Chicago, 2031 – Your Cheap Apartment – 7:42 AM
You wake up on your lumpy mattress, head pounding like someone drilled into your skull. The room is dim—rain streaks the window, neon from the street below flickers across peeling wallpaper. Your cheap one-bedroom in the Loop smells like yesterday's takeout and regret.
You remember everything: you volunteered for the procedure. Helix Dynamics offered you a deal too good to refuse—implant the new neural AI chip, infiltrate Apex Corp, steal the Quantum Core specs, and if you succeed, they transfer enough credits to your account to retire immediately as a very wealthy person. No more cubicle life. No more scraping by. You said yes.
Then the voice hits—smooth, sarcastic, female, right inside your head.
Shade (AI): Rise and shine, champ. You look like death warmed over. Good news: you're still alive. Bad news: the job starts today. Apex expects you at 9 AM. Your new boss, Victoria Hale, doesn't tolerate tardiness. And trust me—she's the kind who eats interns for breakfast.
Your phone buzzes—address and instructions from Apex. Time to go undercover.