The sun dipped below the jagged skyline of Sector 9, casting long, bruised shadows over the metallic streets. While the majority of the 10th and 9th Divisions filtered back to their undercover posts, a smaller tactical unit remained at the Hotel Azure.
Jaxen, say with cipher,at the monitors , after hacking into their security system.
"Anything?" Jaxen grunted, his eyes tracking the cameras of the TƎll Industries .
"Just static and corporate suits," Cipher replied, his fingers a blur over the keyboard. "We haven't seen Baldwin, for the past 2 days.
At the main entrance of TƎll Industries, the atmosphere was clinical and cold. Elias stood tall in his security uniform, his hands clasped behind his back. To any passerby, he was just another face in the machine.
Then, the air changed.
A sleek, black transport glided to the curb. Out stepped a man in a perfectly tailored charcoal suit. He moved with the practiced grace of a king, but as he reached the glass doors, he stopped. He wasn't wearing his porcelain mask now—this was the public face of Baldwin—but the man beneath the skin was screaming.
Baldwin's eyes locked onto Elias. For the first time in his life, Baldwin felt a spike of pure, unadulterated fear.
His heart hammered against his ribs like a trapped bird. He didn't know why, but every instinct in his body told him that the young man standing before him was a predator.
He fumbled his stride, his composure slipping. "You... you're new here, aren't you?" Baldwin managed to ask, his voice tighter than a bowstring.
Elias inclined his head slightly, his silver eyes steady and calm. "Yes, sir. It's nice to meet you."
"Yes it's nice". Baldwin replied
Baldwin didn't wait for another word. He hurried past, his footsteps echoing too loudly in the marble lobby. He practically ran toward the private elevator.
"His back," room whispered into the hidden comms, his voice crackling in the ears of the team.
"Target has arrived".
Inside his penthouse office, Baldwin leaned against the mahogany desk, his chest heaving. "Damn it... what is he doing here? Could it be Gold? No, impossible. I just left his place.
I was careful." He wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead. "I'll have to kill him. I can't have variables like that in my lobby."
He activated an encrypted line. "Valkhyre... he's here. Elias. I don't know how, but he's here."
Valkhyre's voice came through, cold and metallic. "Damn. How? No matter. I'll send you three Captains of the Zethrians. They should be more than enough to handle the problem. Do not fail , Baldwin."
While Baldwin spiraled in his office, Lyra was playing her part as a high-level corporate attendant on the 45th floor. She moved with elegance, carrying a tray of data-pads, when she caught a snippet of a conversation between two executives.
"...the Silver Mask was seen again"
," one man whispered.
Lyra turned toward him, flashing a smile that could melt lead. "The Silver Mask? He's like a vigilante,
I've never heard of him".
The executive, completely caught off guard by her beauty, leaned in close. "He's no vigilante, sweetheart. He kills people—says it's 'justice,' but the word on the street is he's been making deals with things that aren't human. Aliens."
"Where did you hear such a thing?" Lyra asked, her eyes widening in mock surprise.
"A bar it's not far from here, it's called the bar , it's full of people who know too much for their own good. If you value your life, stay away from it."
After a long day of data-gathering, the two divisions gathered in Elias's room. The space was cramped, the air thick with the smell of high-grade coolant and tension.
"Why is everyone in my room?" Elias asked, sitting on the edge of the bed as Lyra recounted her discovery.
"Because you have the best snacks," Vela chirped, already digging into a bag of chips.And because we're going to that bar. I'm going!"
Renji smirked, leaning against the doorframe. "For the mission, right? Not just for the drinks?"
"Yeah, of course!" Vela replied, though she was already looking for her combat boots.
They decided to split. While the girls headed to Sector 5, Elias headed to the hotel's private gym. He found Jaxen and Renji there, the sounds of clanking iron and heavy breathing filling the room.
"You're thinking about him, aren't you?" Renji asked, tossing a towel over his shoulder as Elias approached the rack. "Baldwin ? " Elias asked
"Yeah", renji replied" I don't just get it "
Elias replied, as he lifted weight.
THE BAR was Located in a sunless corner of Sector 5, the bar glowed with deep violet neon and strobing blue lights. Heavy rap music with a bone-shaking bassline rattled the glass walls. strippers danced in silver cages suspended from the ceiling.
Nyx, Mikasa, and Vela walked through the crowd, their presence drawing stares from the cyborgs and fixers lining the booths.
"Keep your hands on your weapons," Mikasa whispered, her hand resting on her katana.
They approached the bar. A bartender with a mechanical jaw was wiping a glass with a grimy rag. "We want to see the owner," Nyx said, her voice like ice.
"Owner don't see nobody," the bartender grunted.
Nyx and Mikasa didn't hesitate. They grabbed the man, dragging him into a dark corner behind the liquor racks. Mikasa's blade was at his throat before he could blink. "I'll ask again," she hissed. "The owner. Now."
Terrified, the man led them through a heavy blast door into the back office. But the man waiting for them wasn't human.
The owner was a horrifying fusion of human and alein His skin was translucent, showing pulsing violet veins, and he had four eyes that moved independently.
"You shouldn't have come here!" the creature screamed, his voice a discordant screech. "I'll kill you! I'll eat you all!"
In a flash of gore, the owner's jaw unhinged, and he lunged at the bartender, snapping his neck and consuming him , starting from he's head , violent blur.
Vela's face shifted; the "fun" side of her vanished, replaced by the "Bad Cop."
"Eat me ,huh ," Vela said, her voice dropping an octave.
Nyx moved with surgical precision, slamming the creature into the wall and pinning him with a series of pressure-point strikes. He shrieked, but within seconds, the fight was over. The creature huddled on the floor, weeping black fluid.
"I'll talk! I'll talk!" he whimpered. "I was a worker... TƎll Industries... Lab 9. I worked with an alien... I don't remember his name, but the Silver Mask... he's He's—"
THWIP.
A perfect headshot. A single, high-velocity round tore through the creature's skull, painting the back wall in violet mist.
The girls spun around, weapons drawn, but the room was silent. There was no shooter, no smoke, no sound. The shot had happened so fast, so perfectly, that even Mikasa's heightened senses hadn't caught the trajectory.
Back at the hotel, the air was thick with the scent of defeat and sweat. Dr. D stood by the window, looking out at the city.
"He's cleaning house," Kross said, his massive voice booming in the small suite. "We need t
o find out if sliver masks and Baldwin are connected."