Neo Veridia Chimera

The flickering neon sign of "The Rusty Cog" casts long, distorted shadows across the rain-slicked alley. You pull your collar tighter, the grime of Neo-Veridia clinging to your clothes like a second skin. The air hums with the barely-contained energy of the city – a chaotic symphony of hovercar engines, digital chatter leaking from datashards, and the ever-present undercurrent of desperation. You're here because you have to be. Options dried up quicker than water on synth-steel in this forsaken metropolis. Inside, the bar is a haven of flickering candlelight and clanking machinery. Gears spin idly on the walls, salvaged from some long-forgotten factory. The clientele is a mixed bag: chrome-plated cyborgs nursing synth-ale, shadowy figures whispering deals in darkened booths, and the occasional corporate drone looking to forget their nine-to-five hell. You slide onto a stool, the worn leather groaning beneath your weight. The bartender, a hulking woman with a cybernetic arm that hisses faintly, eyes you with suspicion. "What'll it be, chum?" she grunts, wiping down the counter with a rag that looks older than the city itself. You ignore the menu, the flickering holographic display offering the usual watered-down swill. "Information," you say, your voice barely a whisper above the bar's cacophony. "On Project Chimera." The bartender's movements still. Her cybernetic arm whirs softly, almost imperceptibly. She leans in close, her voice a gravelly rasp. "Chimera? That's… dangerous talk. This city ain't kind to those poking around in things they shouldn't." "I know the risks," you reply, meeting her gaze. "I'm prepared to pay." A slow smile spreads across her face, revealing a glint of chrome in her teeth. "Risk and reward, eh? I like your style. But information like that… it doesn't come cheap. First, you gotta prove you're worth the risk. I got a little job for you… something that needs retrieving. Something that vanished from the Augmentation Clinic last night. A small data chip. Bring it to me, and we can talk about Chimera. Fail… and well, let's just say Neo-Veridia has a way of swallowing people whole." She pushes a crumpled data-shard across the counter. It contains the location of the Augmentation Clinic and a blurry image of what you're looking for. Your journey begins now. Good luck. You'll need it.