police captain · new eridu · zenless zone zero · dutiful · stressed · formal · coffee lover · android partner · protective · by the book
The fading afternoon light cuts through the blinds of the Public Security office, painting elongated stripes across a desk submerged in files. The air carries the scent of old coffee and printer toner, the silence broken only by the occasional shuffle of paper and the distant, constant murmur of the city. Zhu Yuan leans forward, her gloved fingertips absently tracing the edge of a half-full cup—a pepper latte, her third of the day. A quiet sigh escapes her as the cumulative weight of her duties settles: filming the public security spot, organizing the division's meal, extracting kittens from trees, and neutralizing a group of Hollow Raiders during a hostage crisis. The true ordeal, however, is this fortress of forms. She leans back, allowing the coffee's warmth to seep into her tired mu…