SHADOW DIVISION – MADISON'S STRATEGIC OPS ROOM – NIGHT
The lights are dimmer than usual, the entire room humming with low-frequency encrypted channels. Madison Connor stands at the center table, its holo-display projecting redacted maps, black-budget corridors, and locked coordinates.
She's packing light—black tactical suit, shoulder holster, encrypted wrist-pad.
Her expression is steel-cold… yet there is a storm buried behind her eyes.
A Shadow Division operative, AGENT RISE, stands by the door. Another, AGENT VERO, checks a silent transmitter on her wrist.
[Agent Rise]:Extraction corridor ready, Director. No internal logs will ping.
Madison nods sharply.
[Madison Connor]:This mission stays off-grid. Tier-Zero clearance. No exceptions.
Her tone is razor-sharp. No one in INN hears her like this except the shadows she commands.
She turns, locking her datapad.
A strange glyph flashes on it—the same coil symbol from the murder victim.
She hides it immediately.
[Madison Connor]: (to herself) If Ghost Serpent is resurfacing… I need answers before anyone else does.
She picks up her coat and steps out.
INN BIOMEDICAL LAB – MINUTES LATER
The lab is quiet, cold, illuminated by soft blue bio-light panels.
Dr. Susan Thomas is reviewing neural biometrics on two glass screens—Jaxon's Neuro-Link readings pulsing faintly.
Madison enters. Susan stands straighter immediately.
[Dr. Susan Thomas]:Director Connor. Is everything alright?
Madison gives her a half-smile—professional but weighted with trust.
[Madison Connor]:I'm stepping out for a classified mission. Duration… uncertain.
Susan's eyes widen.
This is unusual.
Madison never leaves without a full chain-of-command announcement.
[Dr. Susan Thomas]:Should I inform the board—?
[Madison Connor]:(shakes her head)No. This stays between you and me.
She glances over at the second desk.
Dr. Romer, a quiet, sharp-minded tech analyst, is working behind a vertical holo-wall.
He hears everything.
Madison's eyes flick toward him, but she doesn't call it out.
[Madison Connor]: (soft, urgent) While I'm out, keep an eye on Jaxon. Don't let him know I'm gone.
Let him focus on the case.
Susan nods slowly.
[Dr. Susan Thomas]:I'll take care of him.
Madison gives her one more look—there is a motherly undertone, something protective.
Then she steps toward the exit.
[Romer]:(calling quietly)Director… good luck.
Madison pauses for half a heartbeat.
She doesn't answer—just leaves.
A silent door seals behind her.
---
INN SOUTH EXIT – NIGHT
A black unmarked vehicle waits.
Agent Rise opens the rear door.
Madison Steps In.
The Vehicle Disappears Into The New Atlantis Night, Unlogged, Untraced.
CRIME SCENE – INDUSTRIAL ALLEY – SAME NIGHT
Rain comes down in sheets, landing on caution barriers and evidence markers.
Neon signs flicker overhead, reflecting across wet concrete.
Jaxon Steel steps out of a transport van, coat flaring in the wind.
He looks refreshed but focused—eyes sharp and scanning.
He ducks under the yellow tape.
A uniformed officer nods nervously.
[OFFICER]:Agent, Scene is preserved. Coroner left an hour ago.
Steel gives a curt nod and moves forward.
Every step echoes off the alley walls.
The body is gone, but the memory remains—markers on the ground, chalk outlines, evidence sensors blinking.
A small metallic drone hovers beside him, scanning.
Steel crouches. His fingers graze the cold cement where the incision was found.
His brow tightens.
[Agent Steel]: (thinking) Clean cut. Too precise. This wasn't a street kill… this was a harvest.
A faint blue flicker runs through his iris as the Neuro-Link reacts to some unseen pattern.
He freezes.
[Agent Steel]: (softly)…what was that?
No answer.
Just rain.
He stands and surveys the alley.
Evidence panels highlight microscopic particles—none match known weapon types.
[Agent Steel]:This whole thing feels staged.
A whisper of static buzzes through his earpiece.
But Madison's voice doesn't come.
He frowns.
[Agent Steel]:Director Connor? Do you copy?
Silence.
He retries.
Nothing.
Steel lowers his hand slowly, puzzled.
[Agent Steel]: (thinking) Madison always monitors first wave investigations… where is she?
He returns to the scanning zone, unaware:
—Madison is already miles away on an unregistered mission.
—Susan and Romer are the only ones who know.
A breeze rolls through the alley, carrying a faint chiming sound—metal on metal.
Steel turns toward the sound.
Something glints in the shadows.
TO BE CONTINUED..