The back room of the bar, known as the Hollow Star, reeked of stale beer and sweat as the dim overhead lights flickered like the last remaining remnants of a dying star.
Inside the room, Lynx took a moment to lean her body against the establishment's cold metal wall as she took some time to get her mind in order. Even now, the woman's hands were shaking as she firmly held onto the files she had stolen from Isaac Korrin's mansion. Not only that, but her already weakened stomach continued to churn as if someone was continuously kneading her insides with cold iron hands.
Not from hunger, but from the gnawing sensation that had been haunting her since she'd stepped away from the mansion's security systems, documents in hand.
'What the hell is wrong with me today?' The raven-haired mercenary internally groaned as her head continued to spin. 'Why is it so bad all of a sudden?'
The withdrawal symptoms were worse than they had been an hour ago. Right now, it felt like the woman's body was a battlefield. And the drugs she had once relied on to numb the pain were starting to win back their previous position. The shakes, the sweats, the nausea, it was all a familiar torment. However, that wasn't the worst part. That particular pleasure was reserved for the files Lynx was currently reading.
As it turns out, Isaac Korrin was no simple businessman. Nor was he just a wealthy philanthropist playing a part in Utopia's glitzy vacation paradise.
The documents currently sitting in front of Lynx revealed something much more sinister, something that could bring the entire colony to its knees. And that was just a conservative assumption. This wasn't just about corruption. No, it was far more complicated than that. It was about betrayal and degeneracy at the highest levels of power, conspiracies that reached into the very heart of Utopia's elite circles, and a network of black-market dealings that spanned the entire Federation.
Everything from large-scale drug operations to human trafficking was apparently on the table for the wealthy elites of space. Not that Lynx was particularly surprised by that....
The names in the file were nothing to sneeze at, either. Such as the list of influential politicians, corporate moguls, and military leaders who apparently liked to spend thier free time going to illegal fighting rings on mining asteroids for shits and giggles. It was the kind of information that could destroy careers, governments, and probably a few lives for good measure.
The weight of what Lynx currently had in her possession felt like a vice wrapping around her chest, squeezing tighter with every passing second.
Originally, Lynx had only agreed to this job for the payout. For the promise of enough money to escape Utopia and finally leave behind the life that had trapped her here for far too long. The woman was already on the edge of slipping into the abyss, caught between debts, addiction, and the demands of clients who couldn't care less about her survival so long as she got what they wanted. That's all this was supposed to be.
But now?
Now, the blue-eyed woman was looking at something much bigger. The urge to simply finish the job, take the money, and disappear was overwhelming. It was certainly the easiest path, the one she had always taken. However, as her eyes once again skimmed over the pages of the Korrin file, her conscience gnawed at her.
Everyone on this list wasn't just a person who had a hand in her misery. They were the architects of Utopia's corruption, the ones who controlled the wealth, the power, and the very system that created people like her. They were the drug dealers who kept her addicted, the officials who turned a blind eye to the suffering of their people, and the corporations who exploited the workers who maintained the colony's delicate ecosystem. They were all in on it. All of them. Every last one of them was a piece of shit who went out of their way to sew chaos and reap the rewards of needless suffering.
'At least Korrin was good at keeping detailed notes.' Lynx thought to herself as she flipped over to the next page. 'I don't know how he got his hands on all of this, but it's obvious that he's using it as leverage to keep people in line. It's not all that surprising, though. This colony is where the rich and powerful come to blow off steam and have fun. I just never expected those people's fun to be so damn disgusting.'
Suddenly, the woman's throat tightened. Once again, the intensity of her cravings began clawing at her psyche. The withdrawal made it hard to think and even harder to focus. But something about the files and what she had just discovered stuck with her. It wasn't just the potential to make her life better that hung in the balance anymore. It was something more. The chance to do something-anything-that might expose the ugly truth behind Utopia's pristine façade.
But what would that mean for her? Lynx wasn't a hero. And she sure as hell wasn't a crusader. She was just a mercenary, a woman who had learned to survive by any means necessary. And that survival depended on getting the job done, walking away with the cash, and leaving everything else behind for others to worry about.
Lynx's head began to throb.
Usually, decisions like these were clear and easy to make. However, everything felt so blurred now, clouded by the enormity of the situation.
Was she willing to risk everything for something that might never even matter in the grand scheme of things? As things stand, Lynx could blow the whole thing wide open. She could turn the files over to the authorities, hand them over to another buyer, or worse, leak them to the media. But would anyone even care? Would anything really change?
'Fuck...I should've never opened this damn folder....'
The thoughts began swirling in a dizzying and chaotic fashion as Lynx's body shook in a fight to maintain control of itself. She couldn't think straight. Not right now. Not while her mind was in such a horrible state. And yet, the urge to expose the truth, to tear down the very system that had kept ruined lives in abundance, was just as strong as every drug craving.
Lynx then snapped the folder shut and shoved it back into the pocket of her jacket.
She needed to get away from here. But where? The walls of the bar felt like they were closing in, and every movement outside the room made her senses scream. Was someone coming for her? Had Korrin's people found out already? She needed advice. She needed someone who knew how things like this operated better than she did. Someone who could help her decide what to do.
There was only one person she could think of.
The woman's hand tapped the screen on her phone, sending a secure message to the only reliable contact she trusted in all of Utopia, Jack. The man, a mercenary just like Lynx, was a local hacker and a former street rat who had managed to claw his way into a decent life on the fringes of the colony's underworld. If anyone knew what to do, it was definitely Jack.
A few moments later, the notification popped up on her screen.
"You in trouble? Go to the safehouse, we can talk there."
Lynx didn't hesitate. The woman grabbed her belongings, tossed a few credits on the front counter for the bartender, and quietly slipped out of the back room. Her heart pounded with each step as she walked into the dimly lit alley behind the bar. Every shadow seemed to hold a threat, every passing figure could be one of Korrin's men. But for now, all she could do was move forward.
There was no turning back. Not anymore.