The light was so bright that everything went white for a moment.
Then—
Bang.
The walls of the core server began to crack. Thousands of capsules had shattered. Streams of digital memories floated through the air, spreading across the city's network.
New Tokyo… was awakening.
Storm in the City
Above, the screens of the skyscrapers suddenly changed.
Where there had once been advertisements—
now there was reality.
Secret experiments of Memoria.
Erased memories.
False trials.
Fake history.
People stopped in the streets.
Some began to cry.
Some began to scream.
Some sat down, clutching their heads—as memories of years past suddenly returned.
For the first time in New Tokyo… there was awareness, not silence.
Inside the Core
Director K. Rao stepped back.
"You don't understand," his voice trembled, "people won't be able to bear the truth."
Ishani said sharply, "Let them decide for themselves."
Rao pressed the last button.
Emergency Purge Protocol – Initiated
The entire core was about to self-destruct.
Aarav stood up despite his injured shoulder.
"He will wipe out everything—servers, data, evidence... and us too."
The countdown began again.
60 seconds.
The final race
"Back tunnel!" Ishani yelled.
Both ran.
Sparks were falling from above.
The walls were crumbling.
Rao stood there—a strange calm in his eyes.
"Controlling history is civilization..." he muttered.
50 seconds.
Aarav stumbled as they reached the tunnel.
Ishani steadied him.
"Be brave!"
40 seconds.
The sound of explosions echoed behind them.
One last turn
A heavy steel gate had fallen in the middle of the tunnel.
The path was closed.
30 seconds.
Aarav looked around.
"Overload mode..." he whispered.
He aimed his memory gun at the gate's locking system.
"This is the last shot."
Ishani held his hand.
"We're together."
20 seconds.
Fire.
A blue wave penetrated the gate's system.
Sparks... Smoke...
The gate slowly opened.
10 seconds.
Both jumped out.
Explosion
And then—
The earth shook.
The memory bank's core collapsed from within.
A massive explosion devastated the underground.
Half the lights in New Tokyo went out.
But this time—the darkness wasn't scary.
It was like freedom.
A new morning
A few hours later—
The sun was rising.
For the first time in years, there were fewer drones in the New Tokyo skyline.
People were talking to each other on the streets.
Some were angry.
Some were confused.
But now they were awake.
Crowds had gathered at government buildings.
Director Rao was nowhere to be seen.
A quiet moment
On a low-level rooftop—
Aarav was sitting. His shoulder was bandaged.
Ishani came up to him.
"Are you okay?"
He smiled.
"Maybe for the first time."
They were silent for a moment.
"What if everything changed again tomorrow?" Aarav asked.
Ishani took his hand.
"Memories may fade.
But truth... and love...
come back again and again."
Aarav looked into her eyes.
This time there was no pain.
No confusion.
Only recognition.
The Last Scene
Far away, amid the rubble of the city—
A broken screen flickered.
A file was still intact on it:
Project Rebirth – Backup Node Active
And below—
A new name shone.
Subject: Unknown
New Tokyo's story wasn't over.
But now—
They had the people's memories.
And perhaps that was the real victory.
The End