Chapter 1: Echoes on the Clockwork Train
Garamond for main prose, Courier New for glitch effects, Baskerville for headers
❖ Prologue: Shattered Fairy Tales ❖
"Once upon a time" belongs to fairy tales.
In this fractured world, it cloaks a post-Enlightenment age that never reached clarity—only darkness. Curiosity decayed into craving. Love contorted into possession. Time fractured, and the world shattered into layers.
Can fate still be trusted... or will it betray us too?
❖ A Foggy Autumn Night ❖
The train creaked gently through veils of pale fog. Its brass fixtures glimmered beneath the sickly glow of gas lamps, casting elongated shadows that slithered across the carriage's mahogany panels and velvet seats.
Inside, a woman in her mid-twenties reclined in a solitary corner. A cigarette dangled from her fingers—smoke curling like spectral ribbons, swirling through the dim light before dissolving into nothing.
Her eyes—dark blue, deep as midnight—did not shimmer with innocence. They shimmered with secrets, the kind that collapse empires.
She wore a layered coat over a fitted jacket and worn jeans. Her long, black hair, sharply cut and flowing, framed distinct Chinese features—calm, calculating, and quietly dangerous.
Across from her sat a man—tall, with tousled golden hair and a frame made for combat but clothed like a gentleman. His coat, a classic detective's, wrapped tightly around him. Despite his seemingly relaxed posture, his dull-golden eyes, half-closed, radiated something unnatural.
Peaceful? Yes. Calculated? Undeniably.
The train's wheels clacked a steady rhythm, a metronome counting down to something inevitable.
❖ The Meeting ❖
Silence blanketed the compartment.
Anna exhaled, the smoke drifting between them.
Anna (soft, yet edged): "Loid, don't you recognize me?"
Loid smirked without opening his eyes.
Loid (dry): "You're in no place to ask that, Anna. Why are you even here? You ruined my peaceful day."
Anna's lips curled in a half-smile.
Anna: "Still sharp." (She flicks ash onto the floor.) "So why are you here?"
Loid's eyes flickered open, just a sliver of gold.
Loid: "You asked." (He shrugs, feigning indifference.) "Just like I expected."
Anna scoffed, looking away. Loid's gaze lingered, unwavering. He repeated the stare—three times—until she caved in.
Anna (sighs, relenting): "Tsk. Fine. Why this train?"
Loid's smirk deepened.
Loid: "You're the one who likes riddles. Maybe you'll figure it out before we reach the end of the line."
Anna rolled her eyes, but a faint smile played at the corners of her mouth.
Anna: "You always did love your games, Loid."
He shrugged, feigning nonchalance.
Loid: "Games are the only thing that makes sense anymore."
A beat. The train's wheels clattered on, the sound filling the silence between them.
Anna glanced at the window, watching the fog swirl past.
Anna: "You know, I almost didn't come. I had better things to do tonight."
Loid grinned.
Loid: "You always say that, but you're here anyway."
Anna smirked.
Anna: "Maybe I was bored. Or maybe I just wanted to see if you'd gotten any better at this."
Loid's eyes glinted.
Loid: "At what? Luring you out of hiding? Or surviving another night?"
Anna's gaze sharpened.
Anna: "Both."
❖ The Game of Truths ❖
Loid leaned back, stretching his legs out.
Loid: "You know, Anna, you're a hard woman to find. I had to call in three favors, bribe a conductor, and hack into the Bureau's shadow manifest just to figure out which train you'd take."
Anna raised an eyebrow.
Anna: "You could have just asked."
Loid laughed, low and genuine.
Loid: "You would've ignored me."
Anna shrugged, a sly smile on her lips.
Anna: "Maybe. Or maybe I'd have shown up just to see what you wanted."
Loid studied her for a moment.
Loid: "I wanted to know if you'd changed."
Anna's expression grew distant.
Anna: "Change is overrated."
Loid leaned forward, elbows on his knees.
Loid: "Not always. Sometimes it's necessary."
Anna's eyes flicked to his, searching.
Anna: "You're not here for small talk, Loid. What do you want?"
Loid hesitated, then spoke softly.
Loid: "I want answers. And maybe... I want to know if you're still the same Anna I once trusted."
Anna's lips pressed into a thin line.
Anna: "Trust is a luxury I can't afford."
