«Neon Hearts» is a thrilling cyberpunk novel set in a futuristic European metropolis in 2068—2089, where neon lights outshine the stars and cybernetic implants have become commonplace.
Anna Buyanova is a talented neuro-programming engineer from the lower levels of the city, striving to make her way into the upper echelons of the corporate elite. Along with her friends, Nova de Carte and Dash, she struggles to find her place in a ruthless world of high technology and deep social inequality.
Two decades later, Anna heads Europe’s largest synthetic organ factory. Despite her dizzying success, her personal life remains empty. An unexpected encounter with the charismatic master teamster Alex turns Anna’s world upside down, forcing her to reassess her priorities in a reality where human emotions are increasingly replaced by digital simulations.
Against a backdrop of majestic skyscrapers, pervasive clouds, autonomous transport systems and ubiquitous artificial intelligence, a story unfolds that proves that even in an ultra-technological future, genuine feelings, friendship and humanity remain priceless.
«Neon Hearts» is not just science fiction, but an in-depth exploration of human nature in an age where the line between man and machine is becoming increasingly blurred. This novel will make you worry, ponder and wonder: what does it mean to be human in a world where technology can fulfil every whim, but cannot give true happiness?
Immerse yourself in the world of «Neon Hearts», where real human hearts beat under a layer of glass and neon, and love can overcome even the most advanced algorithms of fate.
In the heart of Europe, where once stood an ancient city, now stood a colossus of technological progress – the Gigapolis of 2068, the embodiment of the most daring fantasies of cyberpunk. This giant, stretching to the horizon, lived, breathed and pulsed like a single organism made of glass, metal and neon.
The morning was gloomy and heavy. The sky, covered with a dense blanket of leaden clouds, hung over the city like a giant lid, ready to pour cold drops of rain at any moment. The air was so saturated with moisture that it seemed as if you could touch it with your hands. This humidity created a strange contrast to the warmth of a summer day, which, despite the overcast, broke through the cloud cover, enveloping the city in a sweltering haze.
The infrastructure of the metropolis was amazing in its incredible complexity and scale. Multilevel road junctions, like giant tentacles of some fantastic creature, braided the city, connecting not only different districts and neighbourhoods, but also the levels of this vertical world. The buildings pointing to the sky seemed to have no end – their tops were lost in the low clouds, creating the illusion of infinity. The facades of the skyscrapers were covered with glittering screens that continuously broadcast adverts, news and messages, turning each building into a living, ever-changing organism.
The majestic river, once the natural boundary of the old city, was now subdued and turned into an integral part of the urban landscape. Dozens of bridges have been built across its wide waters, from graceful pedestrian structures that resemble works of art to massive multi-lane highways that can withstand an endless flow of thousands of vehicles. Cyberboats and small vessels passed beneath these bridges with a subtle hum, their sophisticated sensor systems constantly communicating with the city’s navigation network to avoid the slightest possibility of collision.
Despite the triumph of technology, nature found ways to exist in this man-made world. Flocks of birds, adapted to the new conditions, circled between skyscrapers, nesting in the most unexpected places – in gaps between building panels, on screen protrusions, in abandoned drones. Their singing, which had changed strangely over the decades, now blended harmoniously into the symphony of the city’s noise, creating a marvellous acoustic landscape.
The city stretched in all directions to the horizon, where the silhouettes of buildings merged with the sky line into an indistinguishable haze. Every block, every neighbourhood lived its own special, unique life. In the glittering chrome and glass business centre, people in strict suits with implanted neural interfaces were scurrying about, hurrying to work for huge technological corporations. In the industrial zones, shrouded in multi-coloured smoke, factories producing cybernetic technologies ranging from microscopic nanorobots to giant exoskeletons were in operation. In the dormitory districts, apartment complexes were slowly waking up – huge towers that could house entire cities of the past were preparing to release their inhabitants into a new day full of possibilities.
The transport system of the metropolis worked like an incredibly complex, but perfectly fine-tuned mechanism. Autonomous taxis, like drops of mercury, glided silently through the streets, picking up and dropping off passengers. Their surface constantly changed colour and texture, adapting to the environment and the mood of the passenger. Public transport was a true marvel of engineering – massive electric buses on a cushion of air and high-speed trains on magnetic levitation, capable of speeds of up to 400 kilometres per hour, transported millions of people, connecting the most remote corners of this huge metropolis.
