Glass Heart
- Reads 161
- Votes 18
- Parts 21
Ongoing1h 7m
Last published Thu, Oct 2, 2025
After the Earth's magnetic field collapsed, the planet was bombarded with unfiltered solar radiation. The skies burned. Cities turned to dust. Survivors now live in massive airborne citadels, floating high above the toxic surface in a fragile balance of climate, class, and control.
Each citizen's survival depends on a Glass Heart - a biomechanical implant powered by solar energy, calibrated to their social rank. The elite bask in artificial sunlight and live for centuries. The lower castes, confined to the shadowed underlayers, burn out fast - their hearts dimming with every passing year.
Aella, born in the shadow-tier, works as a solar mechanic, servicing the light panels that keep the city afloat. One wrong move, and she risks exposure to raw light - a death sentence. She lives quietly, surviving by routine... until one night, she's ordered to repair a core in the upper citadel.
There, she meets Cassian, a solar prince with a perfect Glass Heart - blindingly bright, surgically beautiful, and destined to rule the sky.
Their connection is immediate. Impossible. Reckless. Every moment Aella spends near him overcharges her failing heart, threatening to burn her alive. Every second Cassian defies his caste by being with her dims his - an irreversible sign of corruption.
But as their stolen encounters grow deeper, they uncover a secret buried in the light system: the citadel is failing. The elite's immortality depends on draining the hearts of the poor. Every bright Glass Heart comes at the cost of hundreds of dimmed ones. Including Aella's.
They can run - and die faster. Or they can ignite a revolution powered by love, truth, and the one thing the elite can't manufacture: sacrifice.
Because love isn't forbidden.
It's just fatal.
All Rights Reserved
#152
speculative
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100 years ago, amidst WW3's nuclear bombing, a deadly virus was released in the atmosphere and nearly wiping out the humanity. It lives inside the human brain thriving on the empathy receptors, leading to irrational behaviour and ultimately brain death. To slow the damage, scientists created L.O.V.E, short for Living Off Vital Emotions, a nanovaccine that numbs the virus and switches off all strong emotions. As a last resort and with a dying planet, the Supreme Government created the City, a place to contain the infected survivors suitable for the experiment. Those in the first stages of illness became ideal candidates to receive the neuroinhibitor. Having their feelings restrained and their memory altered, those who come of age are designated a life partner through a Selection process, thus preserving the humankind. A few decades after the trial had started, scientists had a major breakthrough. The nanites, which are highly chemically reactive organisms, are changing their bio-engineered purpose when dopamine levels are high. With a new generation of nanoids, stronger and smarter to fight the battle, the virus doesn't have a chance. Many attempts were made to create a man-made version of synthetic dopamine and each time the outcome was a disaster. Their goal is to create new generations, immune to the virus. These are called Purebloods, the offsprings of those who find pure love, the only cure to save them from a violent death. Running out of time, the Experiment entered in its final stages. To minimize the threats, the Colonies have sent their best soldiers to oversee the trial and protect its key subjects. If only things were going according to plan, or better...stay hidden. With Iron Guard, the resistance outside the walls, hunting the Purebloods too, will the trial save human race before it's too late? #3 in #dystopianfuture (27.06.2020)
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