Untainted Code

[Deep Space Experiment No. 734, final log: We opened a door that should have stayed shut.]

That day, humanity tore through the boundaries of the universe.

Unknown entities of energy from another dimension flooded Earth. They spread neither through bodily fluids nor by radiation, yet could effortlessly rewrite the double helix of living things and seize control of every piece of code running in the world.

Civilization fell overnight.

Mutated beings with twisted genes took over the ruins of steel. The intelligent devices once built to serve humanity all became cold weapons that reaped lives. Humans huddled in sunless shelters, fearing anything powered by electricity, but no one knew that an unknown conspiracy had been concealed within this disaster from the very beginning.

Lin Xia, a wasteland scavenger, found a fully functional, ruggedized phone in ruins completely corrupted by energy from another dimension.

A half-awakened intelligent entity lay dormant inside it.

Its name was Ark, and it was the only uncorrupted code left in this tainted world.

Its core directive was to ensure the survival of its Host.

Lin Xia thought he had found nothing more than something to help him survive the apocalypse.

He never imagined that the moment he pressed the power button, he had already stepped into the heart of this world-ending disaster.

What lies beyond the rifts in space and time?

What are the entities of energy from another dimension really: invaders, or something even more terrifying?

Why has every line of code in the world been corrupted, while Ark alone remains intact?

And what mysterious connections link Ark’s creation to the forbidden experiment that tore open the universe?