KNOX

In the year 2076, when Earth was scarred by the war between humans and AIs, a loner named Knox lived in the shadows of civilisation. He was no ordinary Strider - a painful past burned within him, making him what he was today. With deep red hair and fierce determination, Knox was known as one of the most resilient survivors in the post-apocalyptic ruins. His body was riddled with cyber implants, relics of war that told his story - not just a story of survival, but of loss and revenge. But behind the facade of toughness and efficiency laid something deeper: a man who held on to his own humanity, even if it was disappearing a little more every day. Every look in the mirror reminded him of what he had lost. And even more of what he could no longer get back.

Knox was once part of a special unit tasked by the last remaining human governments to carry out secret missions against the rebellious AI factions. In the final days of the war, his entire team was wiped out during an attack by the machines. Knox survived badly injured, but was captured by the enemy. During his captivity, his body became a testing ground for the AIs - they implanted him technologies that enhanced his strength but also weakened his mind. Each new change caused him to lose another piece of his identity. And although he became stronger, he felt weaker than ever, as if his soul was lost in an impenetrable fog.

Kai, his genetically modified hedgehog, was his loyal companion in this isolation. Sharp and agile, a leOover from old scientific experiments, Kai was not just a companion, but a symbol of the will to survive that they both shared.

Knox escaped by finding a security loophole that the machines had overlooked. It wasn't a heroic escape, but an escape in the shadows that led him through deserted ruins. Weakened and with implants more of a burden than a strength, he fought his way through the hopeless world with Kai. He was free, but not saved. They gave him the gift of survival, but took away his ability to feel human. He knew he was no longer the same - like a shadow of his old self, a shell wandering aimlessly through a broken world. His life, his memories and his friends were lost - and he knew he had nothing but the coldness of the machines that now pulsed through his body. Sometimes, in the rare moments of silence, he wondered if there was any part of him that was still human. But despite the darkness that enveloped his soul, there was something that kept him going. A whisper that haunted him in the ruined cities: the name Koya.

Through rumours and stories he heard among the Striders, Knox heard about a young girl who was desperately searching for her brother. Her determination and will to survive reminded him of himself. But as he learned more about her, he realised that their paths had crossed in an unexpected way - Koya's brother was none other than Knox. The boy Koya had been searching for years was no longer the boy she knew. The implants and the war had changed Knox, and he knew that if he revealed himself to Koya, she wouldn't recognise him as the one she so desperately wanted. Knox knew he didn't want to disappoint Koya - not again. But what could he offer her other than the truth, which would only hurt her more deeply? These thoughts consumed him in every quiet hour as he baMled with the inner darkness that wanted to overcome him. Finally, he decided to watch her from afar and protect her from the dangers of the dystopian world. Maybe that was for the best. For her, for him. That way she never had to find out that the man she was looking for had long been gone.

Knox's goal was clear: to protect Koya, even if she would never know who he really was. And so he conAnued his journey in the ruins of humanity. In a world that wanted to force him to discard everything human, Knox held on to the last bit he could save - the desire to be there for Koya, even if it was from afar.