Cormac Ashford is brilliant, brilliant enough to design systems the world applauds—except his own body. Born with an F-class neurological profile, he’s barred from the NeuralNet era: no implants, no mainstream holo-immersion, no social parity. When a controversial prototype headset quietly designed to accommodate F-class minds slips into his hands, Cormac logs into Aether, a dazzling new holo-exploration MMO, for the first time—and everything moves in color. Inside Aether he’s Momo: awkward, startlingly precise, and the accidental finder of a unique companion—a rare pet that makes him visible to a chasing world. Offline, Gavin Ross is the unruffled, magnetic leader of a top-tier competitive guild and a surgeon of public image who notices Cormac in a hospital corridor and can’t stop looking. Between raids, corporate backrooms and late-night respawns, Gavin and Cormac learn to navigate difference, expectation, and the small cruelties that become big betrayals. But success attracts predators. Angela Merrow—slick executive at Skyline Dynamics—sees Cormac’s F-compatible headset as leverage to weaponize access or erase it. As guild power struggles spill into real life, Cormac must decide how far he’ll go to claim a place in a world that built itself without him. Fast-paced, intimate, and warm, Aetherbound is a ride through neon cities, fragile bodies, and two people learning to be brave together.