The Rust Age

In the suffocating future of 2230, memories are currency, and the right to breathe must be bought with credit points.

Memory miner Lin Mo infiltrates other people's dreams to steal precious memories and keep his younger sister Xiaoya alive, but accidentally downloads encrypted data foretelling Earth's destruction. While fleeing, he meets Lida Na, an anti-technology fighter and zookeeper whose right arm is being consumed by a genetic virus after she resisted neural modification, and Ba Bayang, a retired mecha warrior and island guardian burdened by hatred and radiation poisoning. The three join forces with Xieyang, a damaged robot repaired by Lin Mo, forming an alliance to survive as they struggle under the crushing rule of the CPC and the multinational corporation NI.

When Lin Mo discovers that his sister's illness stems from experiments conducted by the corporate giants, when a rose blooms from Lida Na's severed arm, and when Ba Bayang's mecha sinks into the depths to protect the last of the oxygen, they launch a breathing revolution at the cost of their own flesh and blood. Lin Mo transforms the truth about humanity into a data snow that purges the neural network, sealing his memories in Xieyang's chip as his life fades. Lida Na severs her infected arm, and new life blossoms as a rose from her wound. Ba Bayang builds a tombstone from his steel body, raising up humanity's last spark.

This novel and its characters are entirely fictional. Any resemblance is purely coincidental. Do not imitate.