[3rd Pov] Chapter Prologue [The Year Is 2138]

Life was hard, that was the understatement of the century. Every day, working your ass off for wages that wouldn't even cover a week of rent. Walking to your job was even more frustrating if you were late, you'd probably lose most of your paycheck for the month. And the toxic air wasn't helping the situation, at all. Walking about and forward day after day, and when I said walking, I mean walking, you couldn't drive, and normal transport cost too much for your liking. This life was boring, but every day you go to your job, the closer you'll reap the reward, right? You just need another promotion, and then you can finally start living. You were only 26 you still have a life ahead of you, just a few more years, right? A few more grueling years, until the promotion day, and start raking in the cash.

It doesn't matter right now, you finally make it to your apartment door, it is stained, and with some cut marks near the door nob, the reason why the cuts and the stains were there is because a few years back some crazy guy tried to break in, and we don't have enough money for that to replace it. You stop thinking about the past, you move your briefcase under your armpit, and you grab your keys from your pocket to unlock the door. The metallic jingling sound ensures that you have them, you pull out your keys, and the motion flows like have done many times over. Then you put the key in the door and unlock it, The clack sound meant was unlocked was reassuring to your tired body. You push the door, hearing to way to familiar creaking sound of old artificial wood, as fast as you open the door, you close it and then lock it.

Your apartment wasn't the smallest, but it could barely 'fit' two people and the smell of the apartment was always the first thing you'd sense when you came into this apartment, The air was moldy, with a hint of day-old food. Even if you didn't have food in the fridge, you could still smell it. You put your briefcase door next to the door, also making sure you take off your shoes. Your body immediately moves the couch in the 'living', like it was programmed to do so. Laying down on the uncomfortable furniture, relaxing even for a few minutes would be nice, but you must get up, you must check on someone.

You'll never be a gamer, you thought it would be a waste of time. Every time you try to get into it like he said to do, you always have a nagging person in your brain saying that you should be working not relaxing, just working. It was exactly like mom, she was always a workaholic like me, maybe the Suzuki bloodline is all workaholic, but It must have skipped a person. The person was your older brother Suzuki Satoru, yes he has a job, but he mostly the money from the job on a game, you didn't really, the name of this game was about a world tree or something. While thinking, you were walking toward the door of your older brother's room. To you spending your money on a game with no thought was reckless, and dumb but every time you tried talking to him about it, he got defensive about it like it was the end of the world to him. So a rough patch has been created, haven't been talking for a while now.

You have finally made it to his door, today was different when we were eating some food, he was mumbling about a shutdown or something, he was too quiet to hear it, and you were too busy getting ready for work to listen. Now just looking at his door, not knocking just yet, just listening. With the quiet humming sound of the Neural Nano-Interface, you look down at the gap in the door, there isn't any light on. "Is he asleep? No, he must be playing that game." You look at the doorknob, and then the door. Then you knocked at the door, but there was no answer, You tried again, but nothing, "Hey, Satoru I'm home you should probably eat something" Your voice wasn't loud but you made sure that he could have heard it. "Still no answer?" You moved your hand to the doorknob, then you turned it. "I'm going to check on him, just in case." slowly the creak opened, showing a dim room, with the only light being the Nano-Interface headset.

"I guess I was right." Pride was the word you were probably thinking right about now. You know our brother so well that you can tell when he's on the game or not, but you should stop thinking about it and just tell him he needs to eat something. He probably didn't eat at all while you were at work. You moved closer to him, making sure he could hear your footsteps and the creaking of the floor. Getting closer and closer to him, and can see that he mumbling about something, again. When you finally make it to him, you shack his shoulders."Hey Satoru, I'm back from work, have you eaten anything?" You waited for an answer, but Satoru didn't answer your question probably because he couldn't hear you.

You shook him with more force, but still, nothing. Most of the time, he probably heard you before you even entered his room, but right now, he was acting like he was brain-dead. "This isn't funny Satoru, we both know I can't pay for your cremation. Come on just get up." Nothing, there wasn't even an answer to the harsh but truthful joke you made. You moved your eyes to his body, up and down making sure nothing was wrong, and you found nothing different, it was exactly the same as the last time got on the Neural Nano-Interface. You started to wonder, what is happening? Is something wrong happening to him or you be thinking too much about it?

While you didn't know that a wire was sparking, the broken wire was poking out of the Neural Nano-Interface, the sparking was going in sound, and danger.

"Come on, Satoru." You turn your head to the clock, it is past noon, and he not even moving. "Wake up!" You were getting worried, you moved your hand to his chest, to check if he was breathing. Luckily he was, but not for long.

The sparking of the wires was going more and more out of control, and even if you didn't notice it, it was still growing in danger. You were too clouded in yours about Satoru to even notice the small growing flames.

"Should you pull the Neural Nano-Interface headset off?" that was your idea, you move your hands closer to the headset, and Neural Port, ready to pull it out of him but then a whiff of smoke that comes out of nowhere, you turn your head to see what is happening. You saw growing flames engulf the floor, and bits of the walls before you didn't notice, but now you notice everything, worrier set in, you need to get Satoru and you out of here, or both of you will die.

You grab the headset as fast as you can when you grab it, you can feel the heat coming off it but you don't care, then with your other hand you grab the Neural Port wire.

You were so close, but you weren't fast enough, a sound appeared under your feet, and you looked to see a newly found broken wire, and before you were able to think an explosion of fire engulfed the room, blindly you with the scorching flames of light, the shock wave of the flames push you off, and into the right side wall, you at your hands,

your hands were covered in Flames surrounded you, the pain too severe for your body to handle. You could feel the rising heat as it overwhelmed you, and you could no longer see Satoru—the smoke was suffocating him from view. The heat was shutting down your thoughts, and you took deep breaths, desperately trying to calm yourself, but it wasn't working. Your hands were numb from the searing heat, burning your flesh. The world around you was slowly fading to darkness, and every time you blinked, your eyes grew heavier. Your body's shutdown wasn't helping the situation at all.

"I need to get up," you tried to command your body, but it refused to move.

"Come on…" Your thoughts were growing weaker with each passing moment. The flames were getting closer, but the fear was gone now, your mind too clouded to even consider it.

You closed your eyes in resignation, ready to die.

"I still need to go to work tomorrow." That was the last thought that crossed your mind.