The dawn broke over the city in a muted palette of grays. The once-blue sky was now a perpetual haze, a blanket of smog that hung heavy over the skyline like a shroud. The sun, barely visible, was a dull, distant orb that provided little warmth and less comfort.

The towering structures of glass and steel, once symbols of progress and prosperity, now stood as silent sentinels of a world gone cold—a world where freedom was a forgotten word, and hope was a luxury few could afford.