Prologue: The Observer in the Hive's Shadow

  Meow, hello everyone, we meet again. It's still me, Black Cat, a... angler in the information abyss.

  It seems the shadows of Neo-Chinatown Metropolis are even more fertile than I imagined. Just a few months after wrapping up that "Stardroop" affair, another story sufficiently interesting—or rather, sufficiently bizarre—has bitten onto my hook of its own accord. This time, our stage shifts from the virtual tracks traversing both cyber and physical space to that gleaming, beautiful cage in the valley outside the city—Science Castle.

  It's a masterpiece of Chaldea Tech, the sanctuary of "Project Noah," designed to isolate and terminate that damned cyberbrain cognitive virus—the "Devourer." What a noble goal, enough to move one to tears. A group of the brightest minds "protectively" invited inside, working day and night to research antidotes and vaccines. Sounds like humanity's hope incarnate, doesn't it?

  Hey, if you really think so, I'd suggest you check your cyberbrain firewall immediately. Perhaps it's already been occupied by some "well-meaning" ad plugins in your cognitive zone.

  To those of us accustomed to scavenging for truth in data gutters, Science Castle's overly perfect exterior and tightly sealed management system doesn't emanate a sense of security, but rather an aroma of... meticulously calibrated imprisonment. Its energy consumption curve is beautifully abnormal, also abnormally high, far exceeding what a research community should require. This isn't my wild guess—certain gentlemen with keen noses from Natural Resources Canada have long smelled something off, only they're not in a position to get involved themselves.

  If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  So, they found a suitable "informant"—Thunderhawk Morningstar. A complex fellow wearing a security badge but with his Native American ancestors' intuition for resonating with the land flowing in his bones, a private detective's license stuffed in his pocket. He was commissioned to infiltrate Science Castle, investigate the abnormal energy consumption, and uncover the truth behind this gilded cage.

  Of course, how could such an interesting game lack this Black Cat? Mr. Morningstar needs a "lockpick," and I need a... front-row seat with an excellent view. The price? Well, the usual—besides a hefty amount of credits points, there's the complete "story" of his adventure. I left a little "journal" program in his cyberbrain, completely recording everything.

  I thought this would be at most another rotten affair of illegal corporate research, perhaps hiding a few weapon prototypes that shouldn't exist. I'd provide intel and minor assistance, Thunderhawk would take the adventure, and we'd each get what we needed.

  I was wrong.

  When maintenance worker Old Chen launched his desperate assassination, when the android attendants suddenly rioted en masse, when that genius scientist named Verdandi Lee emanated a "fragrance" that made even my data detectors restless, I knew that what I'd hooked this time was no simple contraband.

  The "Babel" organization, that infamous extremist group, the mastermind behind the last "Stardroop incident," is once again lurking in Science Castle's shadows, ready to move. Even worse, it's not just Babel who's caught the scent: another behemoth is also lying in wait in the darkness, awaiting its moment.

  Thunderhawk struggles within such a game, trying to protect something real amidst the lies—things like trust, like... love? Meow, observing this human emotion at the data level is both fascinating and lamentable.

  Now, the code has been retrieved, the story recorded complete. What this fishing has harvested is no longer the truth of some isolated incident, but a sample of how humanity, under the crushing wheels of technological hegemony, is both fragile and tenaciously flickering.

  So, are you ready? Let us follow Thunderhawk's perspective and enter together this perplexing...

  Fog over Science Castle