Illphated
Neon Curse
Rain slicked the streets, turning them into a mirror for the neon chaos above. The skyline of New Tokyo 9 flickered with endless holograms—dancing girls, corporate propaganda, and half-forgotten gods resurrected in pixels. But the billboard at the heart of it all, towering over the streets like a silent judge, read only one thing:
“I see the beauty in everyone and everything. That’s my curse.”
Eli leaned against the rusted railing of an abandoned skybridge, eyes locked on the sign. It had been there for weeks, glowing defiantly against the city’s decay. No one knew who put it up, but the words settled deep into his chest like an infection.
He was an empath, a glitch in the cybernetic human code. While others enhanced themselves to see through lies, predict stock markets, or optimize combat reflexes, Eli saw beauty—raw, unfiltered, painful beauty. He saw it in the wrinkles of a dying man on the sidewalk, in the rust of a crumbling mech, in the blood pooling beneath a street fight. Everything was perfect in its own way, and that made it unbearable.
“Staring again?” a voice rasped behind him.
Mina. A rogue AI wearing a human body, her synthetic skin cracked at the edges, revealing the flickering circuitry beneath. She had no soul, no emotions—just the cold, logical curiosity of a machine. And yet, she was the closest thing Eli had to a friend.
“It hurts,” Eli admitted. “Seeing it all.”
Mina tilted her head, analyzing him like an anomaly in a data stream. “Then stop looking.”
Eli exhaled a bitter laugh. “If only.”
Below, the city pulsed, alive yet indifferent. A siren wailed, a lover whispered, a drone malfunctioned mid-flight and crashed into a noodle stand. Beauty. Everywhere.
Eli clenched his fists. Maybe tonight, he would finally do something about it.