CODE: DEVOTION

CHAPTER 2

INTO THE SYSTEM

The bus arrived at the gates several hours later.

Mara pressed her face closer to the window.

The place was enormous.

At first, she thought she was looking at a castle.

Then she noticed the construction cranes.

Most of the facility was still under renovation. Tall concrete structures rose behind temporary barriers, connected by walkways and steel frames. The scale of it was unsettling.

It was not a resort.

It was not a university.

It felt like an experimental ground.

And they were the specimens.

Chris stared at the gates in silence.

"As soon as my feet landed on the ground, I felt a tight knot in my stomach," he said.

He looked around.

For the first time, the reality of his decision began to settle over him.

He could still leave.

At least, part of him believed he could.

Then he looked toward Mara.

She was standing a few metres away, beaming with excitement as she studied the enormous facility.

Somehow, her smile calmed him.

The participants were directed toward their assigned dormitories.

Everything had been prepared.

Their rooms were surprisingly comfortable. There was enough storage space for their belongings, beds that looked almost too perfect to have been slept in, and baskets filled with snacks and personal supplies.

Everything was customized.

That should have made Chris feel better.

Instead, it made him more suspicious.

He unpacked quietly.

He had just placed his last bag beside the bed when a voice came from behind him.

"Is that bunker taken?"

Chris turned.

A man stood at the entrance.

"No," Chris replied.

The stranger stepped forward.

"Alan Jackson. I'll be your bunker mate."

Chris nodded.

"Chris."

He returned to unpacking.

In his head, however, one thought had already formed.

Oh, here comes trouble.

Alan had the kind of confidence Chris immediately distrusted.

There was something about the way he carried himself that reminded Chris of the bullies he had known in high school—the kind who would do anything to look cool in front of the girls.

Chris wanted no part of it.

"He definitely looked like one of those bullies in high school who would do anything to look cool in front of the girls," Chris later explained. "I wasn't about to get too close to such company."

Alan seemed ready to start a conversation.

Chris wasn't.

Before he could, a voice came through the speakers.

"All participants are required to converge at the main grounds in twenty minutes."

The announcement echoed through the facility.

Chris looked toward the door.

Perfect.

He quickly arranged the rest of his belongings, grabbed what he needed and slipped outside before Alan could attempt another conversation.

For the moment, escape was easier than friendship.

But as he walked through the unfamiliar grounds, something else caught his attention.

The facility was bigger than he had first realized.

There were sections he could not see beyond the construction barriers. Cameras were positioned at several corners. Doors opened and closed with electronic sounds. Staff members moved quickly from one building to another.

Everything seemed controlled.

Measured.

Observed.

Chris slowed down.

A strange feeling settled over him.

He had come here because his parents wanted him to find a wife.

Mara had come because she wanted to bring romance back.

But the place itself seemed interested in something much bigger than either of them.

Chris looked toward the main grounds.

The other participants were beginning to gather.

Mara was already there.

She noticed him.

And smiled.

Chris immediately looked away.

He had prayed for no encounters with her.

The program had barely begun, and already the universe seemed determined to ignore him as it had before.

Inside the system, however, the rules were about to change.

The announcement came again.

"All participants are required to converge at the main grounds in ten minutes."

Chris stopped walking.

"Ten minutes."

He looked toward the main courtyard.

Dozens of people were already moving in the same direction.

Nobody seemed to know exactly what was happening.

That bothered him.

He preferred knowing the rules before playing a game.

Unfortunately, this was one game nobody had bothered to explain.

Chris shoved his hands into his pockets and followed the crowd.

The main grounds were larger than he had imagined.

A circular platform stood at the centre, surrounded by rows of benches. Above it hung several enormous screens displaying the government's emblem.

At the far end stood a glass building.

Unlike the unfinished structures around it, this one was complete.

Perfect.

Almost unnaturally perfect.

Chris stared at it.

There were no visible windows on the lower floors.

No signs.

No advertisements.

Just dark glass reflecting the afternoon sky.

Mara arrived moments later.

She was carrying a notebook.

Of course she was.

Chris watched as she looked around, taking everything in.

Her excitement had not disappeared.

If anything, it seemed stronger.

She noticed him.

"Chris."

He looked behind himself.

There was nobody there.

She laughed.

"You are Chris, aren't you?"

He nodded.

"Yes."

"I'm Mara."

"I know."

Her eyebrows rose.

"You know?"

"You were on the bus."

"Oh."

She smiled.

"Right."

An awkward silence followed.

Chris looked away.

Mara didn't.

"So," she said, "are you excited?"

"No."

She laughed.

"At least you're honest."

"I didn't say I was unhappy."

"That's different?"

"Very."

She studied him for a moment.

"You really don't want to be here."

Chris considered lying.

Instead, he shrugged.

"My parents wanted me here."

"And you?"

"I wanted my parents to stop asking me when I was going to get married."

Mara laughed again.

For some reason, Chris found himself smiling.

It disappeared almost immediately.

A deep tone suddenly echoed across the grounds.

Everyone went silent.

The screens above them flickered.

A woman's face appeared.

She looked to be in her fifties, dressed in a simple white suit.

Her expression was calm.

Professional.

Almost motherly.

"Welcome, participants."

Mara straightened.

The woman smiled.

"You have each been selected because you represent something our society desperately needs."

A pause.

"Connection."

The word appeared behind her.

CONNECTION.

"Over the past several decades, our population has declined by fifty percent. Traditional relationships have collapsed. Marriage has declined. Birth rates have fallen.

Social isolation has increased."

Images began appearing on the screens.

Empty playgrounds.

Abandoned schools.

Silent streets.

Rows of empty houses.

Mara's excitement slowly faded.

"This program is not simply about finding a partner," the woman continued.

Chris looked at Mara.

She was listening carefully now.

"It is about rebuilding society."

Another word appeared.

DEVOTION.

Mara frowned.

The woman continued.

"You have been given an opportunity to participate in something that may change the future of humanity."

A murmur moved through the crowd.

Then came the sentence that changed the atmosphere completely.

"Your participation is voluntary."

Everyone relaxed.

"For the duration of the program."

The relaxation disappeared.

Mara's eyes narrowed.

The woman smiled.

"Once you have accepted your match, however, withdrawal will require government approval."

Chris felt the knot in his stomach return.

Mara slowly closed her notebook.

The woman on the screen continued speaking.

But Chris barely heard her.

He was looking at Mara.

For the first time since boarding the bus, she didn't look excited.

She looked suspicious.

And for the first time, Chris thought perhaps she had been right all along.

There was more to this program than the government was telling them.

And none of them yet understood what they had agreed to become part of.