Earth, Neo-Prime Mega City.
Upper Spire.
The darkened sky stretched endlessly above, the moon rising high, its pale white light transformed into a gentle lavender that spilled across the neon-lit towers of Neo-Prime. After the EPS cosmic event, nothing remained as it once was.
For the Synths of the Upper Spire, there was no day or night. Their eyes were fixed on a single goal: reaching the Prime Isle — a floating island that hovered high above the clouds, crowning the spire of Neo-Prime.
There, detached from all mundane concerns, resided the true rulers of Neo-Prime: beings who sought to rise beyond politics, beyond mortality itself.
They hadn't transcended flesh or techs yet, but were getting closer with each experiment, fusing human biology with synthetic precision in their pursuit of the Perfect Form.
Every mega-city had its own floating citadel — Avalon Isle, Helios Crown, Eden Reach, and others — each home to its city's ruling Synth elite.
But their pursuit was the same across all continents: to become the first Perfect Humans… or, as they called it, the Superior Synthetic Humans, the first of the Species Neos.
* * *
Upper Spire — Sector 10.
Sector 10, also called Haven Shore, was home to the elites: Synths and their Vassal humans. Neon lights bathed the streets in soft pink and azure, reflected in the artificial waterways that snaked through the sector.
Transparent bridges arched between the sky-high buildings, while floating cars weaved silently through the wide avenues.
Within one of the towering high-rises of Haven Shore, the top floor housed a vast chamber filled with sleek, futuristic tech.
At its center rested a spherical neural pod, smooth and white with a transparent canopy that enclosed a single seat bathed in soft blue light.
Inside sat a violet-haired girl, her features so perfectly symmetrical she seemed almost unreal. A sleek helmet, part of the pod itself, was fixed to her head as holographic panels and glowing monitors floated around her.
Thick cables extended from the pod, linking it to a nearby cryo-hibernation pod, where the body of a young man lay motionless inside.
At that very moment, within the Soul Realm, Airin's soul body was destroyed.
The girl's eyes snapped open. Her flawless face twisted in agony and disbelief as pain surged through her neural link.
With trembling hands, she forced open the canopy and stumbled out. The moment her feet hit the white floor, she collapsed, blood trickling from her eyes and mouth.
"Ghh… cough…" she gasped, clawing at her bracelet to activate the emergency beacon. The alarm blinked to life just as the doors hissed open… and a woman in a black synth-uniform rushed inside.
"Miss Silva…!!" The woman rushed forward, crouching beside her. With a glance, she understood what had happened. She guided Silva's finger to the NeuroSync Interface [ NSI ] bracelet on her wrist. The system recognized the biometrics instantly, humming to life as holographic displays unfolded above them.
One hologram displayed Silva's Vassal, Airin's status — red lines tracing his vitals: Dead. Another projected the Trinity Stabilizer Unit [ TSU ] embedded in Silva's sternum, blinking to indicate the damage caused by the backlash.
Even with the highest Echelon-tier TSU model, the backlash had caused significant damage; enough that its autonomous systems couldn't fully stabilize her body. The woman immediately accessed the holographic controls, deploying the Echelon-tier CoreFlux Serum stored in Silva's suit directly into her body.
The serum coursed through Silva's bio-engineered nerves, stabilizing her bio-synthetic body, bio-positronic brain, and artificial soul core. Normally, Silva could have triggered the process with a thought… but her mind was too fractured to form a coherent command.
Gradually, Silva's body began to calm. She stared blankly at the white ceiling as a torrent of emotions flickered across her: sadness, emptiness, frustration, and above all… rage.
This marked the second death of a Vassal under her care. Silva, a Rank 3 Conduit, had ascended to her current rank with the aid of her first Vassal; the one who had helped her stabilize her artificial soul core into its Rank 3 violet state.
Synths couldn't enter the Soul Realm, so they adapted. They engineered artificial soul cores and developed a system that linked their core to a Vassal's. Whenever the Vassal absorbed soul essence, the Dominus received half of it, allowing both to progress in tandem — a parasitic efficiency, but a necessary step toward becoming a Superior Synthetic Human.
In the past, a Vassal's death meant the Dominus would perish as well. However, advances in TSU technology changed that, enabling survival… though at the cost of losing accumulated progress.
Silva had invested immense resources and countless augmentations to hasten Airin's rise from Rank 0 to Rank 2. In return, she herself had advanced steadily through the early, low, and mid stages of Rank 3. Now, with his death, months of progress had vanished, dragging her back to the early stage of Rank 3 once more.
If Airin had died after Silva's artificial soul core had reached the Rank 4 Crimson State, she wouldn't have lost as much progress to the backlash, her core would've already been stabilized at that level. But now, she would have to find another Vassal, nurture their growth through the ranks, and once again climb alongside them.
She despised this parasitic system of development. The only reason Synths couldn't enter the Soul Realm was that they lacked what humans possessed: a soul. Yet Silva couldn't comprehend what that truly meant. She had everything a human had: flesh, emotions, intelligence, even pain. So why was the Realm closed to her?
That was why the Synths sought the Perfect Human State. It was believed that once a Synth reached Rank 6, their artificial soul core would mature into a true soul core of its own. That moment would mark the birth of a new species: the Neos. But none had yet achieved it; only some decades had passed since the Soul Realm first revealed itself after all.
"Sigh…" Silva exhaled, sitting upright with the help of her aide. At least she hoped she had retrieved all the ORM [ Organic Resonance Matrix ] gear modules.
"Greta, check the pod. Make sure all the modules were recovered," she ordered.
"Yes, Miss Silva." Greta approached the hibernation pod where Airin's lifeless body lay. The collar around his neck: connected to his brain, spine, and heart — was deactivated after his death. She inspected the small cubical modules near his body and grimaced.
Silva's eyes narrowed instantly. She knew something was wrong.
"What is it?"
Sighing, Greta replied, "We lost one of the weapon modules, Miss Silva: the Pyro Greatblade."
Bang—
A loud crack echoed as the carbon-fiber reinforced floor splintered under Silva's punch, unable to contain her fury. Her expression was a storm.
"That bastard… he even failed to follow my last order. What a waste! Do you know how many resources I spent upgrading that blade?!" she snapped, glaring at Greta.
Greta said nothing. She knew Silva would receive more resources soon; after all, her mother/creator hailed from the Prime Isle, and only under strict conditions could one ascend there: the minimum being a Rank 4 Resonant.
Silva clenched her fists, muttering curses under her breath. She still wasn't sure whether emotions were a gift or a flaw… but right now, all she wanted was to vent, and the best targets were Airin's body… and his little girlfriend.