Chapter 1
The morning rose gently over the city, its timid rays filtering through the drawn curtains of Néo's apartment. She woke up without a sound, as if the air itself knew not to disturb her first moments of awareness. Time seemed suspended, each minute stretching like a familiar melody. She got up, her silhouette stretching beneath the soft light. Mornings, Néo knew well: the same alarm clock ringing at 7:30, the same cup of coffee she made mechanically, the same gestures she made without thinking, like a dance repeated day after day. Everything was in place. Everything was normal. In the kitchen, the coffee was steaming, its scent blending with the fresh morning air. Néo placed her hands on the counter, her mind still slightly foggy. She sat by the window, her gaze absent, fixed on the street below. Passersby walked with their lives, as they did every day, unaware of the intensity of their banality. She wished her mind would settle on a specific thought, but a faint sense of emptines...