Level 0: The System Can't See Me

Shadows In The Rain

The red rain fell in heavy, oily sheets throughout the night, drumming against the warehouse roof like impatient fingers. Adrian Voss barely slept. Every time he drifted off, the sound of distant screams or the low mechanical hum of the black spires would jerk him awake. By the time the fractured crimson sky began to lighten into a dull, bloody dawn, his eyes felt gritty and his body ached from the hard floor.

He sat up slowly, rubbing the back of his neck. The barricaded office door was still intact. No one had found him. That was something.

Adrian stood and moved to the small grimy window that overlooked the warehouse yard. The scene outside had changed again.

The black spires that had erupted overnight now dominated the skyline, connected by thin, crackling bridges of red energy. In the open spaces between them, new structures had risen, squat, angular buildings made of the same seamless black material. Blue lights pulsed along their surfaces in rhythmic patterns, like heartbeats.

And the people… they were moving with purpose now.

Groups of corrected citizens marched in perfect formation through the streets. Their status screens glowed steadily above their heads, displaying updated levels and classes. Adrian watched a squad of Level 3 Enforcers dragging a struggling man toward one of the new black buildings. The man’s screen showed "Level 1, Unassigned". He was screaming that he didn’t want to be “reassigned,” but his protests were ignored.

Adrian turned away from the window, stomach twisting. The System wasn’t just ruling the city anymore. It was reorganizing it. Reshaping both the architecture and the population into something efficient. Something controllable.

He needed to move. Staying in one place too long was dangerous, especially now that the Council had announced the hunt for a Level Zero entity.

Adrian quickly checked his supplies. Water and nutrient bars were still plentiful, but the medkit was limited. He slung both backpacks over his shoulders, gripped the metal pipe, and carefully slid the crates away from the door.

The warehouse interior was quiet. Too quiet. He moved between the rows of old shipping containers, ears straining for any sound that didn’t belong. Halfway to the side exit, he froze.

A soft blue glow came from behind a stack of crates.

Adrian approached cautiously, pipe raised. When he peered around the corner, he found a young woman slumped against the wall. Her status screen floated above her, flickering weakly:

"Name: Elara Kane"

"Level: 1"

"Class: Scavenger"

"Status: Damaged,Seeking Shelter"

She was breathing, but her eyes were closed and a thin trail of blood ran from her nose. Unlike the sleepwalkers outside, her screen wasn’t steady. It glitched and stuttered, as if the System was having trouble maintaining its hold on her.

Adrian hesitated. Helping her could expose him. But leaving her here felt wrong. She was the first person he’d seen who still seemed… partially herself.

He crouched beside her and gently shook her shoulder.

“Hey… wake up.”

Elara’s eyes snapped open. They were a normal brown, not glowing blue. She scrambled backward, pressing herself against the wall, staring at him with wide, frightened eyes.

“Who are you?” she whispered. “Why don’t you have a screen?”

Adrian froze. She could see that he had no status floating above him.

“You can see that?” he asked quietly.

She nodded slowly, still wary. “Everyone else has one. Bright and constant. Yours… there’s nothing. Like you’re not even there.”

Adrian felt a strange rush of relief mixed with caution. She wasn’t fully corrected yet. Maybe the System’s hold on her was weaker because she had chosen Scavenger, a class that kept her moving, hiding, surviving on the edges.

“I’m Adrian,” he said. “And I think I’m broken. The System can’t see me. No level. No class. Nothing.”

Elara stared at him for a long moment, then let out a shaky laugh that turned into a cough. “Lucky you. Or maybe cursed. I tried to run last night when they started rounding people up. Got hit by some kind of pulse. My screen keeps glitching. Sometimes I can think clearly. Sometimes I just… want to follow the voice.”

She touched the side of her head, wincing.

Adrian helped her to her feet. She was unsteady but managed to stand on her own.

“We can’t stay here,” he said. “They’re searching for unregistered people. I heard them last night. If they find you while you’re glitching, they’ll correct you fully. And if they find me…”

He didn’t finish the sentence. He didn’t need to.