❖ Fragmented Memories: Ocean of Echoes ❖
Fade to black.
A vast ocean. Memory's mirror.
Reflections ripple—fragments of lives never fully lived.
A child, clothed in rags, stands at the water's edge. Golden-haired. Quiet. Hollow.
A woman—mid-twenties again—kneels and pats his head gently.
Woman (softly): "Goodbye."
She vanishes into shadows.
Then, they come—spirits. Wisps first, then a monstrous, one-eyed lady floats toward the boy.
The child does not flinch.
His eyes turn black.
His mouth... opens.
An impossible void. A silence that devours.
The spirits collapse into him—vanished without a trace.
The child smiles.
Child: "Hope we meet again."
❖ Present Tension ❖
The train shuddered, lanterns flickering. Anna's gaze snapped back to Loid.
He leaned forward, elbows on knees, voice low and somber.
Loid: "I'll tell you my story—after you save my grandmother figure."
His eyes searched her face for any sign of emotion.
"I left behind precious memories… and they led me to you. You vanished mid-task. I died. Lived seventy-nine mortal years. And still... in my final moments... I remembered you."
Anna's eyes narrowed, but she said nothing.
Loid's voice softened, almost a whisper.
Loid: "You always gave your best... until you didn't."
Anna's lips twitched.
Anna: "You've got the sarcasm. You should join the HSLB bureaucracy. Oh wait—you did."
Loid's smile faded, replaced by something rawer.
Loid: "I met you two hundred years ago. You've had one hundred twenty-one years in this new life. Dual jobs. Two nicknames: The Mastermind and The Devouring Abyss."
He inhaled slowly, steadying himself.
"So why now? What's your real motive?"
Anna tilted her head, unamused.
Anna: "You dragged me into your old, gloomy life. Don't mistake my tolerance for interest."
Her voice turned razor-sharp.
"Don't involve me."
Loid nodded slowly, his gaze unwavering.
Loid: "Just answers. A few. I'll offer resources. A partnership."
Anna considered him, eyes narrowing.
Anna: "I'll consider it. But cross the line... and I vanish again."
Loid's eyes softened.
Loid: "I know you could. But I'm not here to threaten you, Anna. I need you. The Bureau needs you—even if they won't admit it."
Anna's expression was unreadable.
Anna: "The Bureau needs a lot of things. I'm not one of them."
Loid offered a small, genuine smile.
Loid: "You're more important than you think."
Anna looked away, her voice barely audible.
Anna: "That's what scares me."
❖ The Deal ❖
A moment of silence stretched between them.
Loid broke it, voice gentle but insistent.
Loid: "First question: How long have you served the HSLB?"
Anna rolled her eyes, exasperated.
Anna: "You really don't know boundaries."
Loid smiled, unbothered.
Loid: "You agreed. Just rough details."
Anna sighed, glancing out the window at the swirling fog.
Anna: "I reconstruct my body every one hundred fifty years. My oldest memories go back eight centuries—to China. That includes my mortal life."
Loid blinked in disbelief.
Loid: "Eight centuries… and no digital trace. You're invisible."
Anna shrugged, a faint smile ghosting her lips.
Anna: "I don't need to be known."
She tapped her cigarette.
"My profile glitches. Deliberately."
Loid leaned in, curiosity burning in his eyes.
Loid: "Your job?"
Anna's gaze grew distant.
Anna: "Ancestral Atheystl Dragon – Gen 1. I mostly observe. I have five sub-jobs, but use two."
Loid flinched, surprise flickering across his face.
Loid: "Gen 1?! The AAD Collection?! That's tied to the Imperial Lineage. Are you an Imperial Master?!"
Anna said nothing, her silence more telling than words.
Loid pressed on, voice hushed.
Loid: "You survive essence decay. Without help. That's impossible. You just... continued?"
Anna's reply was soft, almost wistful.
Anna: "I live as I want. I'm not bound by your structure."
Loid shook his head, a mix of awe and frustration in his eyes.
Loid: "You're beyond Gen 7—the latest system. The Seven Founders built the HSLB bureaucracy centuries ago to control dimensional distortions and supernatural forces through mortal proxies. You ignored all that? Left no trace? Are you even… human anymore?"
Anna tilted her head, a glint of amusement in her eyes.
