Prologue-The world of the future

In a far future, there exists a city called Neocropoplis.

The date is October 31st in the year 2666.

The bright neon signs light up the pitch black sky, covered by an impenetrable smog so thick that it made seeing the skyline impossible. The towering black buildings have been haphazardly built in such a way, that they sometimes intersect and overlap each other. The streets were similarly constructed to be annoyingly convoluted and complex. The roads often lead to dead ends or even into totally unknown areas that aren’t on any map. As such the lower cityscape was often empty and abandoned in favor of the upper levels of the city that were much more traversable and the Skycab system, which used flying vehicles to transport customers directly to their destinations. The ‘upper side’ of the city, as it was called, was home to many corporate offices and more elegant shops as well as high-end apartment complexes. The lower side of the city, ‘downstate’, was a more rough part of town. The lower level was a slum like area filled with stalls selling indiscriminate and slightly dubious wares and was filled with less than accommodating vermin infested apartments, motels, and bars of various sizes. However today the streets were filled with crowds of people from across the city and beyond, parading across the fog filled labyrinth of a city. Today the city was holding a celebration of an ancient tradition, Halloween.

“Candy flavored corn for sale!”

“Get your bioengineered caramel filled apples here!”

“Need a costume? Come on in for a holo-outfit watch, with a design programmed just for you!”

The streets were filled with dozens of stalls, each selling unique wares created specifically for the holiday, holographic marketing for all kinds of merchandise, and a variety of people wearing costumes and even cyborgs wearing holographic outfits streamed directly from the data chips in their cybernetic robotic enhanced prosthetics. On this celebration filled night, a certain couple had broken off from the crowd and slipped into an empty alleyway to rest after a day of walking.

“Damn, the streets sure are packed tonight. Can’t believe we had to wait over an hour just to buy some snacks.”

The man took out the fried chicken he had just bought and took a big bite.

“Mmm…! Finger licking good!”

“Seriously? That reference is ancient.”

The young woman stared at the man with a deadpan expression, but after seeing the delighted look on his face, sighed and took out her own chicken drumstick.

“(‘Munch’ ‘crunch’)mmm…this does taste pretty good.”

The chicken drumsticks in question were massive, about the size of a fist, and were genetically modified to ‘Taste more like chicken than actual chicken’ so the man wasn’t exactly exaggerating.

Suddenly the fog around the couple gets thicker.

“Hey what just happened?! I can’t see anything or hear anyone in the crowd!”

The man looks around but can’t even see anything through the thick fog that surrounds them. As he starts to move he sees a ominous shadow coming towards him.

“Excuse me! Can you tell us what’s going on?!”

“ Do you think I’m pretty?”

“Huh?”

That confused exclamation was the last word the man ever uttered before he was torn in half and his organs splashed all over the ground.

“Eeeeek!”

The woman tried to run but couldn’t move her legs due to her fear. She could hear a sound coming closer and closer.

‘Ka-check’ ‘ka-check’

“No sto-!”

The last thing the woman saw as she was ripped apart was the sight of a pair of gigantic scissors.

The next day the unidentifiable bodies of two unnamed characters were found.