Chapter 1 The Road Edge
Heavy rain poured over Neon City.
Hologram lights glittered, reflecting on the puddles that covered the narrow streets.
On the edge of the fringe district, a young man named Kael sat in front of a cracked screen. His fingers danced quickly across an old keyboard.
Kael was nobody. Just a small-time hacker who survived by selling stolen data on the dark market.
But tonight was different. Among the thousands of lines of code he was cracking, a strange file appeared. Labeled “Core Directive”.
His eyes narrowed. This wasn’t ordinary data. Something pulsed inside it, as if he was staring at the hidden heart of the city.
The sound of drone sirens echoed in the distance. Kael quickly shut the screen and hid his device under his worn-out jacket.
He knew. If the system ever read that file, his life would never be the same again.
Outside, the neon kept shining. The city looked beautiful.
But Kael could feel a darker shadow waiting behind the light.
