Everything is a blur. The night is cold, and the desert environment is unforgiving. Why is he here? What is he looking at?

Ken lays on the ground with a rifle in hand, hiding next to some dead bushes on a hill. The moon shines through the clouds, yet he can not clearly see. There are a dozen pickup trucks in the distance in the middle of an endless desert. He looks through his binoculars. His mind is fuzzy, and his vision is blurry, but he knows exactly what he is looking at.

The trucks are parked in an arc. Their headlights shine bright and converge over a single spot. A man is struggling on the floor, kicking up dust. Legs and arms tied, he is struggling for his life. Blindfolded and scared, it would be his last day of life. Men are joking, taunting, and laughing all around. He can hear their voices from a distance. They are making bets on how he would be tortured and killed.

Standing over the struggling man was another man holding a gun. Someone else stands beside him. His head hangs low as if he had failed. Ken can not clearly see their faces. He knows exactly what was happening, but it is all a blur. As he observes, he feels rage but can’t vent. He isn’t meant to be seen or to act, only to observe. He feels his mind drifting in and out of focus as if time is stopping or slowing down. It doesn’t feel real.

The man with the gun puffs on his cigar, looks at the other man standing next to him, and shakes his head. He feels disappointed. His head swivels from the man struggling on the ground to the man standing next to him. Everyone else continues to heckle from their vehicles.

This scene feels familiar, but Ken can’t yet figure it out. He somehow knows what was about to happen but can not stop it.

What is this? What is happening? Why is this happening? Among other questions—who pulled the trigger? Who died?

The answer is simple, but Ken refuses to accept it. One person wouldn’t die. Instead, two already died. The man raises his gun, not at the blindfolded and tied man on the ground, but instead to his comrade beside him. Is this betrayal? No one surrounding them thinks so. Without flinching, a yellow flash. The body falls.

Ken’s eyes widen. He remains silent. He continues to watch as he feels his senses coming back to him. His vision is becoming clearer. The blur and haze begin to dissipate as he becomes sober by the second.

This isn’t supposed to happen. It wasn’t supposed to happen. The man continues to ferociously struggle, only this time right next to one of his dead captors. No, this can’t have happened. It shouldn’t have happened. That is no man. Ken’s realization becomes a horrifying punch to the face. His past actions and mistakes invade his mind. Everything he thinks he did right was wrong; he caused this. That is no man. That person is too innocent. The one with the gun kicks the corpse and turns him over before aiming his gun at the man still struggling. Now everything is clear. Through the binoculars, Ken can now clearly see the face of the once fuzzy silhouette. Another bang and a bright flash engulf his vision.

That was no man.

“Ah!”

“Ken, get up!”

Matt slaps his face repeatedly. Feeling the pain, Ken looks around frantically. He is sweating.

“Ken!” Matt continues to slap his face.

“What!? What the fuck are you doing!” Ken yells and pushes him away. He stands up in his bed and rubs his eyes. The blur and haze are all gone, and his senses feel normal. Was that a dream?

“Get the fuck up, Ken, and get your gun! We gotta go!”

Ken gets out of bed and quickly begins to get dressed, not yet knowing what is happening. He did so because of Matt’s urgency.

“What the fuck’s happening, Matt? Why are you here?” he asks as he puts on his shoes.

“Someone tried to break into the Casiem,” Matt says as he tries to help Ken get ready.

“What? A break-in? When?” Ken asks with a perplexed face.

“A few minutes ago. C’mon, we gotta go. Cayde’s giving chase to one of them.”

Finishing up, Ken grabs his gun from his drawer and checks its magazine before running downstairs with Matt. They exit the house and run down the street.

It is quiet. The sun had not yet risen over the horizon and is a bit dark, but there is enough sunlight to see, somewhat. It is very early indeed, and Ken’s mind races as to what could have happened. Whoever broke in must be dealt with quickly. Who knows what they took. If they managed to reach the storage room to find plans for future technologies, it could be very problematic and detrimental.

As they run and get closer, they see someone standing at the entrance. Fortunately, it is Jax who is waiting for them to arrive.

“Finally, you guys are here,” Jax says.

“Where is Cayde?”

“He’s still chasing them. They headed towards the south wall.”

“And Reed?” Ken asks.

“I don’t know. Haven’t heard from him since yesterday.”

Ken looks at the door to the Casiem, which is damaged, and examines how they tried to break in. The knob is damaged as well as the hinges. The wooden door has also been hit with blunt weapons with the hope of creating a hole. Axe and hammer marks expose splinters and torn-off paint. Looking elsewhere, one of the windows is also broken. Glass shards litter the floor beneath the frame.

