The rain never stops in Neon Haven.
It falls like static — thin silver lines flickering between towers that scrape the clouds. The streets breathe with neon and noise, but down here, in the alleys, it's only silence and shadows.
I don't know how long I've been lying here.
The pavement is cold against my back, and the smell of ozone fills the air. My head feels heavy — like it's full of broken circuits trying to reboot. I open my eyes, and the world burns in color. Blue. Red. Purple. Light bleeding through rain.
And then I see it —
a sword beside me, humming softly, as if whispering my name.
I don't remember picking it up, but when my hand wraps around the hilt, it feels… right. Like I've held it for a thousand battles I can't recall.
---
A scream cuts through the rain.
I move — without thinking, without remembering. The body acts before the mind.
Three men in chrome masks corner a small child, their cyber-implants glowing red. One of them snatches at the child's arm, shouting about a "data key" and "credit bounties." The kid's eyes — terrified, wide — reflect the neon haze.
Something stirs inside me. A pulse.
A rhythm I can't place but can't ignore.
Before I know it, I've stepped into the light.
"Who the hell—"
They don't finish.
My sword moves on instinct — a blur of blue light cutting through metal and rain. Sparks hiss. One gun melts into slag, another clatters across the ground. None of them die — I don't want death, not yet — but they fall, twitching, stunned by the pulse from my blade.
The child stares at me — trembling, clutching the glowing chip.
"...Thank you," they whisper.
I nod but say nothing.
What would I even say?
That I don't know who I am?
That I woke up in a grave made of neon?
The sword hums again.
In the reflection of a puddle, I see my face — or rather, the mask covering it. Black, cracked at the edges, faint light seeping through the seams. My own eyes glow faintly beneath it. I don't remember them ever glowing before.
Maybe I was never human to begin with.
---
I walk out of the alley, into the storm.
Neon Haven stretches endlessly, a machine pretending to be a city.
Above, airships crawl between towers like steel whales. Below, the people move like ghosts — working, gambling, surviving. Every light has a price, every shadow hides a secret.
A whisper cuts through the static in my head.
A voice — faint, glitching, feminine.
> "...Kael…"
I freeze.
That name.
It feels like mine, though I don't remember ever hearing it before.
> "Kael… find me…"
"Who are you?" I whisper into the rain.
Only silence answers — then the voice fades into static again.
---
Somewhere far above, a tower looms — AetherTek Industries.
Its logo glows like a god's eye watching the city.
I don't know why, but looking at it makes my chest tighten.
Flashes — images I can't explain:
fire, screams, soldiers in black armor.
And a woman made of light, reaching toward me as the world burned.
> "The Requiem was meant to save us…"
---
I blink — and she's gone.
The rain falls harder, drowning the ghosts of memory.
But I can feel it — something buried in this city knows me.
Knows what I was.
And it wants me back.
I grip my blade tighter. Its hum feels alive — like it's breathing with me.
Whatever this "Requiem" is, it's inside me…
and in this city's veins.
I don't know who I am.
But I know one thing —
if the light won't tell me the truth…
I'll find it in the shadows.