Kote carried the weight of a digital death warrant through the rot of Neo-Kowloon, only to find the truth was as hollow as the machine-gods whispering in their skull. They traded a life of running for a final, desperate stand against the abyss of the filtration hub. The gate cycled, the shadow lunged, and the data cache remained, silent and unread, amidst the rusted gears of a city that never cared if they lived or died.