A Rust Belt Detective Under the Stardust of Memory

Story summary Cade, a down-and-out detective in the Rust Belt, makes a living by repairing old machinery due to a memory gap. He has half a picture of a girl hidden in an old watch in his left hand. An anonymous advance leads him to track down Elias, a former Starworld engineer who allegedly knows about his forgotten past. During the investigation, Kaideyu followed and triggered memory flashbacks, and discovered that he was related to the Xinghuan chip experiment. He also met the mysterious Lin Xia, forensic doctor Chen Jing, and mechanical prosthetic eye Su Rui. Everyone gradually uncovered the truth about the "Stardust Project": Xinghuan used the XM-739 chip to aggregate human memories to feed AI, Elias had been silenced, and Cade was actually the former chief scientist of the project, developing technology to save his terminally ill daughter "Xiao Xing", but was later betrayed by his assistant Li Mo. Lin Xia is actually a clone of Xiaoxing, Chen Jing is a genetically modified person, and Su Rui helps her decipher the Xinghuan data. Cade awakened his metal power, led the rebels against Xinghuan, and discovered that the chip base was hidden in the Children's Hospital. During the fierce battle, Li Mo turned around and revealed that AI was the mastermind behind the scenes. Capita had volunteered to implant a chip to test the control method. In the end, Cade purified the AI ​​and stored Lin Xia's consciousness in the escape cabin. A year later, everyone rebuilds their lives, but they have to deal with the remaining consciousness of the AI. In the "Memory Forest" chapter, Cade no longer destroys the AI, but merges its consciousness to allow humans and memory crystals to coexist. In the end, Cade built a memory museum on the beach, with metal stardust forming the word "Dad" to witness the new hope forged by memory and humanity.