She could still hear the bass through the concrete.
The crowd poured into the venue behind her, chasing another night they hoped would make them forget tomorrow. She stayed outside, cigarette glowing like a tiny ember against the endless black. Above the skyline, skyscrapers disappeared into the clouds, their scattered neon lights flickering like distant stars that the city had replaced.
Once, she had waited here for someone.
Every concert, every year, the same place beneath the crimson sign.
He never came back.
Now she watched strangers disappear through the doors while smoke curled into the cold night air, carrying memories the wind refused to keep. In a city where people traded flesh for chrome and memories for credits, grief remained the one thing no corporation had learned to erase.
The music swelled inside.
She took one final drag, dropped the cigarette into the rain, and crushed the ember beneath her boot.
For a brief moment, the brightest light in the city was gone.
Cyberpunk City AI 