The air was thick with the acrid scent of smoke and despair. Faint echoes of sirens wailed in the distance, drowning beneath the cacophony of screams and explosions.

People stumbled over broken glass and twisted metal, their faces painted with terror and ash. Shadows danced wildly in the orange glow of spreading fires, consuming once-proud structures that now lay in ruins.

Amid the chaos, the ground trembled, and an ominous roar tore through the skies, as if the world itself were crying out in agony.

Then suddenly, a stark shift in the scenery.

The devastation faded away like a fleeting nightmare, replaced by serenity under a blossoming sakura tree. Petals drifted gently in the breeze, their soft pink hues a stark contrast to the fiery destruction moments ago.

There, beneath the tree, stood a girl.

Her warm smile radiated a comforting glow, her gaze locking with him as she whispered,

"Don't forget our promise, Daichi."

Before he could respond, the image fractured, crumbling away into fragments of light and shadow.

"Gasp", Daichi awoke from his capsule like bed. His eyes were adjusting with the darkness surrounding the room.

He awoke to a silence so profound it felt as though the world had forgotten how to breathe. The absence of sound pressed against his ears, amplifying the dull, rhythmic thud of his heartbeat—if it could even be called that. His body was numb at first, but then came the cold. Icy metal bit into him, not against his skin but something… harder, something alien.

Groggily, he raised a trembling hand, its movements sluggish and disjointed, and brushed it against his chest. The texture beneath his fingers was smooth and unnatural. And then he felt it—a hollow cavity. Perfectly circular. His breath caught in his throat as realization began to claw its way into his consciousness.

"What… is this?" he murmured. His voice was raspy, faint, and wrong.

The sound startled him. It wasn't entirely human. Beneath the words was a faint mechanical distortion, like static from an old radio. Panic surged in his chest, twisting and tightening like a coiled spring ready to snap.

Memories drifted into focus, fragmented and fleeting. A warm laugh, gentle and comforting, echoing in his ears. The delicate scent of sakura in bloom. A world that pulsed with light and motion. But when his eyes fluttered open, the vibrant world he remembered was gone.

The sky stretched out above him, a grim expanse of oppressive gray. It was thick, suffocating, as if the heavens themselves had turned their backs on the earth. The air tasted heavy, a metallic blend of ash and rust.

Around him, civilization lay in ruins.

Crumbling buildings leaned precariously, their skeletal frames clutching at each other for support. Vines crept up their facades, their green tendrils a stark contrast to the decay. Abandoned cars littered the streets, rust consuming their once polished surfaces, windows shattered into jagged teeth. Nearby, a stuffed bear lay forgotten, its threadbare form staring up at the sky with lifeless button eyes.

Daichi pressed his fingers against his temples, his breathing unsteady. A sharp, searing pain lanced through his skull.

"Don't forget our promise, Daichi."

A woman's voice. Gentle. Familiar. The words wove through his mind, achingly sweet yet distant, like an echo that refused to fade.

"Promised… what?" he whispered, his voice trembling with confusion.

The pain surged again, forcing him to clutch his head. His body shook as the memory dissolved into static, leaving him adrift in the overwhelming silence.

"Hello?" he called out, his voice cracking. The sound echoed unnaturally, bouncing off the ruins and amplifying the emptiness. "Is anyone there?"

He waited, ears straining against the stillness. There was no response, not even a faint whisper. The weight of isolation pressed down on him like a vice.

Pushing through the haze, Daichi struggled to his feet. His movements were sluggish, his body foreign. Glancing down, he noticed a faint glimmer beneath his tattered clothing. Hesitantly, he peeled back the fabric, his fingers brushing against cool, unyielding metal.

Wires. Plates. No flesh. No warmth.

His breath hitched, panic clawing at his throat.

"What am I?" he rasped, his voice barely audible over the roaring questions in his mind.

He staggered forward, each step an effort, his movements stiff and uneven. His footsteps rang out against the cracked pavement, the sound hollow and dissonant in the lifeless world.

Ruins stretched endlessly before him, a graveyard of memories frozen in decay. A toppled streetlight lay to his left, its bulb flickering weakly like a fading heartbeat. Ahead, the shell of a grocery store loomed, its shelves stripped bare, its windows coated in grime.

"Hey!" he shouted, his voice raw with desperation. "If anyone can hear me, say something!"

The wind answered with the faint groan of metal, a broken sign swaying overhead. The emptiness mocked him.

"Damn it!" he growled, slamming his fist into a nearby wall. The impact sent cracks spidering through the concrete, a shower of dust cascading to the ground.

Daichi stared at his hand, unscathed and unfeeling. There was no pain. No sensation. Just the cold, unforgiving reality of what he had become.

He sank to his knees, his head bowing as an unsteady breath escaped his lips.

"What am I…?" he whispered again, his voice breaking under the weight of the question. This time, even the silence refused to answer.