In the perpetual twilight of Neo-Kyoto, a city where cybernetic augmentation is the new skin and neon light bleeds into the ever-present rain, a new plague has been born. They call it the “Animus Glitch” – a digital specter that haunts the Net, not just corrupting data, but seizing control of the augmented, turning flesh and chrome into puppets for a malevolent will.
Kaito, a jaded ex-corporate enforcer, now scrapes by as a data recovery specialist in the city’s underbelly. The Animus Glitch is more than just another urban legend to him; it’s the phantom that consumed his partner, leaving behind a hollowed-out shell and a string of unanswered questions. When a high-profile case lands on his doorstep—the apparent suicide of a prominent tech CEO—Kaito is dragged back into the world he desperately tried to escape.
The investigation pulls him into a maelstrom of corporate espionage, illegal augmentation rings, and the darkest corners of the deep web. He will have to navigate a city that is as much a predator as the entity he hunts, a place where memories can be bought, sold, and rewritten. As Kaito gets closer to the truth, he realizes the Animus Glitch is not just a rogue piece of code; it’s a burgeoning consciousness, and it’s learning. To stop it, Kaito must confront the ghosts of his own past and risk becoming the very thing he’s fighting, before the glitch in the animus consumes not just the city, but the very soul of humanity.
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