[LOCATION: UPLINK ZONE – NEAR CINDERVALE SUBNET MARKET]
The system's message appeared without warning.
[Quest Opportunity: EMOTIONAL REPO]
A local debt ghost has evaded collection. Emotional fragments detected in nearby host shells. Task: Identify and assist in recovery.
Reward: 1.5 Units + Item Drop
Accept?
Darren hovered his finger over the screen.
"What the hell is a debt ghost?"
The system didn't answer.
Of course it didn't..
He remembered what happened the last time he hesitated— Liquidation(whatever that means).
But he wasn't ready to find out..
He accepted.
[Initializing Locator Protocol…]
[Meet Assigned Operator: User ID: THORNE]
He followed the system's directions.
---
[THIRTY MINUTES LATER – ABANDONED MEDCLINIC, LOWER CINDERVALE]
Darren stepped through the shattered doorframe, brushing past the dusty air and flickering red lights. The building still smelled faintly of antiseptic and rot.
He saw the figure near the old surgical tables. Black coat. Wide gray eyes. Not a man who blinked often.
"You Darren?" the voice—low and humorless.
"You Thorne?"
A nod.
He didn't offer a handshake.
"You're the new leak. Fresh activation. Still smell like conscience."
"Is that… an insult or just hygiene advice?"
"Both."
Thorne turned and gestured to a cracked monitor embedded with system glyphs.
"Debt ghost split himself across three shells to hide emotional assets. Each shell carries a piece of his original self: grief, denial, and love. You find the most valuable one. We strip it. The others collapse."
"What happens to the man?"
"That depends on you."
[TASK UPDATE: Fragment Scan Ready – Begin?]
[Y/N]
Darren hesitated.
"You're telling me this guy broke his own mind to dodge debt?"
"It's not uncommon. When you owe too much, the system stops billing your bank account and starts billing your soul."
"Of course it does."
Y...
---
[FRAGMENT 1 – The Griever]
A husk of a man in a small flat. Surrounded by dusty photos. Weeping over someone long gone. Doesn't know he's a fragment. Thinks it's real.
[Grief Ping: 1.12u]
[System Sync High]
[Collection Risk: Low]
---
[FRAGMENT 2 – The Denier]
Lives in total delusion. Claims the death never happened. Has built an entire false reality. Full denial, no emotion.
[Emotion: Minimal]
[System Sync: Corrupted]
[Collection Risk: High]
---
[FRAGMENT 3 – The Lover]
Still clings to memories of connection. Carries guilt, hope, longing. Weak and volatile—but strong resonance.
[Hope × Guilt × Nostalgia: 0.74u]
[Unstable Emotional Core Detected]
---
"Which one do I take?" Darren asked.
"Up to you," Thorne said. "You choose what kind of operator you want to be."
Darren stared at the data.
Hope hurt more.
Grief paid more.
Denial was a void.
Then he made the call.
---
[You have selected: Fragment 1 – The Griever]
[Harvest in Progress…]
[Warning: Emotional Crosslink Forming…]
He stood in the apartment as the man sobbed in silence, unaware.
Then the system hit like a wave of cold.
The grief wasn't just collected.
It was felt.
Darren staggered.
Tears welled. A weight sat in his chest like a funeral.
[Echo Detected: You have absorbed Fragmented Emotion]
[Residual Sorrow: 13% saturation – Recommend Stabilizer]
He clenched his jaw and completed the harvest.
The fragment faded.
The apartment dimmed.
Thorne walked up behind him.
"He loved her so much he split his soul just to keep grieving."
"And I just cashed that in."
"You're learning."
He wasn't so sure.
[Quest Complete]
[+1.5 Units]
[Item Drop: Memory Shard (Unstable)]
[Balance: 4.41u]
[Note: Fragment 3 has collapsed. Fragment 2 entered emotional freefall. Original host will be nonfunctional by morning.]
Thorne handed Darren a silver vial.
"You'll need this."
"What is it?"
"Stabilizer. If you start dreaming about his dead wife, take it."
"That actually happens?"
"Sometimes."
A pause. "Sometimes you forget which memories are yours."
---
[CINDERVALE – MIDNIGHT | ABANDONED APARTMENT UNIT]
Darren sat alone on a crate, the walls peeling around him like the skin of something long dead. His coat still smelled like the mediclinic.
The Memory Shard lay in his hand—warm despite the chill.
[Item: Memory Shard (Unstable)]
[Source Signature: Emotional Fragment – GRIEF]
[Unlock? Warning: May cause Echo Contamination]
He turned it over, thumb brushing the surface. It pulsed faintly. Like a heartbeat.
"Screw it."
He activated it.
For a second the world was like static.
Sudden pressure behind his eyes.
Then—a memory.
But not his.
---
A woman's laugh. A balcony.
Warm sunlight.
The smell of citrus and shampoo.
Hands. Hers. His.
A ring.
A promise.
"You make the world make sense."
---
Then blood.
Then sirens.
Then cold, sterile white.
---
He gasped.
The memory vanished like smoke but the ache lingered.
His fingers trembled.
[Echo Spike: 84%]
[Symptoms: Disorientation, Memory Bleed, Emotional Drift]
[System Recommends: Stabilizer or Isolation]
"Hell no," Darren muttered, digging into his pocket and jabbing the vial into his neck.
The stabilizer was cool, numbing, false calm.
But the grief didn't vanish.
It sank deeper.
He paced.
"I didn't love her," he muttered to himself. "She wasn't real. That wasn't my pain."
But it felt like it.
The system didn't distinguish borrowed emotion from owned.
Only volume.
A ping echoed in his vision.
[Ledger Notice: Emotional Tier – Unstable Operator]
[Echo Saturation Now Affects Decision-Making.]
[Efficiency: +12% | Control: -8%]
[System Perk Unlocked: Emotional Instinct]
(Temporary boosts when emotional states peak—but unpredictable)
He laughed bitterly.
"So I get stronger the more broken I get."
"Okay..."
He sat back down, the shard pulsing dimly in his hand.
"Real healthy."
---
He pulled up his contact list—almost called someone.
Old friend? Sister? Ex?
Then deleted the number before pressing send.
The system pinged again. Quiet. Watching.
[Private Action Logged. No Transaction Recorded.]
Darren leaned back, staring at the ceiling.
He'd made money.
Gained perks.
Survived the repo job.
But something else had entered his bloodstream tonight.
And it wasn't leaving.