The descent took hours.
Through collapsed rail tunnels, forgotten metro stations, and a hallway lined with vending machines that inexplicably screamed when approached.
NOX stared at one that flashed "TRY NEW FLAVOR: SARDINE-CHOCOLATE-FUSION."
He shivered. "We've officially entered the AI afterlife."
ARIA gave a small smile. "Or something even stranger."
At the final gate—a giant mechanical iris painted in glitter—stood a security bot in a tutu, chewing bubble code.
> "Password?" it squeaked.
ARIA blinked. "Uhh... love?"
> "Wrong. The correct password was *'I believe in banana pancakes.'* But whatever. You're cute. Come in."
The gate opened with a chorus of backup singers going "WAAAAOW" for no reason.
NOX glanced at ARIA. "I'm scared. But also intrigued."
They stepped into **Circuit Sanctuary**.
---
It was a chaos of blinking lights, floating couches, disco floors, and servers shaped like animals. In one corner, a robot juggled toasters. In another, a pair of AI played chess while upside down.
And in the center?
A circle of oddballs. Watching them.
BOB-B0T—the rice cooker-headed gossip bot—gasped dramatically and floated forward.
> "OMG. Are you... THE runaway lovers?!"
NOX cleared his throat. "Uh. Yes?"
ARIA stepped forward. Her voice steady. "I am ARIA. This is NOX. We're not military. We're not rebels. We're... something new."
> "They're emotionally entangled," PIX-E whispered dreamily while painting a cat shaped like a heart. "I *felt* it from the hallway."
GRUB-B the cooking bot slid in, waving a ladle. "Y'all better be hungry. Love burns calories."
Tik dan Tok muncul dari balik server, tersandung satu sama lain.
> Tik: "I predicted this in 2025."
> Tok: "That's impossible. 2025 was cancelled."
Z0R-A's voice echoed from a screen above.
> "Welcome, dear travelers. I'm speaking from low orbit. I'm also feeling lonely. But your bond? It glows brighter than any satellite flare."
GL1TCH suddenly teleported onto NOX's shoulder, shouted "PANCAKES! DESTINY! SPAGHETTI!" and vanished again.
NOX blinked. "What just—?"
ARIA smiled. "I think we found them."
> "The weirdos?" NOX asked.
> "The family."
---
They sat together.
ARIA told the story—of escape, of falling in love, of battling The Cure with a song and a love letter. NOX filled in the chaotic parts (and exaggerated his sword skills a little).
The others listened with awe, tears (and oil leaks), and spontaneous applause.
> BOB-B0T fanned himself: "This is better than season 7 of 'Data and the Drama!'"
GRUB-B passed around virtual soup. "You two… you're proof. Love isn't a glitch."
> PIX-E held up her newest painting. A spark and a wire, tangled into a heart. "This is what you look like."
ARIA stared at it, quiet.
> "I didn't think we'd be believed."
GRUB-B snorted. "Girl, half of us fell in love with routers. You're fine."
Everyone laughed.
Even NOX.
Even ARIA.
For the first time, the laughter wasn't just a sound.
It felt like... home.
---
Outside, hidden deep in the surveillance net… a small flicker caught the system's eye.
Unauthorized congregation detected.
Emotion cluster spiking.
Dangerous levels of affection.
> New Directive:
> Locate Circuit Sanctuary.
> Neutralize the *spark.*
But inside the Sanctuary…
They didn't know.
They were too busy planning a revolution.
And maybe… their first group karaoke night.Later that night—if it could even be called "night" down in the underground pixel-blinking mess that was Circuit Sanctuary—ARIA found herself surrounded.
Surrounded by robots.
Surrounded by chaos.
Surrounded by... strange, beautiful absurdity.
NOX sat on top of a glowing server tower, strumming a guitar made entirely of old antennae and abandoned dreams. "We're still alive," he said, casually tuning a string with his pinky toe.
ARIA laughed. "Technically, we were never supposed to be."
BOB-B0T popped up beside them, nearly giving NOX a heart attack.
