Reconstruct || Open
Neo sat against the wall at the crossroads in the middle of the street, staring upward. It was dawn, and pale, fake light gradually replaced the starry, real sky. Moe and Tsukiko had been dead for a few hours now, and Neo didnât know what to think anymore than they did previously. One thing was for sure, though: they hadnât even tried to sleep, for they knew that they would fail. While they could plug into their recharger and forcibly power down, it wouldnât be a comfortable sleep, and they didnât want to imagine the nightmares.
Instead, they had been thinking, about what Moe had said to them before she had died.Â
Itâs okay, I think. To⌠want people to know you? And⌠being nervous about it⌠and stuff. But⌠you just told me, right⌠Kitaki-kun..?  So⌠I know you.
Did Neo even know Neo anymore? Was there ever a Neo at all? Were they Neo, or were they Shinno Kitaki? It was hard to tell. They had been hiding behind âNeoâ for so long...
So maybe it was time to stop hiding. Who knew how long they would continue to live? Death was so close in Apollo Luna, and life was cheap. If they died here...
Grandpa and grandma... Ken and Itsuka Kitaki had built Neo with their own hands so that they could have a child, and they named that child Shinno, ć°äš, Shinno with the character for new. New life, a new experience, a new human being created with love and care. It was why they had chosen the pseudonym Neo, for it also meant new, but it... it just wasnât the same. It covered their name with something else, their name chosen so deliberately, their name which carried the history of the Kitaki family.
With new resolve in their mechanical heart they decided that from now on they would be Shinno Kitaki and they would be proud of it. They stood slowly, and as they did so they registered that someone was nearby.
âAh, hey,â they said, âCan- can I talk to you?â
