In the neon-lit slums of Neo-Tokyo, Rael Kisaragi, a black-market hacker, receives an anonymous job: infiltrate a Chrono Genesis data vault and retrieve a mysterious file called Protocol: Blood Circuit. The job seems routine—until the moment he decrypts the data. A surge of crimson light engulfs him, searing his veins with an unknown force. He collapses, his mind flooded with fragmented visions of a beating heart deep beneath the city.
When Rael wakes, his body feels different. Faster. Stronger. But his hands flicker with an eerie red static. Before he can process what's happening, Chrono Genesis operatives storm his hideout. A silent assassin, Unit-09, corners him, only for Rael's instincts to take over—his arm morphs into a jagged, metallic tendril, tearing through Unit-09's armor like paper. Terrified of himself, Rael flees into the night.