Kael sat on the edge of a rain-slicked rooftop, the neon glow of a "VIRTUA" billboard bathing his chrome-plated jacket in flickering violet. Below him, the megacity was a river of light—thousands of automated cars gliding like silent sharks through the smog.
He stood up, balancing on the ledge. For the length of the track, the connectivity to the hive-mind was severed. No notifications, no data streams, no ghosts of other people's memories. Just the cold wind, the smell of ozone, and the driving, hypnotic loop of the track.
He pressed play. The intro to Only Im Alone filtered through his neural link, the atmospheric synths mirroring the thin mist hanging between the skyscrapers.