The Earth was completely in ruins, and people lived in a few round, dome-like cities.
Alec Hartin, 19 years old, was the genius leader who fixed the broken machines in his dome. Everyone relied on him, and he was confident in his talents. His only emotional support was Silas Vane, his best friend since childhood.
But one day, while repairing a crucial life-support machine, Alec fell into a terrible trap. The dome's air leaked, an explosion occurred, and when he came to, he had been cast out a
The Question Blooming on the Star of Ash - Records of Ash — The Facts That Were Protected, and the Truth That Was Exploited
The night on the Tessa Plains was silent, as if sound itself had died.
Hartin Alec walked, his feet pressing into the reddish-brown sand. With every step, his boot soles crunched against the grit. That sound alone was proof he was still alive.
Graver Hans walked beside him in silence. His close-cropped blond hair swayed in the occasional gust of wind. His sharp green eyes stared fixedly into the darkness ahead.
"Two hundred meters to go."
Hans's voice carried clearly, even through his protective mask.
"I know."
Alec touched the Orbita Key at his chest. A blue glow leaked through the fabric. The connection to the Helios Net satellite array was still stable.
(Don't use it.)
(Not yet.)
He told himself this. Relying on the power would be easy. But that wouldn't change anything. He had to confirm things with his own feet, his own eyes.
Beneath the Tessa Plains lay an old-era records vault. Hans had pinpointed its location from structural data on a former military facility. The envelope exchanged at Lana's secret meeting — they had come all this way to trace its origin.
"Here."
Hans stopped.
Before them was a crumbling mass of concrete. The remains of an old-era building. Weathered beyond recognition. But looking closely, there was a gap beneath it — just wide enough for one person to pass through.
"I'll go in first. You take the rear."
Hans picked up the compact lighting device he'd been carrying on his back. A hand-cranked generator light, built with old-era technology. He turned the handle with a grinding sound.
The light cast a pale blue-white glow.
"You're sure this is a blind spot in the surveillance net?"
"Yeah. From what I've checked, there are no monitoring devices in this area. The higher-ups have forgotten this old records vault even exists."
Alec gave a small nod.
Hans slid his body into the gap. Alec followed.
The entrance to the underground was narrower than he'd imagined. His shoulders scraped against the concrete. Fine sand rained down into his hair. Still, there was no choice but to keep moving forward.
Eventually, the space opened up.
Hans's light cut through the darkness.
It was an old-era records vault. Beneath a partially collapsed ceiling, countless metal shelves stood in rows. The shelves were packed tight with bundles of aged documents.
"Damn... this is the real thing."
Hans's voice echoed through the underground space.
Alec walked between the shelves, guided by the light.
The air was cold and dry. A faint smell of mold and metal hung in it. The old-era paper was yellowed, threatening to crumble at a touch.
(The Selection records are here.)
(Everything about Lana. About Silas.)
(All the truth.)
Alec stopped in front of one shelf.
Faded letters were engraved on a metal plate.
"Valos Dome — Internal Directive — Top Secret."
"...Here."
Alec carefully pulled out a bundle of documents.
The paper was dry, in better condition than he'd expected. Old-era preservation techniques were indeed superior.
He turned through them, page by page.
Records on the initial implementation of the Selection system. Resistance testing methods. Criteria for selecting subjects. And the management procedures for the registry.
(So this is what the higher-ups have been hiding.)
Alec's finger stopped on a single document.
"Emergency Measures Report Regarding the Ark 1 Explosion Incident."
His heart gave a single, heavy throb.
Alec placed the document under the light.
The words rose into view.
"Regarding the Exclusion of Subject Number — Engineer Hartin Alec — from the Selection Registry."
"The technical capabilities of the aforementioned engineer are indispensable for maintaining the life support systems of Dome Valos. However, if he were openly excluded from Selection, it would risk inciting resentment among other residents."
"Therefore, it is approved to remove him to the outside under the guise of an accident, in the form of banishment."
"To prevent external interference, the truth shall not be disclosed to the aforementioned engineer."
Alec's hand trembled.
His fingertips, holding the paper, gripped so hard they went white.
(...What is this?)
(I was a Selection subject?)
(That explosion was an emergency measure to protect me from Selection?)
His mind went blank.
He had believed Silas orchestrated it. That day, the water reclamation unit exploded, he suffered burns across his entire body, was sentenced to banishment in front of fifteen thousand people, and cast out into the wasteland.
Silas's eyes in that moment. Cold, stripped of all emotion.
(Was that... an act to protect me?)
(Did he take on the role of the villain?)
Alec dropped to his knees.
"...You've got to be kidding."
His voice was hoarse.
"You've got to be kidding me, Silas..."
He slammed his fist against the concrete floor.
A dull thud echoed through the underground space.
"Alec."
Hans's voice came from behind him.
"There's something over here too."
Alec slowly raised his head.
Hans stood before a shelf a short distance away, holding a scrap of paper.
"It's Lana's. Probably."
Alec stood and walked to Hans's side.
Hans held out the scrap.
It was old memo paper. The edges were worn, the surface yellowed. But the writing on it was clearly legible.
"The contradiction of the Selection system. Sending those without resistance to the outside is the same as killing them. Secure an alternative transport route."
"Remove subjects from the registry. Falsify the records."
"Send them outside and they die. Then send them somewhere else."
"Northeast of Valos — Carencia Dome. Their food production technology is advanced. There's a possibility they'll accept refugees."
"I'll do it."
Alec read the words over and over.
