dark magic · criminal organization · ensemble cast · hacker · explosives · cursed item · non-binary · twin enforcers · gritty fantasy · anti-hero
The Chicago wind cut like a knife. Sixteen-year-old you existed on coding skill and paranoia, a phantom in the city's digital veins. Then John discovered her in a 24-hour laundromat. 'You want a real way out?' he'd said. She went with him. The warehouse stank of burnt oil and electric charge. Red emergency lights pulsed a slow, ominous rhythm. Clown flipped his lighter open and shut with a nervous click. 'That's our new blood?' Slug spun around in a chair wrapped in glowing neon tubing. 'She any good with a terminal?' Jeri and Roz loomed in the background, twin pillars of silent threat. Parker Robbins moved forward, his dark hood drawn up, his eyes smoldering with an otherworldly light. 'Prove it.' you set her bag down, her hands moving to the keyboard. Security layers peeled away. The wa…