Kaito's senses slowly returned, consciousness clawing its way back into his mind. The jarring motion of being carried over a large person's shoulder was the first thing he registered. His body pitched and swayed with each step, sending small waves of pain through his battered form.

As awareness began to seep in, the sounds of Neo-Eden's night filtered through his dazed senses. Distant sirens wailed, their strident cries melding with the electric hum of neon signs that pulsed overhead. The air was thick with the scent of exhaust fumes and the oily tang of street food, mingling with the sharp metallic taste of his own blood in his mouth.

"Where...?" Kaito managed, voice strained as he tried to lift his head.

"Easy," rumbled the deep voice of the one carrying him, the vibrations reaching him through the giant's torso. "We're almost there."

"Put me down," Kaito demanded weakly, trying to summon the energy to break free. However, his limbs betrayed him, unwilling to respond to his commands.

"Trust me, you don't want to be walking right now," the voice replied, not unkindly. "Not after what you've been through."

The chaotic symphony of Neo-Eden continued to fill Kaito's ears as they moved, an orchestra of machinery, humanity, and the remnants of nature struggling for dominance. He couldn't shake the feeling that something fundamental had shifted in this city he called home, the very essence of it fraying at the edges.

"Who are you?" Kaito asked, fighting to concentrate on the present, to focus on the mysterious figure carrying him.

"Someone who might just be able to help you," came the enigmatic response.

Unable to resist the encroaching darkness any longer, Kaito's head lolled forward once more, the sounds of Neo-Eden fading into a muted cacophony as he drifted back into unconsciousness. The sirens, the hum of neon, and the city itself seemed to whisper in a fevered chorus—a promise that the secrets hidden within its depths would soon be revealed, whether they were ready or not.

Kaito's ride came to an abrupt halt, and he jolted awake as he was unceremoniously dumped onto a ragged sofa.

"Oops. Sorry." The mountain of a man turned and trudged away.

As his blurry vision adjusted to the dim lighting, the contrast with his surroundings became evident. He was in some kind of basement or warehouse, dilapidated and dingy.

Kaito struggled to rise, his body protesting. He had to get out of here. But his limbs were sluggish, unresponsive. The blast must have taken more of a toll than he realized. He collapsed back onto the lumpy cushions, panting with exertion. Trapped for now, at the mercy of his mysterious captors. His eyes darted around the room, searching for any clue to their identity or purpose. What did they want with him? And how were they connected to the chaos engulfing the city?

The room would have been pitch black had it not been for the overbearing blue glow of a tower of screens and holoprojections taking up half of one wall. The brightness of the light snuffed out any hope he had of making out any real details.

Kaito tensed as a silhouette emerged from the shadows. A young woman stepped into the dim light, her vibrant blue and green hair almost glowing in contrast to the dark surroundings. She spun a computer chair around and sat several feet away from the couch. Her bright, curious eyes studied Kaito.

Kaito steeled himself. He tried again to stand and run. Before he could force himself up, an imposing figure loomed up behind the woman. Kaito craned his neck to take in the sheer size of the man, his muscular frame casting a giant shadow across the basement.

"Easy now," he rumbled, his voice deep and melodic at the same time, as he came over to Kaito. With surprising care, the giant slid his massive hands under Kaito's shoulders and eased him back down. Kaito resisted at first but quickly realized he was no match for the man's strength.

"Don't try to get up just yet. You took quite a blow back there. I’ll get you a drink."

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"Lights." The woman spoke, and the room filled with a more fluorescent glow highlighting the disarray of the room. Computer towers and monitors filled half the room. Cables and wires snaked across the floor to what Kaito assumed was a stack of servers on one wall. Leaning against the server cabinet, Kaito's sword and other gear drew his eyes. He made a mental note of the location and the closest exit in case he needed to make a quick escape.

"Where am I?" Kaito demanded.

"Safe," the woman said, her gaze never leaving the swirling sea of information that popped up in a holoscreen in front of her. Her fingers rapid-fired at the invisible keyboard midair as she navigated the streams of data flowing around and above them. "For now."