(Lana.)
(You were trying to stop the Selection)
(from the very beginning?)
Hans spoke in a low voice.
"This is a memo from when Lana was the higher-ups' Information Coordination Assistant. It's cryptic, but the content is clear. It's a plan to smuggle Selection subjects to another dome instead of discarding them outside."
"...Did you know?"
"No. I just found out. But there's one more thing I confirmed."
Hans pulled a folded sheaf of papers from inside his jacket.
"This is what was inside the envelope Lana received at that secret meeting. I picked it up near the observatory — a tech soldier dropped it."
Alec took the papers.
He unfolded them.
A list of names was written there.
"List of Persons Excluded from the Selection Registry."
Over a dozen names. Among them was Liina Sol's.
(...Liina was removed.)
(Lana did that?)
Hans continued.
"Lana was secretly working to smuggle Selection subjects out, behind your back. Erasing names from the registry, putting them on alternative transport routes. That list was what was in the envelope."
Alec clenched the list.
The paper crinkled.
(Lana and Silas.)
(Both of them, while protecting me)
(and at the same time, using me.)
(I was at the center of both their plans.)
(A component.)
(Me — I was just a component.)
Deep in his chest, something crumbled with a quiet sound.
It wasn't anger. It wasn't sorrow.
Something deeper, darker — a void.
"...What have I been living for?"
His voice was shaking.
"Protected, used... where is my own will in any of it?"
Alec leaned back against the wall and slid down to the floor.
The cold sensation of concrete spread across his back.
"Silas banished me. That was to protect me from Selection. Lana got close to me. That was to make me use the Orbita Key. Both of them protected me and used me."
"I was a pawn in both their plans."
Hans said nothing.
He simply watched Alec's face in the pale light.
Silence filled the underground space.
Eventually, Hans spoke.
"You were protected by two people. At the same time, you were used by two people. But that's because you're a man worth that much."
Hans's voice was flat, devoid of emotion.
"Whether you get angry or forgive them — that's up to you. But right now, there's something else you need to decide."
"...What?"
"What you do next."
Hans pointed the light at Alec's face.
"Even if you were a pawn in their plans, your will is still your own. The choices you've made up to now. Protecting Liina. Refusing to rely on the power. Those were your will."
"They used you. But you didn't move only the way they wanted. You came this far by your own will."
Alec looked at Hans's face.
The green eyes stared straight at him.
"The answer isn't mine to give. Figure it out yourself."
Alec closed his eyes.
(By my own will.)
(To protect someone.)
(Without relying on the power.)
(With my own hands.)
He remembered the night he protected Liina.
The moment he first protected someone by his own will.
In that moment, he had certainly not been a component.
"...You're right."
Alec slowly rose to his feet.
"I'll stop the Selection by my own will. Without the power — with these hands. I won't be swept along by Silas or Lana anymore."
Hans gave a small nod.
"That's fine. That's your answer."
That was when it happened.
The radio at Hans's hip suddenly emitted a harsh electronic tone.
Beep——.
Both their gazes snapped to the radio.
"...What the hell?"
Hans picked up the radio.
It was one they'd seized from the higher-ups. Normally, they used it to intercept upper-level communications.
A voice crackled through the static.
"—Urgent, all technical soldiers. The detention of Vain Silas has been completed. I repeat. The detention of Vain Silas has been completed."
Alec's body went rigid.
"Approval is granted for the activation of Selection Phase Two. Begin the transport of subjects immediately. I repeat. Approval is granted for the activation of Selection Phase Two."
The radio cut off with a click.
Silence returned to the underground space.
Alec stared at the radio, unable to move.
(Silas has been detained.)
(Selection Phase Two is beginning.)
(Is Liina still safe?)
(What is Lana doing?)
Countless thoughts raced through his mind.
Hans spoke in a low voice.
"...Alec. What do we do?"
Alec couldn't answer.
Should he save Silas?
Or should stopping the Selection take priority?
Either choice meant losing something.
"...I don't know."
It was an honest answer.
"I don't know. But I have to choose. Right now, in this moment."
Hans returned the radio to his hip.
"Whichever you choose, decide by your own will. I'll follow it."
Alec looked at Hans's face.
Hans's eyes were as steady as ever.
(This guy is always like this.)
(No emotion — just laying out the facts.)
(But right now, that was a relief.)
Alec touched the Orbita Key at his chest.
The blue light spread as if drawn into his fingertips.
(If I rely on the power, I could burn everything away.)
(But then I'd become the one doing the selecting.)
(That, I absolutely refuse.)
Alec let go of the Orbita Key.
"...We're going back. To the dome."
"Yeah."
The two of them left the underground vault behind.
They passed through the narrow gap and emerged onto the reddish-brown sand.
Above the Tessa Plains, countless stars shone coldly.
Alec looked toward Dome Valos.
In the distance, the dome's outline floated in the moonlight.
(Silas is there.)
(The Selection is moving.)
(Liina is in danger.)
(What is Lana doing?)
Wind swept up sand, streaming past their feet.
"Hans."
"What?"
"I'm going to save Silas. And I'm going to stop the Selection. Both. Not one or the other. Both."
Hans studied Alec's face for a moment.
Then, the corner of his mouth softened — just barely.
"...That's just like you. You really do make everything a hassle."
Alec started walking.
Toward Dome Valos.
For the things he had decided to protect.
One step at a time, pressing into the reddish-brown sand.
Deep in his chest, the blue light of the Orbita Key pulsed quietly.
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