Setting: Neo-Vanta City, 2097 — a hyper-connected metropolis governed by AI and advanced neural technology.
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Neo-Vanta City pulsed with neon veins and digital breath. Skyways hummed with hovercrafts, data streamed through the air like wind, and the rich tuned their minds into networks as easily as slipping into a dream.
Gabriella Rho stood in the glass tower of VantaCore Labs, watching the city below. She wasn't just one of its architects; she was its guardian. Her latest work, the Echo Drive, was nearing public launch. A neural interface meant to allow instantaneous mental communication, it promised to reshape how humans lived and thought.
"The system's stable," said her assistant, Tao, tapping on a holopad. "But there was a ping on the old prototype net. One of the legacy nodes is active. From the lower sectors."
Gabriella froze. Those prototypes were decommissioned after the incident. The incident that cost her everything: her reputation, her friendship with Austin Vale, and nearly her sanity.
She took the pad. The node signature was unmistakable.