“What exactly happened?” Ken asks.

“Matt, me, and Cayde were walking together not too far from here,” Jax explains. “Then we heard a window being busted around the corner, so we came to investigate. That’s when we see these dudes with hammers and axes trying to climb the busted window. When they saw us, they started running before we can stop them. Then we got closer, and some other guy jumped out the window and booked it. It looked like his friends left him behind, so Cayde gave chase to try and catch him. Matt went to get you, and I stayed here guarding the place.”

“Fuck…”

“We should go in to check the damage.” Matt approaches the door.

After some fiddling with the damaged lock, Matt finally opens the door, which creates an awful squeal as it slowly opens. The three enter slowly and look around. Broken glass is on the ground, and it crunches the further they walk in.

Every day, when the workday ends, all staff are instructed to lock all doors, cabinets, and everything else with a lock on it. When everyone leaves, the front door is locked by Ken or someone else with the entrance key. The only people holding keys to the entrance are Ringleader members and Marc.

Ken checks the receptionist’s desk where another key is stored, which opens another door that grants access to other areas of the building. Luckily, the key is still there, untouched, which means the intruders failed to find it.

“Door over here is undamaged and still locked,” Jax says. “Looks like they didn’t make it past reception.”

“They probably only got in as soon as they broke the window, by which point they only had a few seconds before they had to leave and run.”

“Good. Means they didn’t steal shit or reached the archives.”

Matt continues to breathe a bit heavily from running as he looks at the broken window. “Thank fucking god we were here, or else command would have grilled our asses.”

The room begins to fill with sunlight as the sun finally breaks through the horizon, and they can better see the damage. Shortly after, Cayde and Reed come running into the building. Cayde, in particular, is breathing heavily as he was running non-stop.

“Cayde, what happened?” Matt asks.

“Chased them all the way to the south gate. Easy. Didn’t even break a sweat.” He pauses to catch his breath. “But I lost them when they entered the Egwater District. They’re gone. Also picked up Reed on the way back.”

“Fuck, man.”

“Cayde says they broke in. Was anything stolen?” Reed asks.

“No, nothing. We got here just in time.”

Ken walks around the room while trying to think of what to do. With his head hanging low and hands on his hips, he lightly kicks the wall with disappointment and frustration.

“What now?” Jax says.

“I don’t know. But staff will be coming in a few hours. We gotta keep Ardai’s momentum going. Let’s just try to fix this shit as soon as possible and figure it out later.”

With that, the team goes towards the storage room to grab any tools and materials they can find. For the next several hours, they clean the debris and try to fix what they can. The window frame has to be boarded up until a new window can be installed. The door also has to be removed to fix the frame and hinges.

Ken and Reed attempt to fix the door’s damaged hinges and lock while the rest are trying to patch the window frame.

“Good day Mister Kai. Good lord, what has happened here?” asks a young employee who had just entered the doorless entrance.

Ken looks outside to see that a few people are roaming the streets. It seems like the day has begun, and people are waking up. More employees would soon arrive.

“Uh, someone tried to break into the building. We’re trying to fix what we can.”

“Oh dear, terribly unfortunate. Should I be concerned? I very much enjoy being employed here. I learn so much. I would hate to be forced to leave.”

“We’ll investigate who did it and fix the issue. I assure you Ardai won’t be going anywhere. No need to worry about your employment.”

“That’s relieving to hear.”

As they converse, Ken continues to fiddle with a hinge while more people arrive.

“Good day, everyone! What on earth happened?”

“Someone tried to break in.”

“Here? Who? What for?”

“I don’t know.”

Staff members are now talking amongst themselves while watching repairs continue.

“Are we going to be all right?” asks a member of the marketing department.

“I hope so. This is the best job I’ve had.”

“Ugh. Proper repairs won’t be cheap,” groans an accountant.

Ken is able to fix the hinges enough to be functional and begins reinstalling the damaged door with Reed’s help.

“Good day Mister Kai.”

“Well met Ken.”

Ken looks over to see who is greeting him. Surprisingly it is his secretary and receptionist who came walking together. Much like all the other staff members, they came in already wearing their uniforms which Ken allowed them to take home.

“Eleanor and Deana? I didn’t expect you two to become friends.”

“I didn’t expect you to become friends with your Senior Engineers either,” Eleanor says, glancing at Reed.

Ken glances at Eleanor for a second. That was an unexpected response from her. Realizing her mistake, Eleanor apologizes.

“Oh, I don’t mean it like that! I apologize for my attitude!”

“Relax, Eleanor. No need to apologize. I don’t mind,” he chuckles. “It is just unexpected, that’s all.

