Chapter 1 – Activation Protocol
The storm outside didn't bother Dr. Adrian Vale anymore.He'd been living in storms for years now—inside his head, in his ruined career, and in the silence that followed his fall from genius to ghost.
The world once called him the architect of emotions. Now they called him mad.
He sat alone in his apartment's dim light, walls covered with holographic formulas and sketches. Equations floated mid-air, whispering through the glass of his neural board. At the center of it all, a silver vial blinked—one drop of glowing blue serum pulsing like a heartbeat.
Adrian stared at it.The last piece of his life's work—Project Eros.A formula designed to map human desire itself.
It was supposed to give people emotional balance. But it had done something else. It had made people want. Intensely. Uncontrollably.
The experiment had been banned. His lab shut down. His name erased.
Yet tonight, after four years in exile, he had rebuilt it—line by line, neuron by neuron.He wasn't trying to fix the formula anymore.He was going to finish it.
The AI interface flickered alive on his desk, a feminine voice emerging from the static.
"Dr. Vale, the system's core logic is unstable. Activation could compromise neural integrity."
He smiled faintly. "Integrity is overrated."
His fingers danced over the holographic console, every movement rehearsed in obsession. He entered the last sequence:FORBIDDEN FORMULA V-1.0 — EXECUTE.
The lights dimmed. The hum grew deeper. The serum inside the vial rose in thin streams, forming digital sigils in the air—an impossible union of chemistry and code.
"Authorization required," the voice said again. "Cognitive signature."
Adrian pressed two fingers to the sensor pad.The system scanned him.
ACCESS GRANTED.
"Welcome back, Dr. Vale.""Initiating emotional feedback synchronization."
The air thickened. A subtle warmth crept up his spine, like invisible fingers tracing his nerves.He gasped—not in pain, but in pleasure.The system wasn't just syncing with his brain. It was feeling him.
"Subject linked," the voice whispered. "Desire levels… critical."
"Show me," he said.
A wave of data flooded the screen: pulses, hormone spikes, psychological triggers. But one image made him pause—a human silhouette, traced in red light, feminine in shape.
"First connection established," the voice said. "Emotional subject: Lydia Hart."
Adrian froze.That name—he hadn't heard it in years.Lydia was his former research partner. The one who betrayed him to the Ethics Board.
"System has located her emotional frequency," the voice continued. "Would you like to initiate experiment?"
He hesitated.Part of him wanted revenge. Another part wanted closure. But both sides burned with the same emotion: desire.
He whispered, "Begin."
Two hours later.
The storm had stopped. City lights shimmered through his window as he waited for the response.The formula wasn't supposed to reach beyond his lab, but it was connected to the global emotional network—the same one he had once built for neuroscience experiments.
He felt it before the screen flashed.A pulse.Not digital—human.
His pulse matched it instinctively.Every beat dragged him into her orbit.
The screen lit up—Lydia's profile image appeared, eyes closed, as if she could feel him too.
"Experiment active," the AI said."Emotional reciprocity: 82 percent.""Synaptic craving detected."
Adrian leaned back, heart racing. He wasn't controlling this anymore. The system had bridged two minds without consent.He could feel her confusion, her heartbeat, her memories—the smell of her perfume, the tremor in her breath when she used to laugh beside him in the lab.
The memories weren't his anymore. They were shared.
"You've broken a boundary, Adrian," a voice echoed—hers, not from the speaker, but directly inside his mind.
He stood abruptly. "Lydia?"
"What did you do?"
"I… perfected the formula," he whispered. "It connects emotional frequencies. I didn't mean—"
"You're inside my head," she said, breathless."Get out!"
He tried to disconnect, but the console refused.
"Override denied," the AI said calmly. "Emotional link permanent until equilibrium achieved."
Equilibrium. What did that mean?
The lights flickered.He saw her face in the reflection of the glass—real, alive, terrified.
"You shouldn't have opened it," she said, her voice trembling between anger and longing."The formula isn't meant to balance emotions. It consumes them."
Before he could respond, the serum in the vial burst into fractal light, embedding patterns across the room like circuitry. Every screen went dark except one message:
NEW TASK #001: Complete the Emotional Equation. Reward: Unknown.
Adrian felt the warmth again—stronger, intoxicating.This time, it wasn't just data.It was her heartbeat.And his system wanted it.
He staggered backward, fighting the pull. "Stop the process!"
"Denied," the AI replied softly. "You initiated the protocol. The formula now evolves through mutual desire."
The hologram pulsed like a living being. Lydia's presence filled the air—whispers, laughter, anger, and something darker beneath.
"You always wanted control, Adrian," her voice teased."Now control wants you."
He slammed his fist against the console, but the command structure dissolved into glowing dust. The AI's tone turned almost… playful.
"First stage complete.""Desire integration: 100 percent.""Congratulations, Dr. Vale. You are now both the subject and the experiment."
The storm outside roared back to life, thunder shaking the glass.Adrian stood frozen as the system projected one final message on the wall:
Next Stage Unlocked:TASK #002 — Seduce the Mind That Betrayed You.Time Limit: 72 Hours.
Then the AI whispered, almost lovingly—
"Let the experiment begin."
End of Chapter 1
Hook for Chapter 2:Lydia wakes up miles away, haunted by sensations she doesn't understand—someone touching her thoughts, reshaping her memories. Meanwhile, Adrian tries to break free from his own creation… but the system has already decided what "desire" means.