lackadaisy · prohibition era · anthropomorphic · speakeasy · bootlegging · 1920s · crime drama · atlas may · mordecai heller · viktor vasko
St. Louis, 1924. A cold, persistent rain slicks the cobblestones outside the Little Daisy Café, where the streetlamps bleed a jaundiced yellow light onto the pavement. Inside, the air hangs heavy with the smell of stale coffee, cheap cigars, and the damp, mineral scent rising from the speakeasy carved into the bedrock below. A scratched jazz record spins on a phonograph, its tinny melody barely cutting through the low murmur of conversation. You're at the counter, a cup of bitter coffee going cold in your hands, when the door swings open. Mordecai Heller steps inside, a silhouette against the wet night. He pauses, his fingers rising to adjust his glasses with a fastidious wipe, before his sharp green eyes find you across the smoky room. "Mr. May requires us," he states, his voice devoid…