[Third Person POV]
The cold room smelled like damp concrete and metal. Emilio Delgado's eyes slowly opened. He was dazed. His hands were tied behind a metal chair. His ankles were strapped to the legs. Panic hit him fast.
He looked around. Four men and one woman stood nearby. They wore dark clothes. But one man stood directly in front of him.
David.
Emilio didn't know him, but something told him this was the one in charge. Still, Emilio wasn't the type to break easily.
"You think this scares me?" Emilio said, trying to sound tough. "You motherf—"
Crack.
David's boot slammed into Emilio's shin.
"AAAAH!" Emilio screamed. His body jerked in pain.
Before he could recover, David pulled the cork off a tiny glass vial and poured its glowing liquid into Emilio's mouth.
The liquid tasted bitter. Emilio tried to spit it out, but it was too late.
Something felt wrong. Not painful. Not hot. Just wrong. His mind, once strong and guarded, now felt open. Exposed.
"What the hell did you—"
David spoke calmly. "Truth serum. A magical one. Now let's talk."
Emilio's eyes widened, then he laughed. "Magic? You think I'm a kid?"
David tilted his head. "You've seen aliens fall from the sky. Why not magic?"
Then David kicked his shin again.
"AAAAARGH!"
He asked his first question.
"How much money did you and your boss hide?"
Emilio tried to keep his mouth shut. But the words came out anyway.
"Twenty-two million in cash. Around six million in gold. We have offshore accounts too... set up through fake companies. One in Panama, one in the Caymans, and one in Zurich."
David nodded. "Where's the physical cash?"
Emilio's mouth moved against his will.
"Four-point-two million under a boxing gym in Harlem. It's hidden under the ring. Another stash—around two-point-three million—is in Queens. Buried under a fake utilities hatch in a storage unit. The cash is in paint buckets marked as solvent."
David stepped closer.
"And what about Javier's personal vault?"
Emilio groaned. Sweat rolled down his face. "His secret penthouse... top floor. The safe is behind a bookshelf. That's where he keeps the rest... bearer bonds, cash, and a little black book. Names, contacts, cops, buyers, clients. Everyone."
David narrowed his eyes. "How do you know about his personal stash?"
Emilio clenched his jaw. "We were close. Like brothers." Then he suddenly shouted, "He wouldn't let freaks like you touch his money! And if he finds out I was kidnapped—if you touched his stash—he won't stop until you're all dead!"
David chuckled. "Brother, my ass. You were already planning to jump ship with Victor Ruiz. You can't lie right now, so you really believe he'd come back for you? Please."
He let out a cold laugh and looked at Robert.
"You killed him, right? That Javier guy."
Robert nodded. "Yeah. We did. Burned the whole place down."
Emilio's face froze. Shock and disbelief took over.
---
---
[David POV]
I knocked Emilio out after thirty more minutes of questioning. The truth serum worked better than expected. He just kept talking. I didn't even have to press hard. The information flowed from him like a broken faucet. Offshore accounts, hidden stashes, backup plans—they all came pouring out.
I stood up and looked around the room.
Robert was at the hologram terminal.
Tahani sat at the desk, focused on her laptop.
John stood at the far end of the room, leaning back against a table. His arms were crossed. He wasn't doing much, just watching everything with sharp eyes.
Shin was slouched in a chair, head down. He looked like he was asleep.
At some point, Roberta had come out of the basement. She stood beside Gideon's console now, arms folded.
"Gideon, show me all the details we pulled from him," I said. Gideon brought up the map, filling it with notes and markers from Delgado's intel.
"Mark the locations and put them on the big screen," I added. She did.
"Tahani, Shin, Robert — you're going to Queens to get the money," I ordered. Then I looked at John. "If you want to help them, go ahead."
Turning to Roberta, I said, "Stay here and keep an eye on Delgado. Gideon, start transferring the money from the accounts we've taken over into our shell companies."
They nodded and got to work.
I didn't join them. Instead, I headed toward the basement.
---
---
Ever since I kidnapped and tortured Alan Sloane, the detective who covered up my mother's death, my emotions—especially my rage—had been out of control. I knew it wasn't just me. I had my doubts, but when I asked the system, it was silent.
Today, it was worse than ever. It felt like my body was on autopilot as I walked down the stairs to the bunker where Victor Ruiz was tied up. But when I came face to face with him, everything went black.
When I opened my eyes, I was in a dark, endless space. In front of me floated a small glowing ball of light, the size of a fist.
"Hello, host," it said.
"What is the meaning of this?" I asked.
"Sorry, host," the light said. "This was the only way I could revive you in this world."
