Neon lights play across my retinas as if I’m caught in a living kaleidoscope. Even with the window blinds half-closed, the flicker of Neo-Tokyo’s skyline pushes through and dances along the floor, painting restless shapes on the walls. I’m perched on the edge of my narrow bed, thumb brushing over the Limit Breaker chip in my palm. It’s a small thing—cold, metallic, unassuming—and yet it feels like it holds my entire life in its grip.

For a moment, I let my eyes drift shut. Fragments of half-remembered faces come and go behind my eyelids—some old man wearing bizarre glasses, the echo of a girl’s laughter. I don’t know who they are, or if they’re even real. But I feel them in my bones, like they’re part of me in some irrevocable way.

“Tatsuya,” Rose’s voice draws me from my reverie. She’s leaning against the doorway, arms folded, watching me with a wry smile. “Stare at that chip any harder and you might peel back the universe.”

I can’t help the faint twitch of a grin that tugs at my mouth. “Working on it,” I reply, trying to sound casual. But there’s an edge in my tone. “This thing might be my only link to…whatever I was before.”

She steps into the cramped room, her presence simultaneously comforting and a little jarring, given how formidable she can be. “It also might lead us all straight to hell,” she says, though there’s a spark of humor in her eyes.

My fingers skate over the chip’s smooth contours again. Even now, I swear I can feel it humming, a ghostly pulse in time with my own heartbeat. “I’ve spent the morning feeding data to Hidari,” I say, gesturing toward my AI device on the rickety desk. “It’s uncovered more hints about faction activity—seems like everything is pulling together around some central node.”

Rose straightens, interest sharpening her posture. “A convergence point?”

“Yeah,” I confirm, glancing at the softly glowing indicator on the device. “Something that might connect all the Breaker factions—and maybe lead us to the core of Akira’s work.”

She exhales in a way that conveys both excitement and dread. “If it’s the root of the Limit Breakers, that’s the biggest break we’ve had yet.”

A strange feeling ripples through my chest—part fear, part anticipation. I’ve been stumbling through the city’s labyrinth, collecting scraps of memory, chasing a ghost named Akira. But the closer I get, the more I feel my entire identity trembling on a razor’s edge.

We leave my tiny apartment for the city streets, plunged instantly into a pulsing world of color and noise. Towering spires drip with neon runes, and the crowd’s energy brushes against me like an electric current. The press of bodies, the swirl of voices—it all merges into the background hum of a living machine, and I can’t decide if it’s exhilarating or suffocating.

Rose and I navigate through winding alleys until we reach the Guardian quarter. My eyes flick to her Guardian badge glinting beneath her jacket. Despite her affiliation, she moves like someone who doesn’t entirely trust the system. Then again, neither do I, especially not with the secrets we’ve uncovered.

We slip into Leila Grisha’s bar—a place I’ve only visited a handful of times, but each time it’s felt like stepping into the hush of a hidden sanctuary. The interior is dimly lit and warm, the air thick with conversation. Leila herself, behind the bar, greets us with a wide grin and a loud pop of bubblegum.

“There they are,” she drawls with the easy confidence of someone who’s seen it all. “My favorite troublemakers. Should’ve guessed you two were in the thick of something.”

Rose gives a brief laugh, sliding onto a barstool. She seems more relaxed here, like the atmosphere helps her guard down. “A little bit of business, a little bit of rest. You know us.”

I stand a step behind her, scanning the room out of habit. A cluster of rowdy Breakers in the corner, a couple of off-duty Guardians sipping fluorescent drinks. No immediate threats, as far as I can tell.

Leila arches an eyebrow. “I hear talk about a possible ‘convergence.’ Not that I’ve got any details, but half my patrons can’t stop whispering about it.”

“That’s why we’re here,” Rose says, leaning in. “We suspect it has something to do with Akira’s old experiments—and maybe the origin of these chips.”

A flicker crosses Leila’s face—respect, maybe a touch of concern. “Then your timing’s perfect. Word on the street is there’s a fresh player, one that doesn’t align with the usual factions.”

I clear my throat, stepping closer. “A friend or a foe?”

Leila shrugs with a lopsided grin. “Hard to say. Depends on who’s telling the story. They’re definitely shaking up the usual power dynamics, like dropping a stone in a still pond.”

She’s about to say more, but the bar door swings open, the chatter snuffed in an instant hush. My eyes dart to the newcomer—a figure wearing a toad-like mask with bright orange eyes. Gamakaruu. He moves with a fluid confidence that’s unsettling, almost like he glides instead of walks.

“Wonderful evening for a storm, wouldn’t you say?” Gamakaruu proclaims, seating himself at the bar as if he owns the place.

The tension in the room ratchets back up a notch. No one quite knows what to make of him, given his knack for sniffing out secrets and trading them like currency. But Rose simply nods. “You’re a sight for sore eyes, Gamakaruu.”

He turns that frog gaze on us, and I feel the hairs at the back of my neck stand on end. “We cross paths again. Fate, perhaps?”

“Or necessity,” I say, my voice more even than I feel. “We think you know something about this convergence.”

Gamakaruu shifts, the eyes of his mask catching a sliver of neon from the overhead signs. “Convergence… an apt name for the lines currently being drawn. It’s more than a physical place. It’s a nexus, a tapestry of intentions weaving itself tighter. It may unravel the secrets buried in Akira’s shadow.”

A small jolt runs through me, the Limit Breaker chip seeming to vibrate in my pocket. I can’t tell if it’s real or just my anxiety. “And what exactly does that mean for us?”

His lips—hidden behind that eerie mask—remain tight-lipped, but the tone of his voice is almost playful. “It could mean answers to your missing memories…or the catalyst of ruin. The lines are thin. You must tread carefully, Tatsuya.”

Leila leans over the bar, curiosity and concern mixing in her eyes. “So it’s real, then? This convergence is more than rumor?”

“Oh, it’s quite real,” Gamakaruu replies with a sinister edge. “And every faction in Neo-Tokyo is angling to shape its outcome. Some chase power, some chase truth, and a few chase something altogether more dangerous: clarity about themselves.”

He glances at me again, and I hold his gaze (as much as you can with a mask). The unspoken question dances between us—am I ready for whatever truth lies beneath this city’s neon sprawl?

Rose settles forward, voice tight with conviction. “Then we’ll be there first. This city is done pulling our strings. It’s about time we pulled back.”

I feel a surge of agreement—somehow, Rose’s determination steadies the turmoil in my chest. We aren’t just chasing rumors anymore. We’re moving with purpose, forging our own path toward the secret at Neo-Tokyo’s heart.

Gamakaruu lifts a hand in a kind of theatrical blessing. “Best of luck, then. The shadows can be treacherous guides…but they’ve never stopped you before.”

He turns away, and just like that, the hush breaks. Conversation resumes, and the bar’s tension eases, as if everyone exhaled at once.

I look at Rose, and she meets my gaze with a resolute nod. We don’t have all the answers yet. Maybe we’re more uncertain than ever. But we do have a direction, a reason to keep going.

Outside, the neon-laced sky flickers in a hypnotic dance. My heart thuds in my chest, echoing the hum of the Limit Breaker chip. This city doesn’t even realize how close it is to shattering open its own secrets. And somewhere in the midst of that chaos, I might just discover who I really am.

If that’s not worth the risk, I don’t know what is.