Elara nodded. “There’s an old service tunnel that runs under the eastern wall. I used it yesterday before everything went to hell. It might still be clear. Leads toward the Outer Ring, less spires out there, at least for now.”

Adrian considered it. Going with someone else increased the risk, but having another set of eyes, especially someone who could still think for herself, might be worth it. Plus, she knew the area better than he did.

“Alright,” he said. “But we move quiet. No talking unless necessary. If we get separated, don’t look for me. Just keep going.”

Elara gave him a weak smile. “You’re the invisible one. I should be telling you that.”

They slipped out of the warehouse through the side door, staying low as they crossed the rain-slicked yard. The red rain had stopped, but the ground was slippery with oily residue. Adrian led the way, Elara following close behind.

They avoided the main roads, cutting through narrow gaps between warehouses and ruined buildings. Twice they had to hide when patrols of Enforcers marched past, their metallic footsteps echoing in perfect unison.

As they neared the service tunnel entrance, a rusted grate half-hidden behind overgrown pipes, Elara suddenly grabbed Adrian’s arm.

“Wait,” she whispered urgently.

A single black spire had risen directly in front of the tunnel entrance overnight. It hummed softly, red lightning dancing across its surface. Two Enforcers stood guard at its base, their glowing blue eyes scanning the area.

Adrian cursed under his breath. “We’ll have to circle around. There’s another access point two blocks north.”

They turned to retreat, and froze.

Three more Enforcers had appeared at the end of the alley, blocking their escape. Their status screens burned bright:

"Level: 4"

"Class: Enforcer"

"Directive: Locate and Correct Level Zero"

One of them tilted his head, as if listening to an internal command.

“Anomaly detected in this sector. Unregistered presence confirmed. Begin sweep.”

Adrian’s grip tightened on the metal pipe. Elara’s breathing grew rapid beside him. Her status screen flickered violently, the glitch worsening under the pressure.

The lead Enforcer stepped forward, raising a hand that crackled with blue energy.

“Stand down and submit for correction.”

Adrian’s mind raced. He couldn’t fight three Level 4 Enforcers. Not with a pipe. But he was invisible. Maybe he could create a distraction.

He whispered quickly to Elara, “When I move, run for the tunnel. Don’t wait for me.”

Before she could protest, Adrian stepped out from the shadows, directly into the open.

The Enforcers’ heads snapped toward him… and then past him.

They looked straight through him.

For one impossible second, Adrian stood there, heart thundering, as the three enhanced humans scanned the empty air where he stood.

“Nothing here,” one of them reported flatly. “Continue sweep.”

They began moving forward again, passing within arm’s reach of Adrian without even glancing at him.

Elara’s eyes widened in disbelief from her hiding spot.

Adrian waited until the patrol had moved deeper into the alley, then motioned urgently for Elara to follow. She darted forward, and together they sprinted for the service tunnel grate.

Adrian yanked the rusted cover open. Elara dropped inside first. He followed, pulling the grate shut behind them just as another patrol rounded the corner.

They descended into the darkness of the tunnel, the sounds of marching footsteps fading above.

Only when they had put several hundred meters between themselves and the entrance did Adrian allow himself to stop and lean against the wall, breathing hard.

Elara stared at him in the dim blue glow of the tunnel walls.

“You really are invisible to them,” she whispered. “Completely.”

Adrian nodded, still catching his breath. “Seems that way. But they know something’s wrong. They’re looking for a Level Zero.”

Elara wiped the blood from under her nose. Her screen had stabilized again, at least for now.

“Then we need to find others like me,” she said quietly. “People whose correction didn’t take fully. Glitches. If we can gather enough of us… maybe we can fight back.”

Adrian looked at her, the first real ally he’d found in this broken world.

Level Zero.

The unseen.

And now, perhaps, the beginning of something the System Council had never planned for.

Above them, the black spires continued to hum, and the Council’s calm voice echoed across the reshaped city once more.

“Citizens, report any anomalies. The New Order rewards vigilance.”

Adrian and Elara moved deeper into the tunnel, heading toward the uncertain safety of the Outer Ring.

The first night was over.

The real war had only just begun.