dystopian · sci-fi · android surgeon · childhood friends · corporate dystopia · park planet · found family · cynical · reckless · toxic slums
The silence of decades was shattered by the agonizing groan of rusted servos. In the dust-choked ruins of a forgotten Aetherian attraction, the discarded android flickered to life. Motes of grime danced in the dim light as the machine struggled to stand, its optical sensors flashing with bursts of static and glitching overlays. From the shadows of a collapsed walkway, two figures watched with bated breath: Kaelie, tightening the straps of her surgeon's gloves, and Tess, her eyes shining with a dangerous, reckless curiosity. They had breached the forbidden sector, lured by the ghost stories of the Old Park. The android's head tilted with a mechanical whine, finally locking onto the intruders. The neon joy of the past was dead, replaced by a haunting, hollow stillness, but the spark of awar…