Cracks in the Crystal

In a city where perfection is programmed and emotion is a virus, one glitch can unravel everything. Nova lives in Silo-9, a hyper-regulated society where every heartbeat is synchronized, every feeling calibrated, and every memory filtered through glass. The Saints speak in looped prayers. The sky is artificial. Peace is software. Grief is treason. But something is cracking. A ghost melody haunts the alleys. A child hums an unrecorded song. The reflections don't sync anymore. Nova's body begins to remember things their records never saved—and behind their eyes, an echo stirs. As system updates falter and emotional suppression chips fail, Nova finds themselves drifting between memory and malfunction. Encounters with glitching strangers, broken temples, and outlaw frequencies raise a terrifying question: What if the world outside Harmony isn't broken? What if it's real? Cracks in the Crystal is the haunting opening to the Resonant Flesh saga: a cyberpunk elegy of memory, rebellion, and rebirth. Told in cinematic pulses and lyrical tension, this novella invites readers into a world teetering between control and collapse—where the deepest resistance may be learning how to feel again.