In the heart of Neo-Seoul, a city that pulsed with neon and towering steel, Kai drifted through the streets, his footsteps swallowed by the hum of hovercars and the chatter of holographic billboards. It was midnight, but the sky burned bright, blanketed by a hundred different ad projections that flickered against the dark clouds like a digital aurora. Rain drizzled down, not water but micro-purified droplets, a byproduct of the city's endless re-filtering systems to combat the toxic smog.
Kai was a courier, one of the few human delivery runners left in a world of drones and automated pathways. His client, known only as Enjoy Ultra , had paid handsomely for a live courier. That meant something was either too precious or too dangerous to trust to code. Tucked beneath Kai’s arm was a sleek black case, fingerprint-locked, anonymous, and glowing faintly from within. He didn't ask questions, not when his payment would double his monthly credits.
He cut down a back alley, his sneakers splashing in shallow, synthetic puddles. Above, two drones hovered, their lights scanning for his face. He dipped his head, pulling up the hood of his jacket, the material shifting colors to blend into the wall behind him. The drones whizzed past, and he let out a breath. Whoever Zero-1 was, they weren’t keen on him being seen.
Ahead, the alleys darkened, the glow of the neon fading to a dim hum. He reached an unmarked door where the city’s lights barely touched, swallowed by shadows. Kai placed his thumb against a tiny screen, and a light flashed green. The door slid open with a whisper, and he stepped into the room beyond.
Inside, a woman in her mid-thirties waited, her sharp eyes taking him in as he entered. She wore a sleek, holographic jacket, its colors shifting as if alive. She was Zero-1, he could tell—she had the air of someone used to getting what they wanted. She nodded to the case.
“Is it intact?” she asked.
“Never left my sight,” Kai replied, setting it on the table between them.
She tapped a screen embedded in her wrist, and the case opened with a hiss. Inside, nestled in a foam lining, was a silver sphere, no larger than an apple. Runes glowed faintly along its surface.
"Is that…" Kai asked, unable to help himself.
"A seed," she murmured, almost to herself. "A seed for something better."
"Better than what?" Kai looked at her with a mix of curiosity and skepticism. Neo-Seoul wasn't perfect, but to him, it was home.
"Better than this," she replied, her voice soft yet filled with a quiet fury. "A future not dominated by greed and control. One where people can breathe without worrying if their air has been filtered a hundred times. Where humans walk their own paths, free from data tags, from drones that track their every step."
Her words stirred something in him. This was no ordinary job, no ordinary woman. She had a vision for Neo-Seoul that reached far beyond the bright lights and glossy surfaces, deeper into the lives that lay underneath, unseen and unheard.
As she pocketed the sphere, she handed him a small device, no larger than a coin. "If you ever want to know more, press this. The Seed Network could use people like you."
Kai looked at the device, feeling the weight of a decision he hadn't anticipated. The city’s hum filled his ears, and he thought of his life, of his anonymous existence drifting through the veins of Neo-Seoul.
Without another word, he pocketed the device, nodded, and disappeared back into the neon-lit night.