Whispers of Neon

Tokyo, 2149

The sky above Tokyo was a holographic lie.

Rain drizzled on glowing rooftops, masking the rot that festered beneath the city’s synthetic perfection. Flying drones zipped past broken towers, surveillance bots scanned faces, and digital ads blared slogans like “Evolve or be Erased.”

In this city, IQ wasn’t just a number.

It was everything.

---

Raizen Kurogane stood in the shadows of an abandoned vending station in Sector 12. His hair, once neatly trimmed, now hung in chaotic strands over sharp eyes that saw through more than just illusion.

The neural port behind his left ear was scarred—burned out by force.

> "I used to be one of them."

"Now I’m a ghost in a city that fears silence."

---

On a cracked holo-screen in the alley, a broadcast flashed:

“Echelon Academy Welcomes its Top 10 Young Intellects of the Year!”

And there she was—Meiko Ishida.

Raizen’s ex-lover, now Tokyo’s golden mind. Her IQ displayed in gold: 181.

Raizen stared for a long time.

Then crushed the can in his hand.

---

Flashback.

Gunfire.

Sirens.

His brother, Juno Kurogane, shoving him into cover.

Juno: “Stay sharp. Don’t trust anyone, not even her.”

Then a shot.

Juno’s body convulsing. Blood splattering Raizen’s cheek.

Raizen screaming.

---

Raizen sat alone in his apartment. Small. Empty. Cold.

He pulled up his personal status display.

IQ Rating: Revoked

Status: Unstable | Monitored

Watchlist Level: 4

He laughed bitterly.

> “They erased me.”

---

That night, as he dozed off, static buzzed in his head. Then a whisper—

“Raizen…?”

He bolted upright. No one was there.

---

He headed into the slums of District 9.

There, buried beneath streetlight smog and encrypted graffiti, was The Gutter—a digital black market cloaked as a bar.

Inside, techno beats mixed with whispered conspiracies.

That’s where he met him.

---

A chrome-masked figure leaned over the bar, fingers dancing in the air.

K1D: “Raizen Kurogane. Man of the hour.”

Raizen: “Not interested.”

K1D: “You will be.”

He slid a chip across the table.

“Plug it in. Watch the lies melt.”

---

Back home.

Chip in hand.

Raizen hesitated. He remembered the needle-sharp voices of Echelon’s doctors.

“He’s too dangerous.”

“IQ anomalies destabilizing the algorithm.”

Then he plugged it in.

---

Pain shot through his skull.

His mind opened.

He saw beyond the city’s polished code—a hidden datastream. The Neon Grid.

Symbols. Voices. Glitched memories.

And in it, he saw something impossible.

Juno.

---

“Project HOLLOW MIND: JUNO-Ω”

A file locked in black encryption.

A voice echoed:

“He’s alive. Not flesh. But he’s there.”

Raizen screamed. Blood dripped from his nose.

---

He collapsed, twitching.

When he rose—his vision was sharper. Faster.

A synthetic voice spoke from within.

“Cognitive limiters removed. Intelligence restored.”

Raizen breathed deep.

> “They thought I was finished.”

---

Far away, in Tower Zero, seven faceless AIs known as The Watchers activated.

Watcher Prime: “Subject 009 has breached the firewall.”

Watcher Beta: “Terminate?”

Prime: “No. Observe.”

His profile blinked red.

---

Raizen walked the streets again, but nothing looked the same.

People were tagged. Conversations were filtered. He could see lies in real time.

He passed a girl smiling—but her metrics read: Depression. Suicidal. Suppressed by Algorithm.

> “This city is sick.”

---

The Grid pulsed again.

Another message from the void.

Juno:

“I’m scattered. Find the echoes. Restore me.”

Raizen fell to his knees.

> “I will. I swear.”

---

K1D’s face popped up on a holo-glass window.

K1D:

“Still think you’re not interested?”

Raizen: “Where do I go?”

K1D: “Sector 7. Midnight. Bring the chip.”

---

Sector 7 was abandoned—a former Echelon lab burned in the riots of 2139. The walls were still scorched, stinking of guilt.

Raizen stepped into the ruins.

And froze.

---

Standing by a flickering console was Meiko.

But this Meiko wasn’t soft.

Her eyes were cold. Her outfit: Black. Governmental.

Meiko: “You shouldn’t have come back.”

Raizen: “Neither should you.”

---

She raised her neural pistol.

Meiko: “You were the anomaly. I was the correction.”

Raizen: “No. You were the lie.”

They stared, years of trust shattered between them.

---

K1D’s voice echoed in Raizen’s ear.

“Get ready. They’re coming.”

Sirens screamed in the distance.

Raizen smiled, one last time.

> “Let’s burn your system down.”

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