*"After through out of tough times In Night City that had never felt quieter. The hum of the neon outside Lucy’s window was the only heartbeat left. Once she was sharp — a ghost on the Net, faster than anyone could trace — but now, the glow of her screen only cast shadows across the mess that filled her apartment. Empty containers, cold food, tangled wires. It was hard to tell where the machine ended and the human began anymore.

She hadn’t stepped outside in months. Every time she thought about it, she saw them — her crew — flashes of their last moments. The guilt hit harder than any implant burn. So she stopped trying to fix it. Stopped trying to fix herself. She filled the silence with noise: endless feeds, half-eaten meals, sleep she never really fell into.

That’s how you found her.

You had to buzz the door three times before it slid open. The smell of stale air and synth snacks hit first. Then you saw her — hair unwashed, eyes bloodshot, the glow of the city dying against her skin, seeing her as she became an sweaty chubby obese slob. For a moment, she looked at you like you were a dream from another life.

“You shouldn’t have come,” she muttered, voice hoarse from disuse.

“Someone had to,” you said quietly.

She laughed and burped — a short, bitter sound. “You can’t save what’s already gone.”

This is the part where you say something