The corridor smelled of burnt circuits and damp steel. Every step echoed, hollow and accusing.
tap… tap…
She appeared at the far end, silhouette hunched, hair cropped short, bruises darkening the skin beneath her collar. Bandages peeked from torn sleeves. Defensive posture, eyes sharp the kind that had survived too much to trust easily.
I leaned against a wall, arms crossed. "Well, look who crawled out of the gutter to play hero."
She flinched at the words, not my tone. Good. Had to keep her on edge.
tick… hum…
"You're needed," I said, letting the words hang. "More than you think."
Internal note: Blade sharp, sheath mine. Learned that trick from Rook, aka Elliot every ally is a potential blade until proven otherwise.
She didn't answer immediately, eyes scanning the hall. My gaze followed every twitch, every breath. Weak spots, tells, the angle of her shoulders. Useful information.
clank…
"I've got updates on Syndicate shadow-books," she said finally, voice clipped. "And a new pattern I noticed in the Veins' nodes."
I raised an eyebrow, hiding a smirk. "Oh? Enlighten me, or are you just hoping I'll trip over the obvious?"
She glared. I smiled faintly. The perfect balance: irritation and trust, the bait I needed.
whir… flick…
I handed her a small stack of encoded files. "Start with these. Make sense of them, if you can. Let me know what's worth my time."
"Belief matters more than truth. Let her feel she's discovering the key. Plant small loops, codenames she'll chase. She'll glow thinking she's ahead, and I'll keep tally. Still liar, still useful."
tap… tap… fade…
She nodded, grabbing the files and retreating down a side passage. Her boots clicked against steel floors, fading echoes marking her departure. I let the silence settle, the corridor empty again, humming with machines and anticipation.
A smile tugged at my lips. Useful allies are rare. Useful pawns? Even rarer.
The Veins watched, walls vibrating faintly. Every hum, drip, and flicker a reminder: I was still in control, still calculating. And this was only the beginning.
I slipped a glance toward the console, already planning the bait she wouldn't know she'd walked into. The game was restarting, and she had just become one of the pieces.