Tavara – Black Harbor District, Underground Auction Vault
The rain poured like silver needles over Black Harbor, Tavara's most notorious underbelly. At midnight, the air was thick with smoke, secrecy, and sins money could buy. Beneath an abandoned textile warehouse, a hidden auction was about to begin—one that wasn't listed on any map, hosted by no official house.
Damien stepped from his armored sedan, dressed in an obsidian suit, tie loose around his neck. His face was calm, but his eyes were predatory. He wasn't here to buy. He was here to intercept. A piece of stolen technology—capable of wiping any system clean—was being auctioned, and if it fell into the wrong hands, even his empire could bleed.
His men moved in shadows behind him, silently relaying positions through hidden earpieces.
Meanwhile, across the street in a black trench coat, Nora slipped past an old freight gate, her badge from the Tavara Medical Association cleverly forged into a high-clearance ID tag. But she wasn't here as a doctor. Not tonight. The device being sold—Project Halcyon—was once developed in a black lab under her supervision during her military research days.
It was never meant to surface again.
As she descended a spiral staircase into the underground vault, her presence went unnoticed. Her aura was suppressed. Her energy muted. She had used this technique before—in the battlefield, and in the silence before assassinations.
Inside, masked elites sat in private booths, bidding in silence. Items were displayed like exotic art—codes, stolen DNA sequences, crypto wallets, rare minerals, and then... Lot 49.
Halcyon.
The moment the case was wheeled in, Damien's grip tightened on the edge of his seat.
Nora's pupils dilated.
Then, everything happened at once.
An explosion tore through the north entrance. Alarms blared. Lights flickered. A group of armed mercenaries stormed in, masks covering their faces. "Nobody moves! The Halcyon belongs to Umbra Helix!"
Damien was already on his feet, gun drawn from his jacket holster. In a blink, he took down two of the attackers with precision only years of covert training could produce. Across the room, Nora flipped behind a pillar, disarming a guard with a surgical strike to the wrist. Her eyes met Damien's across the chaos—but neither flinched, neither recognized.
Not yet.
The case with Halcyon was gone.
One of the attackers had it—and both Damien and Nora took off after him at the same time, shadows weaving through smoke, fire, and secrets.
Outside, the rain masked their pursuit. But fate didn't.
Tonight, their worlds didn't just brush paths.
They collided.