Chapter 1 - The observer

"I think everyone must of prayed to God,

for at least once.

For example,

even if you do not believe in anything,

one day will come where you devote all your heart into that prayer

Things that everyone is looking for.

Things that everyone desires.

Reach your hand out and grab it tightly.

The circulating thoughts and that thing,

that lies ahead which produces people's bonds.

That is surely."

A soul. A machine. One moral. Two choices. This is their story...

The shadows were creeping closer, they came near and their cold breath was filled with inescapable fear of death. This cold breath caressed her neck's skin as she bolted up from the hole she was hiding in. A cold night loomed over all creation and suffocated everything in darkness.

She ran and ran forever but the distance between Xiao-lian and the shadows pursuing her was not growing. Grabbing the pole of a lantern she swung around the corner of a crossroads. She did not want to give in. Like the light of the lanterns, that were sparsely illuminating the streets, not letting the darkness devour everything within it's grasp, she was not willed to let go just yet.

He was after her warm and preciously pounding heart but even though she was not as frail as she looked these days her stamina was giving in slowly. Her breath had become rigged a while ago as she continuously tried to breathe more and more. The air was precious and soothing the pain of her aching lungs. Her cheeks were reddened and her heart, which she so clung to, pounded against it's cage as if it wanted to be released. The sounds of the street and her heavy steps on the hard stones were inaudible against the hammering sound of her racing heart. Xiao-lian dashed around more corners and down empty streets not letting her pursuer gain an inch of that live-saving distance she had gained. However as she continued running even against her body's desire to resign to that fate that had doomed her. A small spark of doubt nestled in her mind.

Suddenly she tripped, crashing hard onto the stony street, scratching and hitting heavily on the street. The loud thud of her body announced to halt of the race she had tried to win. Trembling and whimpering a little as the pain soothed her fear of being caught, she sat up holding her bleeding knee. Crimson wet drops of blood painted the street in it's beautiful colour.

"Ouch. Ouch Ouch..." she whistled as she gently touched the fresh wound. To the audible sound of steps behind her she turned around. Her eyes becoming wide, watering while she screamed to her hearts desire to escape. A knife blinked in the night and it sought flesh, crimson and bone in its mad frenzy. He knocked away a green shining orb which positioned itself swift and bold between him and his prey.

Xiao-lian looked up, as her observer got knocked away, while she scrambled to regain control of her not obeying legs. Her precious green observer was now hovering behind her, as the thug bend down, to touch the soft skin of her face a last time, before draining the life within. His knife reached out question for the flesh he sought but stopped cold as red glowing ball connected with his head. His eyes went wide as a metallic voice from within the ball:

"Deus: Violation limit reached, executing removal option."

Even while the words were spoken, flames erupted, from the now black observer, rapidly incinerating the thug and just seconds after a black inert observer fell down, into a pile of ash next to a quivering girl.