The tunnel ended without warning.
One step...
Concrete.
Rust.
Darkness.
The next...
Light.
Blinding.
Mii flinched immediately.
"Okay... WHY is it always bright after trauma?!"
Elric raised a hand to shield his eyes.
"…Yeah," he muttered, squinting. "…that's aggressive."
The air hit differently here.
Warm.
Charged.
Alive.
Not like the dead tunnels below.
They stepped out into the open...
And the world unfolded.
Neon flooded everything.
Towering buildings stretched endlessly upward, wrapped in shifting holographic skins that changed every few seconds... ads, faces, entire environments sliding over real structures like digital masks.
The streets...
Crowded.
But wrong.
Too smooth.
Too fluid.
People walked past them...
But their faces...
Didn't stay the same.
A man passed by, his features flickering between three different identities in the span of a single breath.
A woman laughed...
Her voice normal...
But her face shifted mid-expression into someone else entirely.
Mii froze.
"…nope."
Pix's eyes lit up instantly.
"…oh this is cool."
Lyra stepped forward, scanning everything.
"…No," she said flatly.
"…this is controlled."
Kaida-9's voice confirmed it.
"…High-density visual manipulation."
Sera added quietly,
"…Identity masking."
Elric lowered his hand slowly.
Taking it all in.
"…So… no one looks like themselves."
Pix grinned.
"…Or everyone looks like whoever they want."
Mii grabbed his sleeve again.
"I don't like that second option."
A massive hologram flickered above them...
A smiling figure...
Perfect.
Too perfect.
"Welcome to Neon Veil."
The voice echoed softly across the district.
Warm.
Inviting.
"Where identity is freedom."
The figure's face shifted...
Different genders.
Different ages.
Different people.
All smiling.
All watching.
Lyra's expression darkened.
"…Or control."
Elric glanced around.
"…Feels like both."
A group passed by them...
Laughing.
Talking.
But their voices...
Didn't match their faces.
Not even close.
Mii leaned closer to Elric.
"…How do you even trust anyone here?"
Pix answered instantly.
"You don't."
Sera nodded faintly.
"…Correct."
Kaida-9 stepped slightly ahead.
"…Visibility compromised."
Lyra added,
"…Which means tracking us just got harder."
Pix tilted her head.
"…Or easier."
Lyra glanced at her.
"…Explain."
Pix gestured around.
"…If everyone's fake," she said,
"…then anything real stands out."
Silence.
Elric blinked.
"…Oh."
Mii looked at him slowly.
"…Wait."
Pix grinned wider.
"…Yeah."
All eyes turned...
Toward Elric.
He froze.
"…Why is it always me."
Before anyone could answer...
A passerby stopped.
Right in front of him.
Their face flickered rapidly...
Too fast to track...
Then...
Stopped.
Locked.
On one face.
A perfect stranger.
They tilted their head.
Studying him.
Too long.
Too focused.
"…Hey," Elric said slowly.
"…can I help you?"
The stranger smiled.
Too smooth.
"You don't belong here."
Mii tensed instantly.
"Okay RUDE..."
The stranger's smile widened.
"Neither do the rest of you."
Lyra stepped forward immediately.
Blocking slightly.
"…Move along."
The stranger didn't move.
Their face flickered again...
Glitching...
For just a split second...
It wasn't a face at all.
Just static.
Then...
Normal again.
"Be careful," they said softly.
A pause.
"Not everything wearing a face is human."
Silence.
Then...
They walked away.
Blending instantly into the crowd.
Gone.
Mii slowly exhaled.
"…I officially hate this place more than the last one."
Pix laughed quietly.
"…No way."
A beat.
"…This place is lying to us."
Sera's voice followed.
"…And we don't know how."
Elric looked out at the shifting crowd.
Faces changing.
Voices mismatching.
Reality bending just enough to feel wrong.
"…Yeah," he said.
"…this is gonna be a problem."
Behind him...
Elen hadn't moved.
Not since they stepped out.
Her eyes...
Fixed on the crowd.
Unblinking.
"…Elen?"
No response.
Just staring.
At something.
Or someone.