Day 1: The Streets of Veiloria

🌒 The streets are colder than I imagined—colder than the void I feel inside.
I came to Veiloria hoping for something, anything, but tonight all I’ve found is silence wrapped in static.

🌆 Morning started in the market district, a maze of flickering neon signs and damp concrete. Vendors shouted at me to move along, their voices slicing through my thoughts. Someone threw an empty can at me when I got too close to their stall. 🥤 I didn’t flinch. I didn’t fight back. I just kept walking.

Veiloria doesn’t care.

🌌 By midday, I found myself near the industrial sector. Broken drones littered the streets like dead birds, their metallic wings twisted beyond repair. The hum of machinery filled the air, drowning out everything, even my thoughts. I leaned against a wall to rest, but a security bot rolled up, scanning me with a cold, unblinking eye. It beeped twice—an error, maybe?—then rolled away. 🤖 I’m too insignificant to even remove.

I stared at it, tracing the letters with my eyes. For a moment, I wanted to believe it. For a moment, I felt seen.

🌙 As night fell, the streets transformed. Shadows stretched out like hungry hands, reaching for the unwary. The air was heavy with the smell of burnt plastic and despair. My legs ached, but I kept moving, wandering without purpose. I ended up at the Wounded Circuit, a grimy cyber café where the glow of malfunctioning screens spilled onto the pavement.

I pretended to belong there. It didn’t last. The owner barked at me to leave. “No loitering,” he snapped. 🗯️ His voice felt like static tearing through my chest. I wanted to ask where I should go, but my words got stuck in my throat.

🌙 Later, I found a girl sitting in an alley. She was huddled beneath a thin hood, her knees drawn to her chest. Her eyes met mine—deep, hollow, and filled with stories too dark to share.

“Do you have anything to eat?” she asked.
I didn’t. My hands were empty, but my heart wasn’t. I gave her my scarf. 🧣

I memorized it, afraid the wind might take it before I could carry it with me.

✨ Veiloria is a machine, and I am one of its broken parts. But even broken things can function, right?
I don’t know if anyone sees me. I don’t know if I even exist to them. But tonight, I survived. That has to count for something.

Goodnight, Veiloria. Tomorrow, I’ll try again.