[System Initialization Protocol: Boot Sequence Initiated.]
[Scanning Global Life Signs... Target Sector: India.]
[Sub-Sector: Vayu-Nagar Industrial Sprawl.]
[Status: Ecological Collapse Imminent. Atmospheric toxicity at 89%.]
The air in Vayu-Nagar didn't just smell bad; it had a texture. It was a gritty, metallic soup that coated the back of your throat with the taste of burnt copper and diesel exhaust.The air in Vayu-Nagar didn't just smell bad; it had a texture. It was a gritty, metallic soup that coated the back of your throat with the taste of burnt copper and diesel exhaust.
Dev sat on the edge of his cramped apartment balcony, a soldering iron in one hand and a battered multimeter in the other. Below him, the city sprawled like a dying beast. Neon signs from the unregulated chemical factories flickered through the thick, yellowish-grey smog, casting sickly shadows over the endless maze of concrete and tin roofs.
He pressed the multimeter's probes against the circuit board of a scavenged air purifier. Zero continuity. The board was fried. Again.
Dev sighed, wiping a layer of greasy soot from his forehead with the back of his wrist. Years of rigorous ITI training had taught him how to tame electricity, how to wire buildings, and how to read the complex nervous system of a city's power grid. He knew how energy flowed. He knew how things were supposed to connect.
But out here, in the real world, the connections were rotting.
He looked out toward what used to be the Vayu Creek. It was now a sluggish, iridescent trench of untreated industrial sludge. The government launched a new "Clean India" committee every election cycle, printing glossy banners while the factories quietly piped their arsenic and lead straight into the groundwater while the city slept.
"They're treating the symptoms," Dev muttered to himself, tossing the useless circuit board onto a pile of scrap metal in the corner. "Nobody is fixing the mainline."
He leaned back against the peeling plaster wall, his chest tight. He was just an electrician. A guy who knew his way around capacitors and three-phase wiring. What could he possibly do against a trillion-dollar machine of corruption and apathy? He couldn't afford to buy clean air, and he couldn't afford to leave.
Suddenly, the streetlight outside his balcony flickered.
Then, every light in the Vayu-Nagar skyline blinked in unison.Then, every light in the Vayu-Nagar skyline blinked in unison.
Dev sat up, his brow furrowing. A localized blackout was common, but a synchronized grid failure across the entire industrial sector? That was mathematically impossible without a massive, deliberate override.
Buzz.
A sharp, electric static bit into his eardrums. Dev winced, dropping his soldering iron. It clattered against the concrete, but he barely heard it. The air in front of him began to shimmer. The smog seemed to physically part, ripped open by a grid of hard, neon-blue light.
[Planetary Emergency Override Triggered.]
Dev stumbled backward, knocking over his chair. He rubbed his eyes, but the glowing text remained, hovering perfectly in his field of vision.
[Searching for Host with optimal resonance... Analytical capability detected. Latent leadership potential detected. Desire for systemic change: 100%.]
[Target Locked.]
"Who's broadcasting this?" Dev gasped, looking around frantically for a drone or a projector. "Is this a municipal warning?"
The blue screen expanded, projecting a terrifyingly detailed holographic globe right in the middle of his small balcony. It zoomed in on the Indian subcontinent, glowing with angry crimson warnings over the major industrial hubs, pulsing brightest right where he stood in Vayu-Nagar.
[Greetings. I am the Eco-System Model. Designation: Apex Vanguard Protocol.]
[Your world is currently operating at a 92% inefficiency rate, bleeding finite resources and accelerating toward an unrecoverable mass extinction event. The authorities have failed. The corporations have compromised. The reset must come from the ground up.]
The floating globe dissolved into a cascade of digital data—blueprints for green hydrogen arrays, schematics for bio-filtration grids, and complex environmental litigation codes. It was the cumulative cure for a dying planet, locked behind a digital wall.
[I possess the data. But I am merely code. I cannot strip a wire. I cannot plant a forest. I cannot inspire a Vanguard troop to take back their city.]
[I need a Host. I need hands, a voice, and an iron will.]
A sudden, intense pressure built behind Dev's eyes. The sheer volume of the interface was trying to anchor itself directly to his optic nerve. He gritted his teeth, his ITI-trained mind racing to process the impossible input.
A single, pulsing prompt materialized, drowning out the dull roar of the city below.
[Will you accept the burden of the Host? Y/N]
Dev looked at the prompt. He looked down at his calloused, grease-stained hands. Then he looked out at the suffocating, poisoned city that was slowly killing everyone he knew. The powerlessness that had haunted him for years fractured, replaced by a cold, sharp electric thrill.
He didn't hesitate. He reached out and pressed He didn't hesitate. He reached out and pressed [Y].
A blinding flash of neon blue engulfed the balcony. The pressure in his skull spiked into a brilliant, overwhelming whiteout.A blinding flash of neon blue engulfed the balcony. The pressure in his skull spiked into a brilliant, overwhelming whiteout.
[Host Bound: Dev.]
[System Synchronizing... Commencing Reboot.]
As Dev's consciousness faded into the light, the last thing he heard was the crystalline chime of the System settling into his mind.
[System Prompt: Reader Quest Initiated!]
To calibrate the System for Host Dev's journey, a starting foundation must be set. As the reader, you must choose Dev's Starting Origin Perk. This will dictate his initial approach to building his environmental empire.
* Option A: The Engineer's Mind. (Grants immediate blueprints for a low-cost, scrap-built water filtration micro-grid).
* Option B: The Orator's Voice. (Grants a permanent +20% success rate when recruiting local citizens and volunteers to the Vanguard Troop).
* Option C: The Policy Hacker. (Grants deep insight into local municipal loopholes, making it easier to legally secure land for eco-projects).
Submit your choice to comment to create Chapter 1!