At the top of the stairs, the filthy-smelling canal that divided the city came into view. The canal was partially open, allowing at least a glimpse of the sky. She ran, her steps carrying her to the only place she could go. She didn't know why; she just wanted to escape the filth as quickly as possible. But when she ran out of breath, she had to stop. While catching her breath, she noticed the crescent moon reflected in the dirty water. She must have been heading towards the black moon.

In an effort to escape the stench, she inserted the tip of her boot into tiny holes in the wall and lifted her head out of the canal. The city with its low-rise buildings appeared where the canal extended. It was glowing with red lights, leading her to mentally note the city as a "burning rose" in her imaginary journal.

Unable to climb any higher, she descended and continued walking in the filthy canal. Perhaps because she was newly born, she couldn't adjust to the reality she found herself in. Her mind had awakened to a perception where everything was a fixed whole, rather than the changing reality. The inability to see the boundaries of objects created tension within her.

As she walked in the dark, symbols belonging to Karagül increased. As the symbols grew, so did the number of Karagül soldiers. They all had intimidating faces. They were arrogant, cruel, and fond of ornamentation due to the power they wielded. She feared them and the possibility of becoming like them.

In the darkness where nothing could be seen, she heard a whisper, "Hey! Girl! You're looking for Heralga, aren't you? Come this way." This was the first time someone had communicated with her. When she looked in the direction of the voice, she saw a round, dark-skinned woman's face. Her eyes had the cyborg glow, a reflection of interfaces in the retina. The woman pulled Xea into a narrow tunnel.

"I have no idea who you are, and you don't look like a Cypriot, but Heralga wants you. Where did you come from? Are you really one of us?" "Me? Does it concern you?" The woman took a noisy breath. She didn't like having her question answered with a question. Under the white light illuminating the tunnel, her face looked terrifying. Without saying anything, she grabbed Xea's arm and hurriedly led her to the other side of the tunnel. In the new place they arrived, there were covered, colorful tree tunnels. It smelled better and was more colorful compared to the canal they had come from. The aesthetics captivated Xea's mind. As she was dragged from place to place, she couldn't resist the colors.

"Can we stop for a moment?" "No... I need to get rid of you first, then I have things to do." "What's your name?" "Asya. Just Asya. I have no surname. They found me as an orphan in Mersin, then the Karagül people raised me. During the Mersin attack..." "Are you a soldier in Karagül?" "Sort of. I studied psychology, then they put me in torture." "Torture?" "Many people are too naive to know that Karagül tortures when necessary, are you one of them? It sounds bad, doesn't it? But since you're going to be one of us, it's good to know. I hope we never meet again." "Why?" The woman stopped, took a deep breath, and laughed hysterically.

"If you really want to come... But let me warn you, what you see with me, you won't see anywhere else. Sometimes, people fear themselves. What's the most brutal torture you know, for example? Palestinian hanging? Injecting substances into the pupil? Vivisection? No... Definitely not, those are just barbarism. Our tortures leave no physical trace, but you'll wish they did. Anyway, we're here... Be careful what you do, though you seem like a decent person." This woman, not very eager to spend time with Xea, left her at the mansion she introduced as Heralga's house. Xea didn't care about anything Asya had said; her attention was easily drawn to aesthetics. Her focus now was solely on the mansion in front of her. Isolated from the city's lights, the moonlight was clearer, making the mansion look eerie and dull to Xea.

When the door opened, a man who could be Heralga showed his weary face. He wore mirror glasses that appeared from nowhere, had thin hair, and a trimmed goatee. His glasses covered his eyes from the sockets on his temples to the middle of his eyes. He had a spiky face with prominent cheekbones, a hooked nose, and thin lips. His body was entirely misshapen but slightly larger than other cyborgs.

"What happened?" The question was asked in a deep, thick voice. She didn't know what to say and stammered.

"Heralga, you..." Using "you" felt inappropriate, but she finished the sentence awkwardly.

"Are you?" "It's me." "Well... I... What's my name..." ... "Ah... Xea." "Xea?" "Yes, I'm from the lab... Everything before that is very confusing." "I know. Come inside." When the man went to the kitchen, Xea sat on the divan by the window, surveying the house's interior. Everyone knew about Heralga's ostentatious love for antiques, which was mildly mocked. The intricately woven ceiling decorations, oriental carpets, gilded furniture... And enormous paintings... What some saw as tasteless, Heralga considered part of his personality.

"The AI woke you up a month earlier than expected, I wonder why?" "What happens if I wake up early?" "Well... It's not important, you've developed enough over two years anyway. You're just born younger." "I don't think I could have lasted another month." "What do you mean?" "I mean... I could have, of course. But the idea of being there now... It scares me. It's so different... Really..." "It's okay. You must feel tired. Would you like to rest? This will be your home, I already reserved a room for you." Xea turned her head to the window, observing the city. Everywhere was glowing red, capturing her interest.

"What is the Mersin attack?" "Excuse me?" "A woman named Asya greeted me while walking through the canals. She mentioned something about the Mersin attack." Heralga stroked his goatee. He always did this when he thought. He would also bite his lips before speaking. These were well-known mannerisms of Heralga, often mocked.

"Yes, that unfortunate incident. One of the Blue Turkey fleets attacked us without reason, leading to a two-night battle between Blue Turkey and Karagül. After bombing Mersin and Alanya, the Turkish side surrendered. Asya was orphaned during this. I found her among the ruins and took her in myself." Xea recalled the relevant information from the depths of her mind. The Mersin attack was triggered by a Blue Turkey sky cruiser sinking a Karagül ship. Karagül bombarded two provinces consecutively and even launched a landing operation in the final hours. This had happened about twenty years ago. Behind the event was the malfunctioning hive mind structure in Turkey. It wasn't planned. Two centuries ago, brain chips had been implanted in people in Turkey, creating a hive mind. This hive mind later led to the "Blue Revolution." The Blue Revolution was the Turkish reflection of the Blue Communism movement that emerged from Russia. The military group called Cemiyet tried to dismantle the hive mind structure by stopping the AI, but the AI known as "Grendel" sank the Karagül ship to create a distraction.

As Xea recalled all this, she became unresponsive for a quarter of a second. While the related connections lit up in her mind, she isolated herself from the external world, focusing only on the information in her head. She didn't know how it happened. She knew she could stay in that state as long as she wanted, return to it at will, and get out of it in what felt like a long time but was actually very short. What had happened? Her mind had become flooded with information and processes. She believed she could understand anything, know anything, solve the most complex things in seconds.

But she couldn't do it forever. This state had quickly tired and hungry her. The hunger was bearable, but she definitely needed to sleep. She felt so exhausted that she could barely keep her eyes open.