A slow silence settled over the apartment.
The city beyond the window glowed with its usual artificial light, thousands of towers shining like stars trapped behind glass.
Ironhand finally crushed his cigarette into the ashtray.
"Then show me something."
Elizabeth shook her head.
"Not yet."
Ironhand gave her an unimpressed look.
"You expect me to gamble my life on a conversation?"
"No," Elizabeth replied. "I expect you to listen."
She placed the data shard on the table but kept one finger resting on it.
"For the last eight months, I've been tracking Faith Industries' logistics network."
Ironhand raised an eyebrow.
"Eight months?"
"I started with their subsidiaries. Shipping records. Warehouse inventories. Procurement contracts. Nothing exciting at first."
She leaned forward slightly.
"Then I noticed a pattern."
Ironhand remained silent.
"Faith's shipments weren't matching their production reports."
"Explain."
"They've been importing massive quantities of chemical compounds through shell companies."
"Chemical compounds aren't unusual."
"I know."
"Then what's the problem?"
Elizabeth tapped the data shard.
"The compounds themselves."
Ironhand frowned.
"What about them?"
"They don't belong."
That got his attention.
Elizabeth continued.
"Faith Industries is one of the largest producers of Heaven Fragments in the city. Their supply chains are heavily monitored. Every chemical they import should have a purpose."
She paused.
"These don't."
Ironhand's expression sharpened.
"They aren't used in Heaven Fragment production?"
"No."
"Maintenance?"
"No."
"Industrial processing?"
"No."
Elizabeth slowly shook her head.
"Most of them are practically random."
The room grew quieter.
"Random chemicals?" Ironhand asked.
"Different origins. Different applications. Different industries."
She opened a file on the shard.
"Some are used in agricultural production. Others belong to pharmaceutical manufacturing. A few appear in construction materials."
Ironhand looked at the projected data.
No connection.
No visible pattern.
Exactly the kind of thing that bothered him.
"How much are we talking about?"
Elizabeth answered immediately.
"Enough to hide."
His eyes narrowed.
"Meaning?"
"Meaning someone wanted these shipments to look ordinary."
Ironhand leaned back.
"A cover."
"Possibly."
"Or?"
Elizabeth stared at the floating records.
"Or they're working on something entirely new."
The words lingered.
Neither of them spoke for several seconds.
Finally, Ironhand broke the silence.
"You think Faith is developing something."
"I think they're spending an enormous amount of money on materials that shouldn't exist inside their logistics network."
"And nobody noticed."
"They buried the shipments beneath thousands of legitimate transactions."
Ironhand looked through the records again.
It was clever.
Maybe too clever.
"What if you're wrong?" he asked.
Elizabeth's eyes met his.
"Then they're conducting the most expensive accounting mistake in corporate history."
A faint smile appeared on Ironhand's face despite himself.
It vanished quickly.
"So what exactly do you need from me?"
Elizabeth took a deep breath.
"If I can get inside Faith Industries, I can find out where these shipments are going."
Ironhand immediately shook his head.
"No."
She frowned.
"No?"
"Breaking into Faith Industries isn't difficult."
Elizabeth blinked.
"It isn't?"
"Getting out is."
Silence.
Ironhand stood and walked toward the window.
"Faith owns security firms, surveillance networks, private investigators, data analysts, politicians, judges..."
He glanced back at her.
"You don't sneak into a company like that."
"Then what do we do?"
Ironhand crossed his arms.
"That's what I'm trying to figure out."
Elizabeth stood as well.
"I thought you'd understand already."
"Understand what?"
She looked directly at him.
"Why I came to you."
Ironhand frowned.
Elizabeth continued.
"You're a detective."
"That's not news."
"Not just a detective."
Her voice became firmer.
"You're a legend."
Ironhand visibly disliked the word.
Elizabeth ignored it.
"A corporation like Faith can't be approached head-on. I know that."
"Good."
"But every corporation depends on people."
Ironhand remained silent.
