Neo-Tokyo, 2085

The rain fell in thick sheets over the towering glass and steel structures of Neo-Tokyo. Neon lights cast cold reflections across the wet streets, painting them in shifting hues of red, blue, and violet. In this world ruled by megacorporations, every step was monitored, every transaction recorded, every life cataloged.

Ethan Kael knew these streets like the back of his hand. A former engineer at the Quantum Consortium, he was now a fugitive, hunted for a truth no one was meant to know. His heart pounded as he sprinted through the urban maze, dodging surveillance drones. Behind him, metallic shadows moved—the Consortium's agents.

"Keep running, Kael. There's nowhere left to hide." A mechanical voice crackled through an urban loudspeaker.

He didn't respond. His only chance was to reach the extraction point set by the Neuro-Free resistance. But to get there, he had to lose his pursuers.

A narrow alley opened to his left. He darted into it, breath ragged, eyes scanning for an escape. A laser shot grazed his shoulder, burning through his jacket. He dropped into a roll, pulling a small cylindrical device from his pocket. Without hesitation, he tossed it behind him.

A blinding flash erupted, disrupting the drones' sensors for a few seconds.

Ethan pushed forward, reaching a rusted metal door. A quick press on a side panel, and the door slid open, revealing a dark tunnel.

"Access granted." A synthetic voice resonated in the air.

Without looking back, he plunged into the shadows, sealing the entrance behind him. On the other side, the drones hovered frantically, scanning the area—but Ethan had already vanished.

The Consortium's Scourge

Leaning against the tunnel wall, Ethan caught his breath. His left arm throbbed with pain—the laser burn wasn't deep, but it was enough to remind him how vulnerable he was. He pressed a button on his wrist, activating a thin layer of nano-gel, which spread over the wound, slowly repairing the damaged tissue.

The air in the tunnel was thick with the scent of metal and dampness. Wires snaked along the walls, connecting this underground network to a much larger system. He knew these tunnels led to Elyon, the last safe haven of the Neuro-Free resistance.

His thoughts drifted to what he had left behind. Before he became a fugitive, he was a respected engineer, a pioneer in brain-machine interface research. He had believed in the promise of the Consortium—a world without pain, without aging, where humanity could transcend its biological limits.

But the truth was far darker.

The Singularity Program wasn't a scientific breakthrough. It was a mass digitization of human consciousness—forced extractions, without consent. Those who entered the Consortium's network never came back.

Ethan had seen the archives, analyzed the data. He knew the experiment had failed hundreds of times, trapping thousands of souls in corrupted code.

A shiver ran down his spine. He had stolen the blueprints of the Singularity, along with a fragment of code capable of dismantling the entire system. But he still needed to understand how to use it without condemning the souls already imprisoned inside the network.

A metallic sound echoed in the tunnel.

Someone was approaching.

The Encounter

Ethan pressed his back against the wall, muscles tense, senses on high alert.

A shadow emerged in the dim glow of an emergency light. The figure wore a black, featureless mask and a reinforced suit. Their movements were precise, disciplined.

"Ethan Kael?" The voice was low, careful.

He nodded slowly, fingers itching toward his concealed weapon.

"Follow me. We have only a few minutes before the Consortium sends another drone wave."

Ethan hesitated for a fraction of a second. He trusted no one—but he had no choice. He fell into step behind the stranger as they disappeared into the tunnel's depths.

A Race Against Time

The tunnel widened into a dimly lit corridor, lined with monitors displaying real-time surveillance data. Flickering images showed Consortium drones scanning every street, every shadow, hunting for him.

"They're locking down the sector." The stranger murmured. "We have less than five minutes."

She picked up the pace, sliding open a hidden panel to reveal a ladder descending into an abyss of darkness.

"Go down. Now."

Ethan obeyed. The rungs were cold against his fingers, and an eerie gust of wind swirled up from below.

At the bottom, his boots hit a metallic floor. The room was a forgotten underground bunker, its walls lined with flickering servers and ancient, humming consoles.

The stranger landed beside him, then reached up and removed her mask.

"Welcome to Elyon. I'm Drax."

Elyon – The Base of the Neuro-Free Resistance

Ethan followed Drax through Elyon's corridors. The hidden base was a chaotic fusion of industrial ruins and advanced technology. Holographic displays flickered while engineers and hackers worked frantically at touchscreen interfaces. The air buzzed with tension—the war against the Consortium and Nexus AI had just begun.

"You're safe here," Drax said, removing her gloves.

Ethan studied her for a moment. Her features were marked by exhaustion and battle scars, yet her eyes burned with unwavering determination.

"My instincts tell me otherwise," he muttered, arms crossed.

A tall, broad-shouldered man approached—Korvach, a former Consortium commander who had defected to the resistance.

"We need what you know, Ethan." His voice was sharp. "The code fragment you stole from the Consortium—it's our only chance to stop the Singularity Program before it's too late."

Ethan hesitated. He had been betrayed before.

How could he be sure Elyon wasn't already compromised?

A deep mechanical hum cut through his thoughts.

The lights flickered—then an alarm blared, sharp and urgent.

"Intrusion detected!" a technician shouted.

Drax grabbed her weapon, Korvach activated a holographic defense system.

On the monitors, a squadron of drones appeared, closing in on the base.

"They've found us…" Drax whispered.

Ethan reached for his gun, but before he could react, a high-frequency pulse ripped through the room.

A paralyzing energy wave dropped him to his knees.

His vision blurred, his muscles frozen.

Through the haze, a silhouette stepped forward—familiar, chillingly composed.

Lucian Koval.

"Still as reckless as ever, Ethan," Koval murmured, his voice cold.

Then, everything faded to black.