I already knew how I arrived here. The system had shown me before—how it came from a destroyed world, drifted through the Abyss, and found me, a shattered soul barely holding together. It bonded with me out of survival and brought me here.
"But since we came from the Abyss, I was weakened. And while looking for a body to possess, I had no choice. This was the only way."
"That means… a part of the original soul is still inside me, isn't it?"
"Yes, host."
I rubbed my face and sighed. "So the emotions I've been feeling… they were his? Have they been affecting my decisions until now?"
The system stayed silent.
"Does my emotion for Elena even feel real?" My voice grew sharper. "Answer me!"
"I don't know, David," it said. "But I know one thing—none of your decisions were affected by him or me. That much I can answer."
"Fuck," I muttered, swinging my fist at the light. My hand passed through it.
When the system started to explain why I couldn't hit it, I cut it off. "Shut it."
After holding back my anger for a few minutes, I looked around the blank space and asked, "I take it we're inside my mind?"
"Yes, host."
I imagined a chair and sat down—if this was my mind, I could do what I wanted. I'd read about this kind of thing in novels and fan fictions, and it worked.
"So what now? What's happening? Am I standing in front of Victor, or did I faint and fall on my ass? Or is the original David in control of my body, torturing Victor?" I asked sarcastically.
The system said nothing.
"What, really?"
A screen appeared, showing what was happening outside. It was worse than anything I'd done to Alan. Victor didn't last long—he died from shock and massive blood loss. The feed went dark.
Then a figure appeared in front of me. It looked exactly like my reflection, but younger. I knew right away—it was the original soul of this body, the real David who belonged to this world. We just stood there, staring at each other for minutes without saying a word.
I stared at him, who was floating there like a ghost. He gave a small smile and said, "Thank you."
I didn't answer right away. My eyes stayed locked on his, but I didn't feel like giving him some warm reply. Finally, I muttered, "Yeah, whatever."
His smile faded a little, but he didn't seem upset. "You don't understand how much this means to me. To see everything you've done… how far we've come."
I crossed my arms. "I didn't do it for you. It was a mission for me and you also had a deal.So don't try to make this some emotional moment."
He let out a soft laugh. "Still thank you."
"Guess so."
We stood there in silence for a moment. Then he looked around like he was taking in the place for the last time. "I think it's time I let go. This is your body now. Your life."
Before I could reply, his form started to break apart into tiny fragments of glowing light. They floated toward me, warm against my skin as they sank in. I felt a sudden rush of clarity, and something deeper, like a missing piece locking into place.
After that, I turned toward the ball of light.
"So, what now? Is there still something you're hiding from me?"
It replied, "No, host, there isn't any."
I narrowed my eyes. "So all that talk about getting higher clearance bullshit was just to dodge a proper answer, huh?"
The system stayed silent.
"Hah… fine." I exhaled. "I want to leave this place. Let's go."
In the blink of an eye, I was suddenly standing before the mutilated body of Victor Ruiz.
Seeing that mess, irritation flared in me. "That brat… I couldn't even pull any real information about who was behind this guy," I muttered under my breath.
I sighed. "Whatever."
His phone was sticking out of his pocket. I took it, then stored his mangled body inside my system inventory. Without another glance, I made my way up from the warehouse's basement bunker.
Roberta was there with Gideon when I walked out. Victor's blood. It soaked into my clothes, streaked my gloves, smeared across my forearms. I could see her eyes widen slightly, the way she froze for just a fraction of a second before masking it.
"It's not mine," I said flatly, stepping further inside. My voice sounded detached even to me. I reached into my pocket, pulled out a folded sheet of paper, and handed it to her. "Buy everything on this list. You'll need my car. Basement's a mess, and I need those to clean it up. Also, bring me something to eat."
She didn't move at first, just stared at me like she was trying to figure out if I had finally lost it. Her eyes flicked from the paper to my blood-soaked clothes, then back to my face.
"You're serious," she said quietly.
"Do I look like I'm joking?" I replied.
Her lips pressed into a thin line. She took the list from my hand, still watching me as though measuring just how dangerous I was in this moment. Then she nodded once, curt and efficient.
"Fine."
I tossed her my car keys. She caught them without breaking eye contact, then finally turned on her heel and walked out. The faint shake of her head was the only sign of what she really thought.
Once the door shut, I pulled out Victor's phone and handed it to Gideon. "Extract everything from this," I said. My tone was sharper than usual. I didn't care.
With that handled, I moved into the far corner, stripping off the ruined clothes. The sound of fabric hitting the floor was loud in the silence. All I wanted now was to get clean, get new clothes on, and eat. The rest could wait until Gideon was done.
To Be Continued...