The neon signs of Neo-Veridia didn't just flicker tonight; they felt like they were screaming. Kai wiped a smear of oil from his forehead, his fingers trembling. In a city where every breath was taxed and every shadow was recorded, he was a nobody—a ghost in the machine.
"Just one more circuit..." he muttered, leaning over the scavenged processor. Suddenly, a blinding white light erupted from the device. A sharp, digital shriek pierced his skull, and Kai fell to his knees, clutching his head.
[INITIALIZING SYNCHRONIZATION...]
A cold, synthetic voice echoed not in his ears, but directly in his consciousness. A translucent blue screen materialized in the air before his eyes, pulsing with a rhythm that matched his heartbeat.
[HOST IDENTIFIED: KAI]
[SYSTEM STATUS: AWAKENED]
[CURRENT LEVEL: 0]
[NEW MISSION: SURVIVE THE INITIALIZATION.]
Below him, the street echoed with the mechanical whirring of a Scavenger Drone. Its red optical sensor locked onto his window. Kai wasn't a ghost anymore. He was a target. The game of the City System had officially begun.