, the weapons would not work. Another key aspect of the system: If a user wished to exit the simulation, the system connected to their suits would detect it and immediately switch all their weapons to completely passive mode. This ensured the simulation continued fairly. No one could be shot or take damage...

Chapter 19 Quota After the simulation, the team had gotten into their vehicles to go to the bar for their usual post-operation drinks. Normally, after such a victory, the atmosphere would be quite cheerful. But this time, it wasn’t. Salih, sitting in the back seat, was lost in deep thought, his gaze fixed on the window. Even though the team had won, the expression on his face affected everyone; there was no sense of celebration. Nathan couldn’t handle the silence any longer. He reached out and lightly touched Salih’s knee. “Hey, man, what’s wrong?” he asked. “You don’t seem to be feeling too good today.” Salih suddenly turned to him, the anger in his eyes unmistakable. “Why are we even here?” he snapped. “Why are we playing this game? What’s the point?!” Nathan hadn’t expected such a sharp reaction. For a moment, he didn’t know what to say; his mouth opened, but no words came out. Gideon, sitting up front as always, remained cold and composed. In the passenger seat, his eyes never leav...

Chapter 20 Shield Inside the bar, there were always two security robots on standby. Though their appearance resembled humans, their movements were precise, disciplined, and strictly protocol-driven. They were programmed to intervene instantly in the event of a potential conflict. Now, both of them began moving toward Salih’s table, carefully but with swift steps. As soon as the security robots headed for the table, Gideon’s eyes reflexively tracked their movements. Under normal circumstances, his mind would immediately engage in such a situation, calculating possibilities, analyzing risks, and evaluating every outcome with strategic composure. And that’s exactly what he had begun to do: • The approach angles of the robots, • Salih’s position, • The reactions of the other four people at the table, • The likelihood of the situation escalating into a conflict, • The response time… These calculations were spinning in his mind at their usual speed. But this time… something was different. Su...

  Chapter 21 Blackout Yet Tetria’s security system had already been activated. • All the robots in the bar, • All service units, • All support units had been shut down remotely. Only three robots remained active: The security protocol robots Arch Gideon And now… Gideon, one of the robots not shut down, was active in front of the security protocol. Everyone in the bar watched the scene frozen in place. Tables, people, waiters… No one moved. Salih was in shock. Gideon trying to protect him completely shattered the balance in his perception. Gideon was shielding him. Because Gideon, in such a spontaneous manner, with a protective instinct, acting like a living being… meant only one thing to Salih: Gideon was not behaving like an ordinary robot. He seemed alive. Immediately after that tense moment in the bar, something no one expected happened. The system initiated an extraordinary security protocol. Only the two online security robots, and the robots still active with them—Gideon and ...

Chapter 22 Protocol 5 The signal sent moments earlier by the bar’s security protocol robots to the central system had begun appearing as a critical emergency on the control center’s screens. Salih’s aggressive reaction, the abnormal data streaming from the sensors in his suit, and the activation of the security protocol… All of it together indicated that the situation had escalated into a serious crisis. Inside the control room, software engineers seated in front of their terminals were watching the footage carefully. Every second of what was happening in the bar was being projected onto a massive main screen through the surveillance cameras. And standing at the very back of the room, his eyes fixed on that main screen, was Adam. One detail in the footage, in particular, caught Adam’s attention: Gideon’s behavior. The moment the security protocol robots moved to intervene with Salih, Gideon’s reaction, his sudden step forward to protect him, his attempt to physically block the robots… ...

Chapter 23 Gray Morning 15 DAYS BEFORE THE BAR INCIDENT On a gray morning in Hamburg, as dark clouds slowly spread across the horizon, thirty-five-year-old Thomas Kahn—athletic, well-built—opened his eyes in the wide bed of his magnificent home. The first thing he saw was the gray sky hanging beyond the window. He blinked slightly. For a moment, weighed down by the act of waking up, he stared silently at the ceiling. Then he took a deep breath, slowly sat up, and rested on the edge of the bed. He rolled his shoulders back. There was a faint tension in his muscles, as if he had trained intensely the night before or carried something heavy. But he had no clear memory to explain it. For a while, he quietly observed the spacious room—the reflections of the gray light slipping in through the massive window and spreading across the walls. Today, like every other day, was a beginning for him. A new day. A new morning. Yet deep inside, a vague emptiness—one he couldn’t explain or trace—had alr...

  Chapter 24 Midazolam Tom lightly swirled the glass of orange juice in his hand and moved into another section of the house. When he stepped through a wide doorway, the interior looked almost like a professional gym. Along the walls were shelves lined with gleaming trophies, neatly arranged medals, and framed photographs. Most of the photos documented Tom’s achievements in rowing—racing shells, finish lines, a young Tom standing on podiums. Many of the photographs had been taken together with Michael. Passing through these memories, Tom stepped onto the treadmill. He took one last sip from the glass, set it down on the small table beside the machine, and started it. For several minutes he walked at a calm pace, his breathing gradually settling into a steady rhythm. Then he stopped the treadmill and moved toward the rowing ergometer at the other end of the room. He sat down, secured his feet, and gripped the handles. With the first pull, the muscles stretching from his shoulders do...