Neon Requiem
Neo-Shanghai, 2099. The city never sleeps, never stops, never forgets — because every citizen is jacked into the Lattice, a neural network that records every thought, every sensation, every moment of their lives. When you die, your Lattice memories are compiled into a Requiem, a final greatest-hits reel that your family watches at your funeral. Jin writes Requiems for a living, crafting beautiful final memories for the dead. But when he is assigned to compile the Requiem for a woman he has never met and finds his own face in her memories, he realizes something is terribly wrong. The woman knew him. She loved him. And she died because of something he was supposed to remember but does not. As Jin digs deeper into the dead woman's Lattice memories, he uncovers a conspiracy that reaches to the top of the Lattice Corporation and forces him to question whether his own memories can be trusted at all.
📖 Story Synopsis
Neo-Shanghai, 2099. The city never sleeps, never stops, never forgets — because every citizen is jacked into the Lattice, a neural network that records every thought, every sensation, every moment of their lives. When you die, your Lattice memories are compiled into a Requiem, a final greatest-hits reel that your family watches at your funeral. Jin writes Requiems for a living, crafting beautiful final memories for the dead. But when he is assigned to compile the Requiem for a woman he has never met and finds his own face in her memories, he realizes something is terribly wrong. The woman knew him. She loved him. And she died because of something he was supposed to remember but does not. As Jin digs deeper into the dead woman's Lattice memories, he uncovers a conspiracy that reaches to the top of the Lattice Corporation and forces him to question whether his own memories can be trusted at all.
✎ Editor's Review
Vera Chen's neon-soaked thriller is as stylish as it is thought-provoking. The Requiem concept is genuinely original, and the exploration of memory and identity is handled with more nuance than most cyberpunk. Jin is a quietly compelling protagonist whose grief drives the investigation. The mystery is well-constructed, though the final reveal strains credibility slightly. A visually rich, emotionally resonant read.