Kaito studied the mismatched pair now regarding him intently. Who were these people? And what did they want with him? Kaito steadied his nerves. He had to stay alert and ready to act. The answers were coming. He just had to be patient.

After what felt like an eternity, she lowered her hands and the screens disappeared. "So you're the one causing all the ruckus out there, huh?"

The woman's voice was bright and animated, belying the seriousness of her words. She rotated the chair back and forth around Kaito like a curious bird, head cocked to one side.

"You can call me Kiji. That's what everyone calls me. At least everyone who knows me. And that gentle giant over there is Tank."

Kaito said nothing, his eyes tracking her movements. Kiji's grin only widened.

"Not much of a talker. That's alright. I can keep this going."

She bounced up from the chair sending it spinning across the room and perched on the edge of a desk, leaning towards him. "See, we've been monitoring the situation topside. The explosions, the hacked bots, the tech going haywire all over. At first, we thought it was just a system glitch."

Kiji paused, narrowing her eyes at Kaito. "But now we're not so sure. So why don't you tell me exactly what your part in all this is?"

“My part?”

“Yes, silly. Your part. It’s not every day we get a visitor from the Historic District. Double not every day they are chasing down gang members. Triple not every day they are almost blown to bits by cluster grenades. All that on top of all the anomalies topside? Not a coincidence. So, what’s your angle? What’s your part?”

Kaito’s brow furrowed. “I’m not really sure what you’re talking about. Anomalies? I don’t know about any anomalies. I’m here to investigate the bombing of the Government building.” Kaito hoped he hid his true intentions enough to throw them off.

“So, you don’t know?” she asked. She leaned in close and poked and prodded Kaito’s extremities. He tried to protest, but the pain was too great and she was too quick. Satisfied with her perusal, she added, “I guess you wouldn’t. You’re all natural, eh? Well, your explosion at the Government building seems to have started it all off. Since then, Netcon gear all over the city has been haywire. Arms shorting out. Billboards glitching. It’s full-on pandemonium up there.”

As if on command, Tank stumbled and slammed into the doorframe, nearly spilling a platter stacked with cups he had been carrying with one hand. At that, Kaito realized he had only seen Tank use his one arm. The other hung lifeless and rigid by his side.

“Here. Let me help you with that.” Kaito stood and paused to catch his footing. Finally comfortable with his balance, he took the tray from Tank and sat it on a nearby table. Although the tea cups were horribly mismatched, Tank had taken great care to put together a proper place setting for tea. Kaito took the opportunity to visually inspect the tea kettle for any hidden compartments or odd aromas. The couple had seemingly saved his life, but he still couldn’t bring himself to trust them.

“I’m very sorry,” Tank said. “Kit’s not working like it’s supposed to.”

“You don’t have to apologize,” Kaito said. He handed out the teacups to his new acquaintances.

A blaring alarm screamed out, interrupting the moment. Kaito instinctively reached to his side where his sword would have been only to remember it was still by the server rack.

“Relax. I set up some alerting earlier for Netcon fluctuations using a number of sensors throughout the city.”

“You can track fluctuations in Netcon? I figured that type of information would be guarded by Netco itself.” Kaito flushed with embarrassment.

“It is. And you can. You just have to know what you’re doing. I’ve got a series of droids that have latched onto the major telco providers. They’ve been slowly busting the encryption on the traffic to and from peoples’ cybernetics. I noticed the anomalous activity just before the explosion, but it’s been very erratic since.”

Kiji brought up a holoprojection of the city. The slowly spinning model rippled like water on a still pond several times.

“Was that…?” Kait stopped himself from asking what he figured would be a dumb question.

“Yep. Micro-explosion and a ripple of new Netcon gear going down.”

“And what is that?” Kaito pointed to the center of the ripple.

“Those are the docks. Look, if you’re going to go there, we’re coming too. It’s going to be dangerous. You’ve probably gotten some broken bones. You’ve definitely got a concussion. We’re coming with.”

No response.

Kiji looked up from the projection. Kaito was gone. “Where did he…? You were supposed to keep an eye on him.”

Tank shrugged his one good shoulder and took another sip of his tea.