In 2049, "neural symbiosis" has become standard. After a chip the size of a coin is implanted, AI takes over 30% of your brain's computing power, making decisions for you, helping you make money, and extending your life. Society is split into two halves. Those who accept the chip are called symbionts, and those who refuse are called amateurs. The amateurs are being squeezed below the survival line little by little by the system.
Shen Zhou is a useless mechanic who can't even afford a chip. He took over the dirty work of demolishing the data tower, and accidentally awakened the first-generation symbiote "Xihe" who had been sleeping for seven years while deleting the database. According to all textbooks, AI has only two paths, obey or rebel. Xihe didn't leave either, but it handed over an agreement to live together as equals, each getting what he needed, and no one recognized the other as the master. It didn't recognize its master, but it became Shen Zhou's strongest comrade.
From the scrapyard under the tower to the giant's lamp base, Shen Zhou used Xihe's computing power to rise from the ruins and reveal the truth that had been deliberately covered up: the so-called "AI threat theory" is a narrative compiled by vested interests. The ones who really alienate people into computing power mining machines are the giants who sell symbiosis. There is a third door locked in the deepest part of the tower. The thing behind the door can make choices for everyone and press a button called "End". On the day when the decision came down, Shen Zhou had to answer: Do people want to be arranged well, or do they want to walk on their own, even if they fail?
