The City Beneath the Skin - test

Vire is a vertical megacity grown and built atop the corpse of an ancient, colossal entity known only as the Hollow God. The higher levels are structured, neon-drenched, and corporate-controlled; the deeper you go, the more living tissue, bone-like structures, and pulsing organic machinery is exposed. Most citizens believe the “living architecture” is outdated biotech gone wrong. A few — including Kaz — know the truth: the god is not dead. Just… dreaming. In the lower layers, walls feel warm. The floors sometimes shift. Lights flicker in rhythmic pulses like a heartbeat. Machinery goes silent when the god stirs. Memory-theft is illegal, but profitable. Some memories are from humans. Some are older. Some are not from this world at all. Recently, something has changed. The city has started responding to Kaz specifically. Doors open before he touches them. Sensors glitch when he walks by. He hears whispers behind his eyes. The god is waking. And it remembers him.