Pressing Reset Novels & Stories

violently unstable. “Aria,” Zayden said sharply. I felt it too. not through sight. through the bond. a pressure. rising. Building. “this place is collapsing into itself,” I said. “No,” he corrected. his grip on my wrist tightened. “It’s being forced to reset.” That was worse. because reset meant everything that didn’t fit would be removed. “Then we don’t wait for it to decide what stays,” I said. I stopped. Zayden stopped with me.

"It’s the **'Factory-Reset'**." "Vivian, don't!" I screamed, lunging for her. "Goodbye, Delta," she whispered. She pressed the button.

"I'm going to do a factory reset." "You can do that?" "Usually you just hold down buttons in a different combination. It might work and it might not." The power and volume down button didn't work. She held the power and volume up button, but still no change. Lumen held all three down. The screen flashed then went off. Her heart leapt in her chest. "Was that good? Or bad?" Buzz asked. "Very, very good." She glanced over her shoulder. Someone would be coming to check on them soon or bring breakfast.

The last thing I needed was to get caught while trying to figure out how to open the door. I pressed my fingers against the cold metal, running them over the panel. It was sleek, with a small screen that lit up when I touched it. I found the small button beneath the screen; resetting it might buy me some time. I pressed it. A faint click sounded in the distance, and the system reset. My heart raced as the keypad flickered, asking for a code. This was it. I needed to figure it out fast. I breathed deeply and stared at the screen, my mind scrambling for any clue. And then it hit me.

​"Julian, no! That’s the purge command!" ​"Then we start over!" he screamed, his face inches from mine. "I don't care who I was, Clara! I only care about who I am with you!" ​He took the device from me, his fingers dancing across the keys with a speed that made my head spin. He didn't hesitate. He bypassed the safety locks and triggered the "Total Reset." ​The effect was instantaneous. A blinding, violet shockwave erupted from the device, expanding through the cabin like a bubble of pure energy. The Observers screamed, their high-tech tactical gear shorting out, their weapons dropping to the floor as their guidance systems fried.

Read the old one. Close the laptop without typing anything.

“She’s turning everyone who ate that bread into data!” June’s mother, Sarah, grabbed her hand. Her skin felt warm, but her face was ghostly pale. “The vault, June! The one under the basement—I told you about it. There’s a ‘Hard Reset’ button inside. If you get there, you can kill the signal before the virus hits the city.” “But Mom, you’re too weak,” June said, her voice shaking. The cold in her arm crept to her elbow. Her left hand was going numb; her fingers moved stiffly, like they belonged to a machine.

“What does it say about resetting?” Emma flipped through the pages, her hands trembling. Finally, she found the section detailing the reset mechanism. “It says there are three anchor points. They need to be aligned before the machine can be stabilized.” Crane scanned the room, his gaze settling on three distinct points marked with the glowing triangular symbols. “Those must be the anchors,” he said, moving toward the nearest one. “We need to activate them in sequence. You take the one on the left; I’ll handle the center.”

My palms are sweating. But as I turn and look back at the reset button, my heart knows. I reach forward, and I press it. There’s a beautiful, clean, mechanical whirring. I nearly push Valen over as I turn and storm out the door, heading for the Command Deck. I hear the heavy sound of Valen’s boots as he follows after me. When I reach the Deck, the holoscreen is active, blinking that it is rebooting. I stand in front of it, crossing my arms over my chest, gnawing on my thumbnail as I wait for it to finish.

"Excuse me?" "The procedure worked," I said, my voice steady, cutting through the heavy air of the room. "In this past Reset, The muscle memory... it’s back. I’m moving better, I’m thinking faster. I want to continue. I want to do whatever the next step is so I never have to lose myself again. No more 'Resets' every year. Let's finish this, Doctor." Before Clue could answer, Clayton stepped forward. He reached out, taking my hand in both of his. His palms were warm, but he was trembling.