Malfunctioning Utopia

Chapter 1: Jack Sun

In the pitch-black darkness, the sound of footsteps echoed. When the footsteps slowly came to a halt, a sudden beam of light pierced the dark—a phone screen.

The glow illuminated a face that could still be considered handsome, though it looked haggard and weary, with an unmistakable air of despondency.

“Recording number four begins. Time: 3:51 p.m.,” Jack Sun murmured as he started the recording on his phone.

“I still haven’t found a way out. Everything here is encased in metal—even the floors and ceilings,” he said, running his fingers along the nearby wall. The touch conveyed a distinct sensation: cold, smooth, and unyielding.

Next, he turned on the phone’s flashlight, aiming it at the metal wall to capture the stark, unwelcoming silver-gray surface.

“These metallic hallways are rectangular in structure, interconnected to form a massive labyrinth. The walls are lined with metallic doors, but most of them won’t open. I climbed out of a freezer in one of these rooms.”

“I don’t know where I am. I’ve never seen a place like this before—not even online. There’s no information about this place.”

“I don’t even know how I got here. My memory’s blank. The last thing I remember is the summer after my college entrance exams.”

“I recall everything before that clearly—our family dog, Big Yellow, my parents, every game I ever played. But after that… it’s all gone.”

“Something must have happened to me. Whatever it was, it landed me in a freezer and brought me here. But what exactly happened? I can’t remember!” Jack’s voice grew agitated, but he took a deep breath to calm himself before continuing.

“My phone says it’s the year 2030. If that’s accurate, then I may have lost five whole years of my memory.”

“What happened during those five years? Where on earth am I?”

Just then, a soft beep interrupted him. A notification appeared on his phone screen: Low battery. Flashlight unavailable.

Jack realized he couldn’t waste any more time. Whatever had happened, his priority was to escape. If he perished here, nothing that came before would matter.

Pressing his lips together, he steadied himself and spoke into the phone once more.

“I… I mentioned those metal doors earlier, right? The strange thing is, the doors aren’t just on the walls—some are on the ceiling and floor too. I heard noises coming from one of them, some unusual sounds. I’m going to check it out.”

With that, he placed his hand against the cold metal wall and moved cautiously to the left. After a minute, he stopped, looked up, and raised his phone toward a dark door in the ceiling.

“Can you hear it? There’s a sound coming from the door in the ceiling—tiny, faint beeping, like it’s coming from far away.”

“My phone battery is almost dead. I’ll go in first and update later.” Jack exited the recording mode.

Estimating the door’s height, he took a few steps back, then leaped with all his might. His fingers managed to hook onto the edge of the doorframe. Summoning every ounce of his strength, Jack scrambled upward, using both his hands and feet to pull himself through.

Once he stood on the doorframe, he tilted his head upward and used the phone’s light to scan the room inside. He was greeted by an array of high-tech mechanical equipment, much of it beyond his understanding. Many of the machines’ outer casings had been removed, exposing intricate components within. ṟÂ𐌽𝐨฿Еʂ

Oddly shaped mechanical arms extended like tree branches from the walls on either side, forming a metallic forest. Above, at the ends of these mechanical arms, another door appeared directly overhead. The faint beeping sound emanated from deep within this new space.

“What the hell is wrong with this place? Where am I?” Jack muttered as he carefully climbed upward, stepping on the mechanical arms.

When he finally made it through the door, he discovered the source of the beeping: a small red dot that pulsed in sync with the sound, glowing and dimming like a computer’s standby signal.

Using his phone’s flashlight, Jack illuminated the area around the red dot, revealing a rounded, arched room. The space was almost entirely empty except for a few chairs scattered about.

Jack restarted the recording mode on his phone and aimed it at the red dot. “Look, this red dot—it seems to be part of a screen. I’m going to document everything that happens next. If I lose my memory again for some unknown reason, this record will be my—”

Before he could finish, his slightly warm phone screen suddenly went black. Moments later, the brand logo appeared on the screen as the device rebooted.

“Of all the times to die on me! Damn it, what a useless phone!” Jack growled in frustration, stuffing it into the pocket of his left pant leg.

Taking a deep breath, he focused his attention on the glowing red dot. He knew he didn’t have any other options.

He hesitated, torn between two fears: that touching the red dot might trigger something terrible, or worse, that it might do nothing at all. This dot was his last hope. He’d searched everywhere else. If nothing happened, he was as good as trapped in this metal labyrinth forever.

Closing his eyes to calm his nerves, Jack steadied his breathing and reached out, pressing his finger against the red dot.

As the dot extinguished and blended seamlessly into the surrounding darkness, Jack’s heart nearly stopped. But then, the ground beneath him began to vibrate, accompanied by a low, resonating hum that originated from below.

The sudden shift in his surroundings pushed Jack’s tension to its peak. He scanned the dark room nervously, straining to catch any sign of change.

Yet, the first change didn’t come from the room—it came from his own body. As soon as he pressed the red button, his feet began to lift off the ground. Before he knew it, he was floating in mid-air!

Jack was stunned by this bizarre transformation. What kind of place was this? “I can fly? I can fly? Is this magic? Some kind of superpower?”

But before he could revel in this newfound ability, a muffled sound drew his attention. The curved wall ahead of him suddenly split down the center, emitting a blinding light through the widening crack.

Squinting against the brightness, Jack struggled to adjust to the light. As his eyes adapted, he watched the arched wall slide apart to either side, revealing what lay beyond.

The moment the walls slid open with a whoosh, an enormous planet filled Jack Sun’s entire field of vision.

His heart pounded furiously, and it felt as though an invisible hand was tightening around his throat. Every breath was a struggle, each inhale tinged with a suffocating weight.

A planet. A concept so ordinary, yet when it materialized vividly before his eyes, the gravity of the word became overwhelming.

The light of a star illuminated one hemisphere of the planet, its surface gleaming brilliantly, while the other half remained shrouded in darkness. It loomed like the gaping maw of an abyss, exuding an oppressive sense of dread as if Jack were being scrutinized by a cosmic predator.

Suddenly, a realization struck him. Lowering his gaze, he stared at his floating feet, then looked back up at the colossal planet beyond the glass.

“Wait, what the—? I’ve been in outer space this whole time?!”