The dingy diner smelled of burnt coffee and fried onions. Flies buzzed lazily under the flickering neon sign overhead.
Elias stepped inside, scanning the booths. His new perception skill helped — in seconds, he picked out his target.
Detective Leonard Briggs.
Once a rising star in the city's police force, now a shadow of his former self. Mid-40s, stocky build, dark mahogany skin creased by stress and anger, thinning salt-and-pepper hair, a battered leather jacket that looked as tired as he did.
He hunched over a plate of untouched pancakes, nursing a chipped mug of black coffee.
Flaws: Short-tempered, deeply cynical, prone to heavy drinking.
Strengths: Unmatched instinct for sniffing out lies, a sharp shot, and knowledge of the city's rotten underbelly.
Elias slid into the booth across from him without asking.
Briggs raised a brow. "You lost, kid?"
"No," Elias said calmly. "But you are. And I can help you find your way back."
Briggs chuckled darkly. "Listen, hero, if you're here selling me redemption, shove it."
Elias leaned forward. "Not redemption. Revenge."
The word hung between them.
Briggs's hand tightened around his coffee mug.
"Go on," he said, voice low.
---
Elias laid it out fast:
Proof that Kane's syndicate was responsible for framing Briggs.
Access to resources.
A shot — a real one — at burning Kane's empire to the ground.
"And what's your cut, kid?" Briggs asked, squinting suspiciously.
"I get my own justice," Elias said, voice steady. "We're both owed something."
For a long moment, Briggs said nothing. The clock on the wall ticked away the seconds.
Then Briggs sighed, shoulders sagging like a man finally setting down a weight he'd carried too long.
"Alright," he muttered. "But you screw me over, I'll put you six feet under myself."
Elias cracked a rare smile. "Fair enough."
They shook hands across the sticky diner table — an alliance forged not out of trust, but out of mutual hatred for a world that chewed up good people and spat them out.
---
---
Meanwhile...
Back at the safehouse, Sophia was practicing first aid drills on Callum ("Seriously, Sophia, I'm fine!")
and Glitch was setting up a network of burner phones.
Life wasn't slowing down — it was accelerating.
And Elias, for the first time, had the beginnings of an army.
---