4 hours ago…
"Dad, plea—" Kaius's voice faltered, his body giving in to exhaustion as he collapsed onto the floor, his breathing ragged.
Gareth barely had time to react, instinctively catching the unknown girl in his arms. His heart skipped a beat as he looked down at her—the state of her body was far worse than he had initially realized. Without a word, he carried her to the couch, gently laying her down and covering her with a blanket to keep her warm. The girl's chest rose and fell weakly, but at least she was still breathing.
"She's tougher than she looks," he muttered to himself.
Gareth walked over to the small kitchen, opened the top shelf, and pulled out a glass. His hands moved with practiced precision as he poured a fresh batch of synthetic mineral water, rich with the chemicals he'd engineered years ago to sustain life in a city where natural resources were long gone. The water glistened faintly in the dim light, a reminder of his past work—a work that once held promise for the world.
As he handed the glass to the unconscious girl, a wave of memories flooded his mind. He couldn't help but think of the person who had inspired so much of his ambition—his wife, Elara. They had once dreamed of a future where society wasn't divided between the rich and poor, where technology served to uplift everyone, not just the elite. Together, they had hoped for a brighter tomorrow, one where their son, Kaius, would grow up in a world of opportunity, not oppression.
Years ago...
Elara was the heart of their work. Her gentle yet fierce spirit had pushed Gareth to create things he once thought impossible. She had stood by his side, even when the weight of her own condition bore down on her.
"Gareth," she'd said.
Resting a hand on her swollen belly, "we have to do this. For him. For Kaius. We can't let the future stay broken."
At the time, Gareth had been working on his mineral-enhanced water purification system, a revolutionary concept. He'd designed it to keep the body sustained even in the harshest environments, especially for those in the lower districts who could hardly afford the same luxuries as the Sky District inhabitants. The project had earned him respect among some of the rich, but not enough to change the world.
But that wasn't the only project. Gareth and Elara had worked tirelessly on a cure for a devastating neurological condition, Overload Syndrome. The condition caused the body's nervous system to reject cybernetic implants, creating a dangerous feedback loop that could destroy a person from within. It was a cruel twist of fate that Elara had been diagnosed with it. The very upgrades that kept society functioning were now the cause of her deterioration.
In Neon Edge, upgrades were more than a luxury—they were a necessity. To get a job, pay rent, and even access basic health care, citizens needed functional enhancements. It was as common as drinking water; if you didn't have them, you were practically nothing.
Gareth remembered when they had tried to push back. Some people, deeply religious, refused the upgrades. These individuals, known as the Untethered, lived in isolation, rumored to have retreated to the mountains, far from the reaches of the city. They were ghost stories to most—a society that chose to remain free of technological interference.
But Neon Edge? It wasn't a place for the free. It was a machine that needed to be fed.
Back to the present…
Gareth shook off the memories and focused on the girl in front of him. Her condition was dire. He couldn't fix her completely, not here, not without better equipment, but he could at least stabilize her. He bent down, opening a medical case, and pulled out a nano-weave stabilizer bandage. The bandage was a relic of his old work—designed to stop internal bleeding while simultaneously repairing tissue at the molecular level. It would do the job, for now.
"Hang in there, kid," he said softly, wrapping the bandage around her leg.
The nanobots in the weave activated, sealing the wound and stopping the mixture of blood and leaking fluids.
Gareth's eyes wandered to the missing arm. He had something, but it wasn't exactly modern. In the corner of his workshop, collecting dust, lay an old-fashioned prosthetic arm—one of his early designs. It was bulky by today's standards, more of a relic than a cutting-edge upgrade, but it would give her the ability to at least function.
After a few moments of effort, Gareth attached the prosthetic to the girl's shoulder. The connectors hummed to life, syncing with her remaining nervous system.
"There. It's not pretty, but it'll work," he muttered.
Suddenly, Gareth's attention turned to his son. Kaius was lying on the floor, barely conscious, covered in dirt and grime. His hands were swollen, his muscles strained, and his eye… What happened to his eye?
"This kid…" Gareth sighed as he hoisted Kaius onto the other couch. "Looks like you've been through a war between nations." He chuckled to himself, shaking his head.
He grabbed a medical scanner from the shelf and ran it over Kaius's body. His muscles were torn, the result of overexertion—likely from some surge of adrenaline or something else Gareth couldn't quite put his finger on. There was something more… Is it already happening? he wondered. But he pushed the thought aside for now. His son was still alive, that's what mattered.
"Kid, you're gonna be the death of me," Gareth muttered with a fatherly smirk.
"Maybe I should install some common sense in that thick head of yours."
Present Time
A soft groan filled the room. Gareth's head snapped toward the couch, where the girl was slowly waking up. Her eyes fluttered open, confusion clouding her gaze as she looked around.
"Where… where am I?" she asked weakly, her voice hoarse.
Gareth opened one eye, still half-sitting in his chair. "You're safe," he said, standing up slowly.
"You were in pretty bad shape when my son found you. You're lucky to be alive after what was done to you."
The girl tried to sit up, wincing as she noticed the new arm. She stared at it, her expression a mixture of shock and disbelief.
"What… what did you do to me?!"
Gareth crossed his arms, leaning against the counter.
"Fixed you up the best I could. The arm's old-fashioned, but it'll do for now." He nodded toward her leg.
"That bandage on your leg? High-tech. Should stop the bleeding and stabilize you for a while."
She looked at him with wide eyes. "Thank you…" she whispered, her voice cracking with emotion.
Gareth shrugged. "Just doing what I can." His eyes softened for a moment.
"But you need to rest. I'm not done figuring out exactly what happened to you, and you've been through enough."
The girl lay back down, closing her eyes. Gareth glanced over at Kaius, who was still unconscious but breathing steadily.
"You really did it, kid," Gareth thought with a quiet smile.
His thoughts shifted back to the past, to the dreams he and Elara once had. They hadn't come true the way he'd hoped, but maybe—just maybe—there was still a chance for something better. And maybe, through Kaius, that dream wasn't so far out of reach after all.