Anna: "Don't poke at answers you won't like."
Loid's lips parted, as if to argue, but he stopped himself. The train's whistle pierced the night, and the carriage lurched as it began to slow.
❖ Revelation: The Glitching Hand ❖
The train hissed to a halt at a deserted platform. Anna stood, gathering her coat around her.
Loid followed, voice urgent.
Loid: "Anna. Just one last thing. I'll need to delete your old profile. For the mission."
Anna halted, her back to him.
Anna: "That's your responsibility," she said, not turning around.
Loid's tone softened, almost pleading.
Loid: "But if I do, you'll be erased from every system. Even the Bureau's shadow records."
Anna was silent for a long moment. Then, without a word, she slowly raised her right hand—previously hidden in her coat.
Courier New (glitch effect):
Glowing blue lines pulsed across her skin, glitching and twisting—like corrupted veins of nebula and code. The air around her hand warped, reality itself struggling to process its existence.
Loid stared, breath caught in his throat.
Loid (voice trembling): "What… are you?"
Anna didn't flinch.
Anna: "This is not a hand anymore. It's my punishment. My contract. My curse."
She spoke like reciting an old law.
"I fused with something unrecordable. Not even the Bureau has terms for it. That's why I glitch. That's why even spirits run."
Loid's voice cracked, a rare fracture in his centuries of composure.
Loid: "You're… an Asider. One of the Myth-Class. A systemic rejection code in human form."
Anna gave him a tired, wistful smile.
Anna: "I didn't break the system, Loid. I just... survived what wasn't meant to be survived."
Loid shook his head, awe and dread mingling in his eyes.
Loid: "Then you're… a temporal paradox with sentient layers. A corrupted observer beyond bureaucracy. You're untrackable because you're woven into the system's shadow."
Anna's smile faded, replaced by something softer.
Anna: "Congratulations. You're not as dumb as your charming face implies."
She looked ahead, her voice barely more than a whisper.
Anna: "But let me be clear: I didn't accept this for power. I accepted it because I had no choice. I want freedom. And maybe… a clean erasure when it's all done."
Loid walked beside her, the tension between them shifting from hostility to the quiet gravity of two beings who'd lived too long and seen too much.
❖ Fragments of Fate ❖
They walked in silence, the fog coiling around the empty streets like sleeping serpents.
Loid broke the silence, voice low.
Loid: "If you join me, this won't be a partnership of equals. It'll be a partnership of broken mirrors. Fragments. Roles we never asked for."
Anna glanced at him, expression unreadable.
Anna: "Maybe. But mirrors still reflect. Even shattered ones."
She flicked her glitching hand, the blue light fractalizing in the mist.
"And maybe we'll use that reflection to trick fate itself."
Behind them, the train hissed in the dark, a dying beast. Ahead, the city swallowed itself in fog.
And somewhere, deep in the forgotten indexes of time—something awakened.
❖ Epilogue: Shattered Reflections ❖
They reached the edge of the platform, where the city's lights flickered like dying stars.
Loid hesitated, glancing back at the train.
Loid: "You know, Anna, I used to think fate was a straight line. Then you came along and turned it into a Möbius strip."
Anna smirked, the ghost of a laugh escaping her lips.
Anna: "Maybe fate just needed a little chaos."
Loid grinned, the tension between them easing.
Loid: "You're good at that."
Anna shrugged, her gaze distant.
Anna: "Someone has to be."
They stepped into the fog, their silhouettes merging with the shadows.
❖ Glossary ❖
Term Definition
HSLB Hidden Scales of Lost Balance—A secretive bureaucracy governing supernatural forces across dimensional layers.
Asider Entities that exist outside systemic laws, labeled as "errors" by the HSLB.
Gen 1 First-generation Ancestral Atheystl Dragons, tied to the HSLB's founding.
Essence Decay The erosion of supernatural beings' forms over time. Most require bureaucratic "repairs."
One-Eyed Lady A Harbinger-class spirit that feeds on unresolved grief.
Systemic Rejection Code A living anomaly that the HSLB bureaucracy cannot process or contain.
❖ Next Chapter Preview ❖
Title: The Bureau's Forgotten Index
Teaser:
"Every lie in the HSLB has a registry. Every secret has a shelf. But something is erasing its own records—and the shadows are hungry."
To Be Continued...