The city was alive in a way that didn't seem entirely real. Neon lights flashed across towering skyscrapers, and holographic billboards swirled with data, but beneath it all, something was wrong. The signals in the sky weren't just random—they were coded. It was as if the entire city had been built on a forgotten language, waiting to be unlocked.
Jasmin led the way through the crowded streets, her eyes focused and calculating. Norman trotted along beside her, trying to keep up, his mind racing with questions.
"Where are we going?" Norman asked, dodging a flying delivery bot overhead.
Jasmin didn't look back. "Underground." Her voice was steady but carried an edge of urgency. "If we're going to fix this, we need the old tech. The kind no one talks about anymore."
Norman's heart skipped. The "old tech" was forbidden, hidden beneath the city in forgotten tunnels and vaults. It was the stuff of urban legends—machines and codes that had been abandoned when the megacorporations took over. But Jasmin was the head of their makeshift crew of tech scavengers, and she never backed down from a challenge.
They arrived at a small, unmarked door beneath a flickering streetlight. The metal was rusted, but Jasmin's wristband glowed softly as she tapped a sequence on it. The door creaked open, revealing a narrow stairwell that led down into darkness.
Norman hesitated. "You sure about this?"
Jasmin smiled, her eyes glinting with determination. "We don't have a choice. Whatever's happening in the sky… It's coming from deep within the city's core. And we need to be ready."
The door shut behind them with a loud thud, sealing them in the silence of the underground. They descended into the depths.
Q