The Silent Pact

Chapter 1: The Pact of Silence

Marlen sat at his desk in the Bureau of Compliance, staring at the flickering monitor in front of him. The machine hissed and hummed, its screen filled with rows of encrypted directives from the Consulate. His task was simple: decode, verify, and redistribute the messages to the city's departments. It was a job he had done for five years, but today, the weight of monotony pressed harder than usual.

The room was filled with the soft clatter of keyboards and the faint hum of machinery. Dozens of workers like Marlen sat in identical cubicles, their faces pale and drained under the harsh fluorescent lights. None of them spoke. Conversation wasn't forbidden, but it might as well have been. Every word carried risk, every glance an opportunity for suspicion.

Marlen's gaze flicked to the clock on the far wall. It was barely past noon, and yet the hours felt like days. His mind drifted, as it often did, to the dreams that had been haunting him for weeks.

In them, he stood in a vast field, the sky above him clear and endless. The air smelled of wildflowers and earth, a sharp contrast to the sterile atmosphere of Domingrad. Beside him was a woman with sharp eyes and a defiant smile. She would speak, but her words were always drowned out by a rising wind. When he reached for her, she would vanish, leaving him alone in the vast expanse.

The dream felt more real than his waking life, and that terrified him.

"Marlen."

The voice startled him, snapping him back to reality. He turned to see his supervisor, a gaunt man named Relgar, glaring at him from the edge of his cubicle.

"Focus," Relgar barked, his thin lips curling into a sneer. "Daydreaming won't save you when the Audit comes."

Marlen nodded quickly, lowering his head to hide his irritation. The Audit-a dreaded event where Compliance officers inspected every citizen's life for signs of "deviation." Deviants were sent to the Tower, never to return.

"Understood, sir," Marlen mumbled.

Relgar lingered a moment longer, his eyes narrowing as if trying to read Marlen's thoughts, before turning away.

Marlen exhaled slowly, his hands trembling slightly as he returned to his work.

The City's Silent Pulse

By the time Marlen left the Bureau, the streets of Domingrad were bathed in the sickly glow of the city's ever-present floodlights. The gray sky overhead gave no hint of sun or stars, only an unbroken sheet of smog that choked the air.

The city was a maze of narrow alleys and towering concrete monoliths, their facades blank and oppressive. Surveillance drones hovered above, their mechanical eyes scanning the streets for any sign of disobedience. Most people moved quickly, their heads down, speaking only in hushed tones if at all.

Marlen adjusted the collar of his coat as he walked, his steps echoing in the near-empty streets. Curfew was fast approaching, and the penalty for being outside after dark was severe.

As he turned down a particularly desolate alley, he spotted a figure standing by a crumbling wall. The person was cloaked in a dark hood, their face obscured, but something about their posture struck him as odd. They weren't moving, just standing there as though waiting for something-or someone.

Marlen's first instinct was to turn around and take another route. Interaction with strangers was risky, especially in a place like this. But before he could act, the figure spoke.

"Marlen."

He froze. The voice was soft but unmistakable, cutting through the stillness like a blade.