"Executives. Managers. Contractors. Brokers. Security chiefs. Engineers."
She stepped closer.
"People make mistakes."
His eyes narrowed.
"And?"
"And nobody knows how to find those people better than you."
The room fell silent again.
Elizabeth pointed toward him.
"You've spent years digging through Connection City's secrets."
Her voice lowered.
"You know criminals."
A second finger joined the first.
"You know informants."
A third.
"You know people who owe you favors."
Ironhand didn't respond.
"You know people who owe favors to people who owe you favors."
That almost earned a smile.
Almost.
Elizabeth folded her arms.
"I don't need you to break into Faith Industries."
"Then what do you need?"
"I need the right door."
Ironhand stared at her.
"The right person."
The city lights reflected in the apartment window behind him.
Elizabeth's expression never wavered.
"I believe you know people who can get us closer to Faith than anyone else in Connection City."
For the first time since she had arrived, Ironhand looked genuinely thoughtful.
Not skeptical.
Not dismissive.
Thoughtful.
A long silence followed her words.
Ironhand turned away from the window and walked back toward the table.
"You realize what you're asking."
"I do."
"No." He shook his head. "You think you do."
Elizabeth folded her arms.
"Then explain it."
Ironhand leaned against the table.
"This isn't a burglary."
His voice remained calm.
"It isn't some corporate break-in either. Faith Industries is a fortress."
He gestured toward the city outside.
"They control private security networks, surveillance contractors, internal intelligence divisions. Their headquarters was designed to withstand attacks from corporations far larger than themselves."
Elizabeth listened quietly.
"And after William Lockwork's death," Ironhand continued, "they increased security across the entire company."
"How much?"
"Enough."
His expression darkened.
"Officially it was called restructuring. Unofficially, they turned the headquarters into a castle."
Elizabeth frowned.
"So brute force is impossible."
"It was impossible before."
Silence settled briefly.
Then Ironhand continued.
"If we're getting inside, we'll need people."
"What kind of people?"
"The best kind."
He raised a finger.
"Someone who specializes in infiltration."
Elizabeth nodded.
Not a criminal.
Not a thief.
Someone capable of walking through restricted areas as if they belonged there.
Someone who could disappear into a crowd and reappear behind locked doors.
Ironhand raised a second finger.
"We'll also need someone capable of dealing with their security systems."
"A hacker."
"The best hacker."
Another moment passed.
Then Ironhand spoke again.
"And timing."
Elizabeth's eyes narrowed.
"The Winter Gala."
Ironhand stopped.
A faint smile appeared on Elizabeth's face.
"You were about to say that."
For the first time that evening, Ironhand looked slightly surprised.
"You already considered it."
"Of course I did."
Elizabeth leaned back in her chair.
"Faith invites half the city's elite into their headquarters every winter. Executives. Investors. Politicians. Media representatives."
She shrugged.
"If I were looking for the one night their security priorities changed, that's where I'd start."
Ironhand studied her for a moment.
"Good."
"The gala creates noise," Elizabeth continued. "More guests. More staff. More deliveries. More movement."
"And more opportunities."
Ironhand nodded.
"Exactly."
He walked back toward the window.
"Faith treats the Winter Gala as a show of power."
The city lights reflected across the glass.
"A reminder that they sit above everyone else."
Elizabeth crossed her arms.
"Which means it's the one night they have to open the gates."
"Not completely."
"No."
"But enough."
The room fell silent again.
For the first time, they weren't discussing theories.
They were discussing a plan.
A dangerous one.
Ironhand finally broke the silence.
"So."
Elizabeth looked at him.
"We need an infiltrator."
"The best one we can find."
"A systems specialist."
"The best."
Ironhand's gaze drifted toward the glowing city beyond the apartment window.
"And eventually..."
His voice became quieter.
"We'll need someone inside Faith Industries."
Neither of them spoke.
Because finding the right people would be difficult.
Finding the best people in Connection City would be even harder.