The H-Factor

Desire means death.

In 3041, homosexuality is punishable by death across Earth, and those immune to the state's genetic suppression system are hunted as biological threats. Commander Cassian Vale leads an elite World Government strike team into Vant Hollow, the lawless underground city where queer fugitives and H-Factor Deviants vanish beyond the reach of open state control.

His mission is simple: eliminate a classified list of names said to be the backbone of the resistance.

But when the operation collapses and Cassian is left mortally wounded in the undercity, he is saved by Ilyan Frost - an exiled fugitive on his own kill list. Ilyan intends to drag Cassian back alive and use him as leverage to win his way back into the resistance. Cassian intends to survive long enough to finish his mission.

Instead, the two are forced into a dangerous journey through the deepest sectors of Vant Hollow, where black markets thrive, law dies in the dark, and sanctuary comes at a cost. As hatred turns to dependence, and dependence to desire, Cassian begins to question the system that made him a weapon - and the truth of his own body.

In a world where love is a death sentence, choosing each other becomes an act of rebellion.

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The H-Factor. Cyberpunk meets Homosexuality in this dystopian story.

This novelette is my official entry to the Pride Awards 2026.

Trope # 8: You Are Not Alone
Trope # 9: Enemies to Lovers
Prompt H: If love is illegal, we are the resistance.

Copyright © 2026 by J.C. Ortega
Cover Art by Yuen Xi