The office was almost completely empty.

  The brawl in the Pleasure District must’ve been bigger than anyone expected—big enough to call in every available officer.

  Elias leaned back in his chair, letting the silence settle around him.

  Dad’s gonna be exhausted after today...

  The usual chorus of ringing phones, scribbling pens, and tapping keys was gone. In its place, only his thoughts—and one in particular.

  That girl.

  He stared at the holoscreen above the bulletin board, where the rotating list of wanted posters flickered silently.

  There she was.

  Nyx.

  Wanted for multiple counts of theft, relic trafficking, and tampering with secured archives.

  I met a criminal.

  His hand dipped into his coat pocket.

  He pulled out the lollipop—still wrapped, still tied with that ridiculous cartoon cat ribbon.

  Elias smirked.

  "Maybe she wasn’t so bad..."

  Just then, a muffled voice snapped him out of it. Someone was still in the building.

  Marcus.

  He was in one of the side offices, and from the sound of it, he wasn’t alone—or at least not in spirit.

  "Dom did right by you! Can’t you do anything, Father?"

  Elias froze, the door slightly ajar.

  "This man will destroy Dom’s cover—and his family—if you let him keep going!"

  There was a pause, followed by the mechanical hum of a call ending.

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  "I know court politics are a minefield, but if that despot keeps pushing—"

  Click.

  A slap. Papers rustled violently as a hand smacked the desk.

  Elias stood there for a second, unsure whether to stay or slip away.

  Then he raised a hand and gave the door a soft knock.

  "...Everything okay?"

  Marcus nodded, his face stricken with a pale tone.

  Not much later, Dom and the rest of the officers returned—their clothes disheveled, dirty. Bruised faces and bruised egos strolled in alongside a few menacing-looking Nonkin.

  Dom looked at Elias, adjusting the loose knot of his tie.

  "Good. At least you made it back alright," he said. His voice carried a weariness beyond the physical.

  Before Elias could mention the holotrain—or Nyx—Dom peeked into Marcus’s office. The two men exchanged a knowing look.

  Dom sighed again. This time, it came from deep in his chest.

  "Well, son. We’ve had a long day—and when I get home, it’s just gonna get longer. How about we go blow off some steam?"

  The hall was long and quiet.

  Dom led Elias down toward his personal annex, a place Elias had rarely seen. The door was normally sealed tight.

  Dom glanced at him as he keyed in the security code.

  "Sometimes, son… days like this need to be drowned out with bullets," he muttered, tapping his chest where the Wolfe family relic rested.

  The door slid open with a hydraulic hiss.

  Inside was a well-lit room. The walls were painted stark white for visibility. A rail system carried holographic cutouts of criminals and monstrous-looking Nonkin, sliding quickly past cubicles outlined in bright yellow—the start of the firing range.

  Elias’s eyes lit up.

  The moving cutouts were fast—faster than anything they used in training.

  Dom chuckled.

  "You’re such a gearhead, kid," he said, ruffling Elias’s hair. "Let’s see how far you’ve come since your Catechism."

  From beneath his coat, Dom drew a revolver.

  Old. Heavy. Beautiful.

  Elias recognized it immediately.

  It was one of the first relics he had trained with.

  The revolver was aged, but immaculately kept. The moment Elias gripped it, a subtle hum ran through his fingers.

  Power.

  How much power does it really have...?

  Dom patted him on the back.

  "Thinking and doing are two different things. The bad guys won’t wait."

  Elias stepped up to the yellow line.

  Focusing his Psy, he took aim.

  One of the targets zipped by—an imposing figure with a metal plate bolted to his head.

  Elias visualized the bullet’s arc—the entry, the damage, the exit. It was like he could see it before he even fired.

  He squeezed the trigger.

  Above them, the monitor flickered.

  ALL’s face appeared for a moment.

  Smiling.

  Neither Elias nor Dom noticed.

  The target dropped.

  Dom let out a low whistle and clapped Elias on the shoulder.

  "Not bad! Let’s try the hardest one. Only a few officers have ever hit it."

  He pointed to a target at the end of the range—a Nonkin holding a child hostage, ducking behind a wall.

  Elias narrowed his eyes.

  The instant he fired, the cutout shifted.

  But the bullet curved—steered itself around the barrier—and struck the Nonkin cutout dead center.

  Dom froze.

  Then laughed.

  "We need to get you your own gun."

  Elias glanced down at the revolver.

  "Where did you get this one, Dad? It’s got... a lot of Psy behind it."

  Dom’s smile faltered. Just for a moment.

  "That’s a story for another day," he said quietly.