The door behind them closed with a dull thud. For a moment, there was absolute silence. Then the deep humming resumed – steady, pulsating, almost like a heartbeat.
Mara stopped and let her gaze wander through the huge hall. High ceilings disappeared into darkness, while rows of old servers looked like sleeping giants. Blue status lights blinked irregularly, as if they had a will of their own. The air smelled of dust, metal, and something electric that caused a tingling sensation on her skin.
"This should be dead," she whispered.
Nova floated a little higher and changed her shape, as if nervous. "The systems were shut down at least ten years ago. Someone – or something – reactivated them."
Pixel cautiously padded across the floor. His claws clicked softly on the concrete. "I hear voices," he said, tilting his head. "Not loud. More like... memories." 🦊
Mara swallowed. "Memories can't speak."
"These can," Pixel replied dryly.
They moved on, deeper into the hall. With every step, new screens lit up. Fragments appeared on them: streets of Neon City, faces of people, columns of numbers constantly rearranging.
"This is an archive," Mara observed. "But not just any."
Nova confirmed her suspicion. "It doesn’t just collect data. It collects decisions. Doubts. Fears."
Mara grimaced. "Great. The city’s emotional landfill." 😐
Suddenly Pixel stopped. His tail froze. "We are not alone."
A soft scraping echoed through the hall. Something moved between two rows of servers. A figure emerged from the shadows – humanoid, but unnaturally smooth. Its body consisted of flickering light and dark gaps, as if it were incompletely loaded.
"Identification failed," the figure said in a distorted voice. "Access not authorized."
Mara slowly raised her hands. "Hey, calm down. We’re just looking around."
The figure came closer. With every step it changed, briefly taking the face of an old man, then a woman, then something completely alien.
Nova lowered her voice. "Mara… this is a manifestation of the signal. A kind of guardian."
"Of course it is," Mara muttered. "Why would it be simple?" 😄
Pixel stepped forward. "You guard memories," he said calmly. "But memories want to be heard."
The figure paused. The flickering slowed. "Conflict detected," it replied. "Data demands release."
A shrill alarm sounded. Red lights mixed with the blue. The hall began to vibrate slightly.
Nova reacted immediately. "Security protocols are activating. We have little time."
Mara took a deep breath. Her gaze flicked between Pixel, Nova, and the flickering figure. "Okay," she said determinedly. "Then we listen. What does Neon City want to tell us?"
The figure slowly raised its arm. New images appeared on the monitors – an event from the past that apparently no one had forgotten.
And in that moment Mara knew: This adventure would change the city.