CHAPTER 1 - //: roommate.live + signal.spike

Eli Huxley notices the details first-broad shoulders, a mouth built for trouble, eyes like they've already solved him.
It's just observation. Data points.
But when the variables spell Leo Cynclair, the conclusion is always the same: dangerous as hell.

Eli lives by rules-clean, calculated, untouchable.
He built HeartCode to map compatibility, delete heartbreak, and keep love locked behind logic.
Emotions? Glitches.
Relationships? Just formulas to perfect.

But every time Leo's near, HeartCode malfunctions-scanning zero compatibility but triggering a reaction Eli can't debug. He clings to his algorithm, convinced it can outthink the chaos Leo brings. But Leo keeps pushing-teasing, lingering, breaking down Eli's firewalls with heat and heart.

Beneath Eli's precision lie old wounds-betrayals coded deep into his system. Letting Leo in means risking everything. But Leo? He's the glitch and the patch, the error and the answer.

When things combust, Eli does what he does best-he vanishes. Deletes the app. Disappears into silence. Leaves Leo with nothing but questions and a heartbeat he can't fix.

Love can't be calculated. It has to be felt.

When they reconnect, it's tentative, fragile, real-compatibility spiking, crashing, spiking again. Eli learns what no algorithm can teach: how to stay. How to feel. How to fall.

And when the final scan fails? That's the point.
Some love stories can't be measured.
Some glitches are meant to stay.

📂 Don't skip the system logs.
They're not just flavor text-they're the emotional subcode of Eli's mind. Quiet confessions, contradictions, and everything he'll never say out loud.