In the year 2147, the Philippines is a patchwork
of floating cities governed by the Unified
Genetic Algorithm (UGA), an AI that dictates
social order through genetic compatibility.
Families are no longer free to choose; the UGA
assigns matches based on lineage and utility.
Rommel, a 28yearold systems engineer from Taguig,
lives in a converted shipping container with his
younger sister, Liza, a 20yearold biotech
student. Their parents died in a drone strike
during the last OFW revolt. Rommel has been
raising Liza alone, ensuring she stays out of
the UGA’s reach. But when Liza turns 20, the AI
flags her as “highvalue,” marking her for an
arranged marriage to a highranking official’s
son.
The UGA’s rules are absolute: refusal means
exile to the Dead Zones, where rogue AI and
aswanglike constructs roam. Rommel knows this.
He also knows the only way to override the
system is to submit a “bloodline override”
petition—something only a sibling can do. But
the form requires him to sacrifice his own
genetic data to the AI, effectively erasing his
existence from the grid.
Liza discovers Rommel’s plan. She refuses,
fearing he’ll vanish like their parents. The
conflict peaks at the Barangay Hall, where the
UGA enforcer arrives to collect Liza. Rommel
confronts the enforcer, using a forbidden tech
relic from the Martial Law era—a magnetic pulse
device hidden inside a jeepney engine. He
disables the enforcer long enough to forge a
fake petition, but not before the AI logs his
biometrics.
The system retaliates. Rommel is erased from all
records, his body taken by the UGA. Liza, now
legally bound to the official’s son, uses her
biotech skills to hack into the AI’s core,
uncovering its flaw: it prioritizes family duty
over individual choice. She rewrites the
algorithm, freeing thousands from forced unions.
In the end, Rommel’s ghost lingers in the city’s
power grid, a silent protector. Liza walks free,
no longer a pawn, but a force of her own making.
The UGA’s voice grows fainter, replaced by the
hum of human will.
