Kael never left the planet. He became something stranger: a real planner. His hands healed crooked, but his sight grew clear. He learned that a neon plan is just a promise until someone plugs it in.
"I want you to design a future for this whole rotting city," she said. "Not an escape. A transformation." neon plans
But Vex had a rival. A man named Dorn, who ran the real economy—the black-market credit streams, the water tariffs, the bribe routes. Dorn sent enforcers. They broke Kael’s fingers, one by one. "Neon is for signs," Dorn whispered, "not for cities." Kael never left the planet