SYSTEM FAILURE

EPISODE 1: THE RED SKY

The alarm didn't ring. That was the first thing I noticed. In the world of Minecraft, the sun usually rises with a predictable, golden warmth that seeps through the glass panes, signaling the start of another day of mining and crafting. But today, the silence was heavy. It felt... artificial.

I sat up in my bed, rubbing my eyes. My name is Raftaar. I’ve lived in this server for as long as I can remember. It’s a peaceful life. I have my house, my farm, and a village nearby where I trade emeralds for gear. There was no reason for today to be any different.

I grabbed my black hoodie from the armor stand—the one with the neon green creeper stripes—and pulled it on. It was my signature look. Walking to the door, I stretched my arms, expecting to hear the familiar chirping of birds or the mooing of cows. But there was nothing. No sound. Just a low, buzzing static hum, like a speaker left on without music.

I pushed the oak door open and stepped onto the porch. The air felt cold. Not the refreshing morning breeze, but a digital, empty coldness. I looked around. The trees were swaying, but there was no wind.

I walked down the steps, my boots crunching on the grass block. The texture of the grass looked... off. It was slightly desaturated, as if the color was being drained away. I tried to shake off the feeling. Maybe it was just a server lag? Or a rendering error?

Then, I looked up.

My breath caught in my throat. The sun—the source of all life in this world—was not yellow. It was red. A deep, angry crimson red. And it wasn't just the color. The edges of the sun were jagged, leaking black pixels into the sky like digital ink spilling on a canvas.

The sky around it was darkening, turning from a beautiful azure blue to a murky, bruised purple. It looked like the sky was infected.

"No... that's not possible," I stammered, backing away. "Admins? Is anyone online?" I tried to open the chat window, but nothing happened. The HUD flickered and vanished.

Panic surged through me. I needed to see if anyone else was seeing this. I sprinted towards the village, my heart pounding against my ribs. Usually, by this time, the villagers would be out—farmers tending crops, librarians trading books.

When I reached the village square, I froze.

They were there. The Blacksmith, the Farmer, the Golem. But they weren't moving. They were frozen in mid-animation. The Blacksmith’s arm was raised to strike the anvil, but he was stuck, vibrating violently in place. A terrible sound—krr-krr-krr—echoed from them.

"Hey! Wake up!" I yelled, grabbing the Farmer’s shoulder. My hand passed right through him like he was a ghost.

This wasn't lag. This was a crash. A total world corruption. I stumbled back, my mind racing. If the NPCs were corrupting... what about players? What about me?

Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through my right arm. It felt like a thousand needles piercing my skin. I screamed and grabbed my wrist.

"What is happening to me?!"

I looked down at my hand. It was terrifying. My fingers were dissolving. The skin was turning into transparent wireframe blocks, revealing the empty void beneath. Red binary code—010110—was leaking from my fingertips, floating up into the air. I was being deleted.

My legs gave out. I collapsed onto the grass, clutching my glitching arm. The pain was unbearable, not just physical, but a feeling of my very data being ripped apart. The world around me started to blur. The trees began to de-render, turning into flat grey shapes.

Then, a sound cut through the static noise. A loud, mechanical ping.

Right in front of my face, a holographic window popped up. It wasn't the usual grey Minecraft menu. It was bright red, aggressive, and filled with warning symbols.

"Deletion...?" I gasped, reading the text. "No... I've worked too hard. This is my world!"

I tried to stand, but the ground beneath me shook violently. A chunk of the earth near the river simply vanished into the void. The corruption was spreading fast.

As I crawled away from the expanding void, something caught my eye.

Amidst the dying, grey grass and the red glitch particles, there was a light. A pure, bright blue light. It was coming from an object half-buried in the dirt. It didn't look like it belonged in Minecraft. It wasn't blocky. It was sleek, futuristic, and hummed with a stable energy that pushed the red glitches away.

I reached out with my good hand. My fingers brushed against the cold metal surface. It looked like a remote control, or... a key?

The moment I grabbed it, the pain in my other arm stopped. The blue light surged up my arm, forming a protective aura around me.

"New Hardware Detected," a robotic voice echoed in my head.

I didn't know what this thing was, but it was the only thing in this dying world that felt safe. There was a single, glowing button in the center. The red sky roared above me, lightning striking the ground. The deletion wave was coming closer.

I had no choice.

I slammed my thumb down on the button.

A massive shockwave of blue data exploded from the device. It hit the red corruption like a physical wall, pushing the glitches back. The wind howled, and for a second, the world turned white.

As the light faded, I opened my eyes. I was still alive. The red sky was still there, but the immediate danger had been pushed back by a blue barrier dome around me.

But I wasn't alone anymore.

Above my head, materializing from blue digital cubes, was a machine. It hovered silently, its propellers spinning with a soft hum. It was a Tactical Drone—something that shouldn't exist in vanilla Minecraft.

Its camera lens focused on me, glowing with a friendly blue light. A new holographic menu popped up, but this time, it was blue.

I stared at the machine, then at the red horizon where the corruption was still eating the world. A smirk slowly formed on my face.

"Okay," I whispered, standing up. "Let's fix this game."

TO BE CONTINUED...
Next Episode: "System Override"