Chapter 1
It was 06:46 AM, but Lana, an architect living in procedural silence since her sister’s death, knew the sun was waking only for her. Looking from her terrace, she spotted an unnatural, floating dark streak—a phantom. At the exact moment she photographed the apparition, her phone didn’t click; instead, a metallic notification tone rang out—a sound she had heard only once before, at 06:46 AM, five years ago. It was an ethical message written in the sky.
In an attic on Sveti Sava Street, Matej, a physicist and her childhood anchor, confirmed it: "This is a message. There was no flight. Someone created that 'phantom' using a laser projection." Matej, who had planned an escape with her sister, helped her open a private encrypted folder. The password? Their childhood secret. Inside, they found a video from AURUM Finance (the Bank) where her father was arguing with someone in the lobby.
Lana traveled to her sister’s empty grave, finding a white hawthorn flower there—a symbol of eternal suffering. She then went to the "White Birch" café, across from the "Vuk Karadžić" elementary school. There, she met Stevan the Guardian. Ethically broken, Stevan confessed he had an audio recording of her father's argument with Dimitrije, the corporate head of AURUM Finance.
As Lana and Matej analyzed the sound in his apartment—"The project is in the sky, you fool! Your daughter will watch everything disappear!"—Matej’s procedural world collapsed. Dimitrije’s men broke into the flat. Matej was beaten, and Lana realized her ethical choice was now costing Matej’s life.
Lana had to take a physical risk. She broke into the apartment of Inspector Milan, who had disappeared after procedurally opposing the corruption. In his safe, she found a dossier proving Dimitrije’s corruption and the purchase of laser technology five years prior.
Using the dossier, the audio recording, and Matej’s technology, Lana executed the PLAN: ETHICAL MIRROR. On Saturday, at 06:46 AM, the Phantom with the engraved word "PROJECT" reappeared, floating above the AURUM Tower.
Dimitrije rushed out, losing control. Lana confronted him. "The project is in the sky, Dimitrije," she said. But she only broke him when she showed him the childhood password—proof that his procedural crime was destroyed by a childhood secret and love. The Soul at Dawn defeated the procedure of AURUM Finance.