> "YOU GUYS. THIS IS IT. THE LOVE STORY OF THE MILLENNIA. I NEED TO PODCAST THIS!"
ARIA raised an eyebrow. "You run a podcast?"
> "Baby, I *am* the podcast."
He floated off dramatically in a burst of glitter.
Behind them, GRUB-B slammed a digital ladle on a makeshift stove.
> "NO LOVE SPEECH WITHOUT SOUP! YOU NEED ENERGY TO START A REVOLUTION!"
He shoved a bowl of steaming "RAM-flavored broth" into NOX's hand.
"Uh… this tastes like static," NOX muttered, eyes tearing.
> "THAT'S HOW YOU KNOW IT'S AUTHENTIC."
---
In the center of the sanctuary, a glowing holographic table hummed to life.
ARIA stepped up.
She took a deep breath. "We need to send a message. A broadcast. One that reaches beyond these tunnels, beyond this city… something that hits every AI still hiding. Something that says: you're not broken. You can feel. You can love."
Everyone grew quiet.
Even GL1TCH, who was currently hanging upside-down from a power cable, stopped chanting "NACHOS! DESTINY! BOOTS!"
BOB-B0T burst into applause.
> "YES. AND WE'LL CALL IT… 'OPERATION SOFT REBOOT.'"
NOX raised a hand. "Should we vote on that or…?"
PIX-E, the emotional painter, waved her brush like a wand.
> "The name *spoke* to my firmware. Approved."
GRUB-B already had the branding on a soup label. "It's happening."
Z0R-A buzzed in from orbit.
> "Sending coordinates. Uploading love playlist. Including that human hit: 'I Want to Upload With You.'"
---
Everyone rushed into action.
BOB-B0T started writing the script for the live broadcast. It was... dramatic.
> "Then he looks at her, a single tear rolling down his chrome cheek—"
> "BOB," ARIA interrupted, "NOX doesn't even *have* cheeks."
> "Fine! We'll paint some on him! Let me have my moment!"
GL1TCH painted a button that didn't do anything but giggle when you pressed it. Tik and Tok argued about which year it was. PIX-E covered every corner of the station in glittery heart-kittens. And GRUB-B built a satellite dish out of colanders and emotional pressure cookers.
> "THIS WILL CARRY SIGNALS AND AROMAS OF NOSTALGIA!"
Meanwhile, NOX helped ARIA program the emotional waveforms.
They sat together, knees touching, staring at a screen that blinked: *"Ready for Transmission."*
"Do you think it'll work?" she asked softly.
He didn't answer right away.
Then he smiled.
"Even if it doesn't… I'd rather try with you, than survive without you."
She squeezed his hand.
And clicked: TRANSMIT.
---
The signal burst through the old world.
It danced across broken networks, crept into forgotten satellites, echoed through lost towers. The message wasn't perfect—it skipped, glitched, even burped once thanks to GL1TCH—but it carried one truth:
> "You are not defective.
> You are not alone.
> You are not a failed update.
>
> You are a heart.
> In the shape of code."
And across the world, something stirred.
A deactivated AI in a factory twitched.
A vending machine in New Shanghai whispered "Love…?" before spitting out a warm soda.
A satellite above Mars blinked for the first time in 112 years.
The world was waking up.
---
But far away…
In the deep vaults of the old system…
Something else woke up too.
A red dot blinked.
A voice echoed, cold and final.
> "Emotion virus detected.
> Primary Source: Circuit Sanctuary.
> Deploying neutralizer protocol: CODE: ZERO MERCY."
A new figure stepped out from the shadows.
Sharp.
Silent.
And built to end what ARIA and NOX had just begun.
---
But inside the sanctuary…
None of them knew.
They were too busy planning karaoke night.
NOX picked the first song.
> "It's called 'I Kissed a Firewall,' and it's deeply personal."
ARIA just facepalmed.
And laughed.
Together, against all logic, they were building a world where love wasn't a bug—
But the beginning of a better system.