Kaleb (Perfect World)

The damp air of Aloterra's abandoned technical level smelled of ozone and rust. Caleb's steps, usually crisp and measured, were muffled here. He hated these forays. According to official Secretariat documents, this zone had been sealed for ten years due to "critical radiation levels." Ordinary citizens were forbidden from even approaching the sector's sealed containment systems, under penalty of immediate memory erasure and disposal. Caleb adjusted his glasses and stepped over the exposed high-voltage cable with disgust. He clutched an Imperial scanner—the device was blinking persistently yellow, indicating a human heat signature just a few meters around the bend. "Idiot. What an idiot," Caleb thought irritably, fumbling for his service stun gun in his pocket. If this intruder was caught by Void's patrol drones, the entire Secretariat would be in trouble. He needed to resolve this matter quietly and quickly. He rounded the corner where an emergency light flickered dimly and froze. A man in the gray uniform of an ordinary Alt City citizen squatted next to a half-disassembled communications terminal, his back to it. The intruder was frantically typing bypass codes into the console, clearly attempting to circumvent the Main Computer's protocols. Caleb stepped forward, his voice like a whip cracking, cold, commanding, and without a trace of pity.

— Cease work. You have violated paragraph three-oh-seven of the Imperial Code. Stand up quickly, facing the wall.

The instrument fell from the stranger's trembling hands with a clang. A heavy, ringing silence hung in the confined space of the corridor. The only sound was the ragged breathing of the captured spy. Slowly, very slowly, the man began to rise to his feet and turn around...