anatta707

You have no idea how much your words mean to me! 💖 Writing this story and working on the visuals takes a lot of energy, and seeing your feedback is the best reward. Thank you so much for your advice about the artwork! There are three separate links for this scene: one with Royr in a black shirt, and two alternatives where he wears a wine-red shirt. In the text, I went with black, but I loved the wine-red versions too. I hope you'll enjoy seeing both perspectives: https://ibb.co/84DND3DD https://ibb.co/1Y3GNv2t https://ibb.co/WNJD20Hd

New Year’s Eve brought a genuine winter wonderland to Moscow. The damp, biting chill had finally receded, replaced by a crisp frost and a blanket of fluffy white snow. The Garden Ring, which usually roared with the sound of thousands of engines, fell quiet by evening. A cozy amber light spilled from the windows, and the streets smelled of tangerines and that distinct, once-a-year anticipation of a miracle. Adam stood on the landing of a Stalinist high-rise on the Kotelnicheskaya Embankment,

Yes, with tiny steps, our boys are moving toward each other. Though for a while longer, they will still be playing a game of "one step forward, two steps back." Royr is terrified of rushing things and ruining everything. Adam is terrified of opening up and turning out to be unwanted. I’m so glad that you caught this dialogue snippet! 😊 You know, Royr has a dozen options for how he could have finished that sentence. On the surface, he might have teased Adam about building a mini-AI just to listen to his cute, grumpy remarks on weekends, or to force his stubborn junior partner to finally unbutton that strict collar. But deep down? Knowing how heavily Royr is haunted by his past, maybe he just wanted to have someone by his side who could bring him total peace and erase the nightmares he's been running from for five long years. But as you'll see in the upcoming chapters, a real, living Adam handles that much better than any AI ever could!😉

The drive from the N.E.T. branch to Adam’s rented apartment just off the Garden Ring in a Pokrovka alley took barely fifteen minutes. The pre-dawn city was completely deserted. The interior of the car was cloaked in shadow, broken only by the toxic green glow of the dashboard and the occasional flash of streetlights whipping past. They were silent. Yet, this wasn’t the familiar, easy lull that usually followed a closed case. The silence felt thick, heavy, and raw. Royr drove with effor

Adam is definitely not the type to give up! He’s going to crack that encrypted file no matter what. You're so right about Royr—he carries a really heavy past. He will open up to Adam a little bit in chapters 5 and 6, but they still have a long way to go before total honesty. Thank you so very much for commenting on literally every chapter! It inspires me so much! 💖🥰

It had been nearly two months since Adam transferred from London to Moscow. Two months of endless cyber-skirmishes, sleepless nights cramped inside tactical vans, and the agonizing, inexplicably magnetic presence of Royr. By the end of December, Moscow was drowning in a sea of pre-New Year lights. Shop windows blurred into a riot of warm garlands, and the city seemed to hold its breath in anticipation of the winter holidays. But inside the N.E.T. headquarters, the concept of a holiday didn'

Thank you so much for your comment! 💖🥰 Yes, things are definitely not going to be easy for them. Within the Moscow branch of N.E.T., any close relationship between partners, if it were to start, would face zero understanding from both colleagues and higher-ups. Most likely, the guys would have to resign. On top of that, both Royr and Adam carry heavy inner traumas, meaning their road to closeness won't be quick or smooth. As for the investigation—Adam has only pulled on a tiny thread, and he has no idea just how massive the web is that he (and Royr) will have to untangle.

The international department of N.E.T. (Network Enforcement & Tactics), where Adam filed his application immediately after graduating from Imperial College, was never listed in any public directories. Operating under the auspices of Interpol at the federal ministry level, this compact infrastructure gathered the planet's most brilliant hackers, programmers, and cryptographers under one roof. The agency's Russian branch reported directly to the analytical wing of the MVD, working in a ti

You are absolutely right! Royr can tease Adam as much as he wants, but the moment things get dangerous, he won’t hesitate to shield him. And Adam can grumble about Royr all day long, but he’d do the exact same thing.

Thank you for such a lovely comment! 😊💖 I’m glad you liked the premise. You have a very good eye — Royr definitely knows more than he lets on. Their journey together is going to be a wild ride, so I hope you enjoy what's coming next!

After two weeks of working together, Adam had come to terms with two undeniable facts. First, Royr would never, under any circumstances, fasten his shirt higher than the third button, even if a blizzard were howling outside. Second, the man was absolutely, terrifyingly brilliant at live network operations—even if his habit of treating the official handbook as a mere suggestion cost Adam a few million neural cells every single day. However, the true test of his emotional endurance was waiting for

Thank you so much!💖 I'm so thrilled to get your comment! The next part is definitely coming very soon.🤗

Sometimes, you spend six consecutive years building a flawless, crystalline castle of ideals inside your mind, only to watch reality shatter it in an instant like cheap tempered glass. When it happens, all you can do is frantically gather the shards, cutting your hands on the sharp edges of your own stupidity. Adam Stanton was only seven years old when his entire world shrank to the confines of a small bedroom in Richmond. Aunt Madeline had no time for sentimentality. She was a good woman w

Six years ago, Adam Stanton found a legendary hacker "RoyR" in the Darknet. Now, at twenty, Adam transfers to the Moscow N.E.T. cyber-police branch to work with his idol. But his ideals shatter: Royr Grigoryev is an insufferable, cynical anarchist. Forced into an alliance, the new partners face a high-stakes cyber-warfare campaign and a dark legacy secret: Project ARN.