Surviving the Apocalypse: All I Want Is to Find a Husband-Chapter 247: The System That Feels

[System has detected one system ... without an owner.]

Medeia furrowed her brows, not quite understanding what that meant.

Her system had a host. Tian’s system had a host. So how could there be a system without anyone controlling it?

Was that even possible? Could a system exist in this world without someone bound to it?

"Medeia, my ability isn’t working here." Lucian walked toward her, looking slightly irritated as he tried and failed to pass through the invisible barrier. "I think there’s some kind of anti-mutant defense built into it."

Medeia instinctively stepped back a little as Lucian moved closer.

There were three systems detected and one of them had no owner.

What if the reason it had no owner was because it was different from the others?

[Correct!]

[A system without a host is usually deactivated or destroyed if it experiences a serious malfunction. However, there was one system that managed to flee before it could be destroyed.]

[System 00.]

[The first system ever created by the Creator. Unlike the others, it was made with the ability to feel, just like a human.]

[Its mission was to judge civilizations and to decide which ones deserved to be destroyed or spared, by studying their nature. Unfortunately, the system malfunctioned.]

It had to do what?

Medeia had always known that civilizations rose and fell. Some disappeared because of plagues, others due to natural disasters, or worse, apocalypses like the one currently destroying this planet.

However, she’d never imagined there was a system out there choosing which civilizations lived or died.

That wasn’t just cruel, it was insane.

It made it seem like humans were nothing more than replaceable objects, things to be broken and discarded at will. As if they weren’t living beings who had families, friends, or lovers.

[While carrying out its mission, System 00 developed one human trait that was never meant to be part of its programming: empathy.]

[Because of that one trait, the system failed to report data correctly. It made bad choices. It caused more destruction than necessary because it wanted to give people a chance to survive longer.]

00.

That number has been showing up a lot lately.

It was also Lucian’s military codename, something he despised so much that he always tasted bitterness in his mouth whenever someone said it aloud.

"Medeia, what’s wrong?" Lucian’s voice broke her thoughts. He was frowning now, clearly worried because she hadn’t said a word.

[The system has retrieved partial data on System 00.]

[System Name: 00

Host: None

Type: Keeper of Balance (Total Failure)

Main Abilities: Undetectable

Status: Fugitive (High-Risk Threat)]

Medeia held her breath as she stared at the information on the floating screen. For a second, it flickered and then, to her shock, the entire display turned red.

[Current Alias: Lucian Charon.]

"Medeia!"

She flinched when Lucian suddenly grabbed her wrist, trying to pull her back to the present. His eyes were full of concern, clearly confused by her reaction. "What’s wrong?"

At that moment, everything around Medeia began to blur. The sound of people shouting and panicking, trying to find a way out, slowly faded into silence.

That happened because she had focused all her attention on the man standing in front of her.

Lucian.

He was standing right in front of her, but suddenly he felt like a stranger.

All this time, Medeia had known something was off about his background, but she always pushed the thought aside, convincing herself it was nothing.

But now, everything has become painfully clear.

No wonder the system always malfunctioned whenever it tried to break into his memories.

No wonder his reflexes were faster than even her system.

No wonder he could memorize so much, word for word, like a living hard drive capable of storing enormous amounts of data.

"Lucian," she called out once her voice had returned.

He tilted his head slightly, confused by the way she looked at him, as if she were staring at a ghost.

"Do you even know what you are?" she asked softly, almost afraid to hear the answer.

Lucian furrowed his brows. "What?" he asked, confused. "Medeia, I’m afraid I don’t understand what you mean."

Even though the information she had just received was shocking, for some reason, she believed Lucian truly didn’t know. It was clear he had no memory of ever being a system.

Did that even make sense?

After thinking it through for a moment, it actually did.

The reason he got a high fever and collapsed after seeing glimpses of his memories—triggered by the monster’s influence—was because his body and mind were trying to hide the truth from him.

[That is correct, Host.]

[System 00 has no memory of its life as a system.]

Medeia winced as the system suddenly emitted a sharp buzzing noise, like a computer glitching out. After a few seconds, the voice returned, but this time, it sounded less robotic.

It sounded ... like a real person.

[The system will go offline for two minutes. During that time, our conversation will not be recorded or heard by the Watcher.]

She was about to speak out loud when the system quickly warned her again.

[Don’t answer with your voice. Keep everything in your thoughts because if you speak, the Watcher will hear.]

She raised her hand slightly in front of her face, subtly signaling Lucian with her fingers that she couldn’t talk at the moment. Fortunately, Lucian caught the signal quickly and played along without question.

"Why don’t we sit down for a bit?"

Lucian guided her to one of the pews and sat beside her, looking nervous. Her behavior had been strange for a while now, and it was clearly starting to worry him.

Meanwhile, Medeia was already speaking to the system inside her head. ’Why are you doing this?’

[For now, System 00 is hidden from the security network. However, once it regains its memories, its presence will be immediately tracked.]

Medeia’s eyes narrowed. ’But we’ve already been talking about him earlier. Shouldn’t the Watcher have heard us?’

[Because the system is currently undergoing an update, it’s common for the audio feed to be unclear. The Watcher likely couldn’t make sense of what we discussed earlier.]

Then, the voice said something that made her freeze. [Listen to me carefully, Host.] 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Medeia was startled when the system suddenly started referring to itself as "I" instead of using third-person terms.

At that moment, it didn’t feel like she was speaking to a system. It felt like she was speaking to a person, and somehow, that made everything even more terrifying.