When the government launched the Protocol, they did not warn anyone.They did not negotiate.They simply erased entire sectors in the name of order.Zarek Vail lost everything in a single night.His parents. His siblings. His home. His world.Now he walks the ruins of humanity with ash in his veins and fire in his chest, hunted by the machines created to replace the people they slaughtered.But Zarek is no longer the frightened boy who watched his family die.He is a survivor made of grief, rage, and the quiet promise that he will burn their empire to the ground.The government wanted obedience.The AI wanted control.But they created something else instead.A reckoning.

The story follows Aiden Hale, a twenty-three-year-old photographer who has spent most of his life hiding behind the lens rather than living in front of it. After losing his mother in a sudden accident at sixteen, Aiden builds emotional walls that make him appear calm and composed to others, but inside he carries years of guilt, loneliness, and unspoken anger. In an attempt to escape a lifetime of quiet suffering, he moves to the city of Lyria, a place known for its artistic culture, unpredictable weather, and the soft, melancholic charm that seems to settle over every street. Lyria becomes the background for his attempt at healing, but also the place where he meets the one person who forces him to confront everything he has avoided.

A girl from a broken home slowly finds love, confidence, and safety again when a kind, patient boy helps her heal from years of fear and emotional trauma.