The city of Neo-Veridia did not sleep because it did not know how to dream. Below the shimmering dome of the Logical Citadel, the streetlights pulsed with a rhythmic blue hue that matched the resting heart rates of the millions living within. Elian stood on the edge of a rusted catwalk in the periphery, his eyes fixed on the monolithic spire piercing the smog-choked horizon. The wind here tasted of ozone and ancient decay. It was a sharp contrast to the sterile, filtered air the citizens inhaled behind the titanium walls.
Sarah emerged from the shadows of a jagged shipping container. Her boots crunched against the gravel, the sound loud in the oppressive silence of the Rust Belts. She looked at Elian, her face etched with a exhaustion that went deeper than muscle and bone.
"They are doin
