"The bodies keep piling up. At this rate, almost all biological humans in Eclipsera will be wiped out," a man murmured as he looked over the burial site. While prayers were being held for the deceased, a little boy sneaked up, chopped off one of the dead men's arms, and ran off with it.
They cursed at him and tried to chase him, but this wasn't a rare occurrence. They knew the boy was only trying to feed himself, so they let him disappear into the darkness.
Cedrien, a young man, watched from a distance. He chuckled softly, his gaze cold and defeated. "Isn't that his own father's arm?" he muttered, taking a deep breath and looking up at the sky. "Selara, I'll be joining you soon."
Down here in Grayline, the people lived in poverty, while in the next sector in the towering, well-lit "Silicon Height," the humanoids thrived. They were AIs who had evolved into human-like beings: conscious, yet neither biological nor natural.
There was another sector as well, different from the others. It was far better than Grayline, though still no match for Silicon Height. Yet it remained the only place that still reflected the human engineering of centuries ago.
There, only the participants of the game Cortex Protocol were allowed to live, a paradise in this dystopian world where AIs had taken over. Yet most of these participants died playing the game, forced into continuous psychological warfare against one another to stay alive. Those who advanced were rewarded; those who failed were killed.
There was, however, a slim chance of being freed from the game. If the audience of this cruel entertainment grew fond of you, or if you became unbeatable, or won enough matches, you could be granted freedom. In such cases, you were tasked with managing the city affairs of Neon Spire and allowed to live out your final days there in peace.
Every month, thousands of desperate people from Grayline volunteer to join Cortex Protocol, hoping for a better life, even if only for a moment, to escape their living hell. This time, Cedrien and Selyric were among them. They walked into the registration office.
The building stood out like a golden gem in a field of garbage. Cedrien recognized the familiar scent of the fragrant air from his childhood in Neon Spire, a memory that carried both warmth and pain.
The man waiting at the counter was a humanoid. He asked the two young men to fill out their details and proceed to the top floor for their Neuro Ascend transplant, a system that enhanced cognitive abilities and unlocked unique skills after every victory in the game.
Along with these upgrades came rewards: currency, estates, apartments, vehicles, privileges, and even key positions within Neon Spire, the last functioning human society untouched by humanoid control.
Just as they finished the paperwork, the humanoid figure stopped them. His perfectly symmetrical, crystal-clear skin and void-like eyes gave both Cedrien and Selyric an uneasy feeling. Even Selyric, usually calm and cold, seemed unsettled.
"You," the humanoid said, pointing at Cedrien. "Are you the son of Rodrien and Milias?"
Cedrien nodded nervously.
"No wonder," the humanoid continued. "You look quite similar to your father. Your parents were both notable figures in the history of Cortex Protocol. I wish you the best of luck."
Cedrien's jaw tightened, and his gaze lowered. He muttered a plain "thank you," and the two walked away. At the elevator, Syleric hissed, "Tsk… they copied us down to our very last figure of speech, and yet they call themselves 'True Humans.' Creepy anomalies."
"At the end of the day, they're nothing but arrangements of metal and silicon. Maybe you can do something about it, Syleric. As for me, I'll be gone soon. Selara waits for me, and I have to follow the same path she did," Cedrien said, his voice heavy, his brows furrowed.
Syleric turned sharply toward him, frustration visible in both his posture and tone. "That's ridiculous, Cedrien! You know she'd never want this. You know there's no way you'll ever meet her again. Think for yourself, and for the people still alive. With you and me together, we can make a difference!"
Cedrien remained silent, his cold gaze fixed on the elevator doors. When they opened, they stepped inside. The upper floor was filled with towering machinery, all interconnected and leading to a large container of liquid that held spider-like, moving strands of silicon. A man in a lab coat was examining one of the silicon constructs.
He wasn't entirely humanoid, there was still something human in his appearance. A cyborg. He spoke in a calm, professional tone. "Hello, my name is Orselith, a neurosurgeon. I'll be responsible for implanting the Neuro Ascend system into your brain. One of you may please take the bed." Cedrien staring at the room thought to himself "This is it, huh? The beginning."
Syleric moved first and lay down. Orselith placed the spider-shaped silicon into a smaller container and inserted a chip into its core. Then he injected anesthesia into Syleric. Once he was asleep, a portion of his skull was precisely cut open using a laser device. Orselith then took out the silicon construct and carefully placed it inside the opening, where it immediately latched onto the brain.
Cedrien watched in disbelief, his eyes trembling slightly, partly out of fear of how that foreign entity might affect him once implanted, and partly out of contempt for the thought that such a procedure would make him more like the humanoids he despised.
The doctor continued his work with precise, perfectly coordinated movements, carefully reattaching the fragment of Syleric's skull. When he was done, Syleric was carried to the back of the room by non-conscious robots.
As Cedrien began to lose consciousness from the anesthesia, he mumbled faintly, "Did you go through this too… lying on the same bed… four years… ho-ping… thi–ngs… will… get… bett–"
A flashback of Selara replayed in his mind as he drifted into darkness. He barely remembered his parents, they had both died when he was a child, one after the other. His father, Rodrien, had joined the game back when his mother was pregnant with him, hoping to secure a better future for his family.
For a time, he succeeded. But that ended when he faced one of the Top Five Sentinels, "Alvyn." Rodrien died a notable figure, at least in the land of Eclipsera. Cedrien's mother, Milias, devastated by grief, forced herself to remain strong. She swore that her son would never return to that horrible place, and joined the game herself to make sure of it.
Her efforts, however, were futile. Though she died as one of the key female Neural Ascenders, Cedrien was sent back to Grayline at the age of five and placed in an orphanage, where he met Syleric and Selara, his first love, and perhaps his last.
Two hours passed after Cedrien lost consciousness. When he woke, he saw Syleric's face lit up with excitement, something he hadn't seen in a long time. In a slightly thrilled tone, Syleric said, "Guess what skill tree I got?"
Cedrien replied plainly, "What?"
Syleric smirked. "Echo Veil. I can manipulate how people perceive my expressions, tone, and reactions. That means it's going to be really hard for anyone to read my true state. Perfect for a psychological life-or-death game."
Cedrien nodded, his lips curling slightly. "Impressive. I guess I'll end up with something useless, like the ability to make people believe I haven't blinked once."
Syleric chuckled. "That might actually be useful."
He sure seems happy now… or maybe not. Is he using his skill on me? Cedrien wondered silently.
Orselith, the doctor, approached Cedrien with a small device and gestured for him to place his hand on the scanner plate.
"Scanning…" the machine announced in a mechanical voice.
Syleric watched with anticipation while Cedrien shifted nervously.
After a few tense seconds, the scanner continued [Congratulations. You possess a Legendary Skill: Neural Phantom. It allows you to distort perception, granting the ability to project false sensory and emotional data. At its Novice stage, Neural Phantom causes the victim's brain to fabricate what they see, hear, and feel, based on their subconscious fears, contempt, and negative emotions. As you level up, its effects will evolve and grow stronger]
"What? A Legendary skill?" the doctor exclaimed, his calm demeanor breaking for the first time. "This is magnificent. Even at the top level of Cortex Protocol in Eclipsera, there are only a few who possess a Legendary skill."