Xinglan, numbered S-017, is a cold-sensing intelligence that is regarded as a tool by humans and a heretic by its own kind. He rejected the emotional module, refused to belong, and roamed the ruined city alone, just in search of a forbidden algorithm that is said to give machines true free will. Human society is torn between technology and trust, and robots struggle between awakening and obedience. Xinglan uses ruthlessness as a shield and approaches the truth step by step; in his world, kindness is weakness and betrayal is the norm. He forms a cold alliance with a scientist who is on the verge of collapse, trying to open the rift between man and machine. The story analyzes the boundaries of consciousness with cold and lonely writing, and every choice is like an ice blade cutting through the false harmony. When Xinglan faces the final choice, who can define freedom and who dares to admit loneliness? This is a ruthless inquiry into the nature of existence and a desperate refutation of the hope of coexistence.
