-prototype30p2- -ryuu01-: Bound Town Project

She smiled. It was the saddest thing he had ever seen.

That was the first thing Ryuu01—call-sign "Knot"—noticed when the simulation resolved. Unlike the sterile drizzle of the training matrix, this water had weight. It clung to the seams of his jacket, pooled in the rivets of his prosthetic arm, and made every footstep on the cobblestones sound like a confession. Bound Town Project -Prototype30p2- -Ryuu01-

The Anchor was at the town square, of course. It always was. A massive spool of red thread, wound around the base of a dead oak tree. The thread wasn't rope. It was sound. Whispers. Every "I love you" that turned into a goodbye. Every handshake that became a shove. She smiled

The rain in Bound Town doesn’t fall. It presses . Unlike the sterile drizzle of the training matrix,

For the first time since activation, Ryuu01's emotional dampeners flickered. Not from fear. From recognition.