First Night -2024- Neonx Original Access

At 2:17 AM, Maya said, “I haven’t told anyone about that speech. Not even my therapist.” Leo replied, “I haven’t told anyone about that crying night. Not even my mom.”

And every New Year’s Eve, they toast not to the memories they captured, but to the ones they were brave enough to live.

Maya looked at Leo and saw her 16-year-old self tripping during a school speech, face red, crowd laughing. Leo looked at Maya and saw himself crying alone in a dark apartment after his last movie flopped, scrolling through hate comments.

Leo smiled—a real, crooked, unphotogenic smile. “Me too.” First Night -2024- NeonX Original

Both gasped. They tore off the glasses.

Maya, a 28-year-old documentary photographer who had lost her sense of wonder after years of scrolling, won a pair in a contest. Leo, a 32-year-old former child star turned recluse, bought a pair to combat his loneliness with "curated memories."

At 3:00 AM, without any device recording, without any filter, Leo gently touched Maya’s hand. She didn’t pull away. At 2:17 AM, Maya said, “I haven’t told

They met on a dating app’s "First Night 2024" event—a global synchronised date where everyone was supposed to record their perfect New Year's kiss through their NeonX lenses.

They didn’t kiss at midnight. Instead, they talked. For three hours. About failure. About how every "perfect" moment on social media is a lie. About how the NeonX glasses were supposed to save memories, but were actually killing the ability to make them.

The story spread on social media (ironically) as the . NeonX stock dipped, then rebounded when they added a “raw mode” feature. Maya looked at Leo and saw her 16-year-old

Without the glasses, the room felt naked. The city lights outside were just lights—not Instagram stories. The music was just noise—not a soundtrack.

At 11:45 PM, as champagne flutes clinked and the countdown began, a software update pushed through. Instead of recording, the glasses began projecting —showing each wearer their own most embarrassing, un-curated memory directly onto their partner’s face.