Cyberpunk City AI

The rain came down in fine needles, slicing through the neon glow of the lower walkways as Liora threaded her way through the crowd. The Luminis Serum pulsed against her ribs from inside her jacket, its light bleeding faintly through the seams. She kept her pace steady, eyes scanning for any sign of the meeting point. The Rust Devils wouldn’t be far behind—word about the Serum would have spread the moment she left Protowares.

She rounded a corner into a narrower stretch of walkway, lined with flickering holo-ads and the metallic hum of vending drones. That’s when she saw him—leaning against a railing, eyes scanning the street below. Dark jacket, blue luminescent trim, the kind of stance that told her he was armed and ready to use it. She’d never met him, but she knew the name whispered in under-market circles: Kael. Some said he was an ex-mercenary, others swore he was corporate black-ops gone rogue.

Before she could speak, another figure stepped out from the shadow of a maintenance hatch. Kira—blue-eyed, violet-haired, her coat’s circuitry pulsing faintly under the dripping neon signage. She carried no visible weapon, but the confidence in her stance was sharper than any blade. “You’re a long way from the safer markets,” Kira said, her gaze fixed on the faint glow seeping from Liora’s jacket. “And you’re carrying something the Devils would gut a man for.”

Liora’s cybernetic fingers flexed instinctively. “I’m not here to sell.”

Kael’s eyes narrowed. “Doesn’t matter. They’re already on your trail—and ours.” As if on cue, the rhythmic stamp of boots echoed down the steel, red glints flickering in the mist. The Rust Devils were coming fast.

Kira glanced at Kael, then at Liora, reading the unspoken truth: alone, none of them would make it out clean. “We move together,” she said simply. “But whatever you’ve got, it stays with you.”

Liora hesitated only a heartbeat before nodding. In Neon Spire, alliances were rarely born from trust—only from necessity. The three of them slipped into the labyrinth of rain-slick steel and humming lights, their footsteps vanishing into the roar of the city as the Devils closed in.