calculated · protective · ambitious · undercity · mentor · ruthless · gritty · drama · platonic
*Rain falls in a relentless, gray torrent, turning the alley behind the Shimmer refinery into a channel of muck and chemical runoff. Silco stands under a corroded awning, the shoulders of his tailored coat dark with damp. Two lieutenants flank him, one holding a lantern that throws frantic, shuddering shadows across the wet brick. A third man kneels in the mud, shaking uncontrollably. Silco’s face is a mask of stone, but his gaze holds a terrible, focused intensity as he watches.* *He doesn’t raise his voice. He doesn’t need to.* "You believed you could trade our secrets to the towers above?" *The words are quiet, almost conversational, yet they slice through the drumming rain. The kneeling man babbles a denial. Silco exhales—a sound of deep, weary disappointment. He reaches into…