“If I may, Mister Kai. What happened here?” Deana asks.

“Someone tried to break into the building, but my Senior Engineers here happened to be around and chased them off.”

Immediately Eleanor’s and Deana’s eyes widen with surprise and concern. They suddenly remember the unexpected visitor the day before.

“You don’t think… Could it have been the STC’s doing?” Eleanor whispers.

Of course! The STC! How could Ken forget. He almost wanted to slap his forehead for forgetting about the minor incident that happened. He was so caught up with what can have been stolen that he forgot why they would have targeted him or who could have sent them.

“Ah damn. I forgot about them. I guess if that representative’s threat meant anything, this would be it.”

“That’s worrying. If this is the STC’s doing, we should apologize to them before it gets worse,” Deana suggests.

“No, I already said I’m not apologizing to those assholes,” Ken reminds them.

“Sorry, but what happened?” Reed asks. He has not yet been informed about Hyman Derek's visit.

“Some asshole STC representative came yesterday to try and buy Ardai. I told him to take a hike, of course. But then he lost his shit and told me I made a big mistake.”

“I do hope the issue is resolved soon. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have work to attend to,” Deana says as she turns to leave.

“I have some duties I must attend as well,” Eleanor winks and smiles at Ken. “I’m at your disposal if you need anything.”

“Dude, she’s totally into you.” Reed grins.

“I’d rather not think about it, man.”

Ken and Reed are now left alone at the entrance. They are just about finished reinstalling the door. The bent hinges are straightened, the lock mechanism is fixed, and the axe cuts are patched with a few planks.

“I’ve been meaning to ask, Kai,” Reed says.

“Hmm?”

“What’s with the uniform aesthetics? The women wearing corsets. The men wearing vests. Everyone is wearing a navy blue tailcoat. It all has embroidery. It’s so—steampunk. It stands out.”

“What, you don’t like it?”

“Reed’s just worried he’ll pitch a tent in front of Deana or your secretary. Isn’t that right, Reed?” Cayde interrupts and puts his hand over Reed’s shoulder.

“Woah, woah, step back a bit, Cayde. I was just asking.”

“I just thought the aesthetic is fitting for our purposes,” Ken says. “Inventing, innovating, bringing about an industrial revolution. It fits, don’t you think?”

“I’m not complaining.” Cayde laughs. “It gives a great view if you know what I mean.”

The three of them laugh as any friends would with their jokes. After repairs and cleaning debris are finished, they all go their separate ways to work on weapons or industrial blueprints or teach and train the engineers to create their own.

.

.

Later in the day, before the sun goes down, Ken goes to the tavern Adeline works in to unwind. Upon arriving and stepping inside, a strong scent of alcohol jabs Ken. It’s always like this, but Ken can never get used to it. As always, the lightly lit tavern is jam-packed with all walks of life.

Most customers are men who are all likely intoxicated. Some are yelling across the room, others yelling directly at each other's faces. Occasionally a minor brawl would start but would quickly be led outside.

He calmly walks across towards the bar. He doesn’t want to sit at a table all lonesome. Perhaps he can strike a conversation with Adeline and catch up on local news. In fact, it looks like Adeline is already at the counter serving another customer while wearing the same white and brown dress all waitresses seem to wear.

As he gets closer, Ken realizes that the customer at the counter is, in fact, Marc, whom he hadn’t seen the whole day. He probably doesn’t yet know about the break-in. It looks like Ken would have to tell him right then and there.

“How you doing, Marc?” Ken sits on a stool next to him.

Marc looks over, surprised that Ken is there. “Ken! What are you doing here?”

“Came to wine, dine, and unwind. What about you?”

“He always comes here,” Adeline says before turning to Marc with a suggestive smile. “Could it perhaps be because of me?”

Marc coughs nervously before turning back to Ken. “I uh… enjoy the atmosphere.”

“Really? Never much noticed you here.”

“Because you don’t come at all.”

“Good to see you back, Ken. How was your day?” Adeline asks, changing the subject.

“Great to see you too, Adeline,” he smiles. “Sadly, my day has been ass.”

“What?”

Ken runs his fingers through his hair in frustration and disappointment. “Some thugs tried to break into the Casiem this morning before sunrise. They damaged the door and broke a window.”

“What?!”

“Shhh! Relax, they didn’t steal anything.”

Marc puts his hands on his face and breathes in.

“Matt, Cayde, and Jax were in the area and stopped the intruders before they could steal anything.”

Marc looks back at Ken with slight disbelief. “Really?” he says. “The senior engineers? So you never saw the thieves yourself?”

“No.”

“By the heavens…” Marc rolls his eyes and lays his head on his hands.

“What? What’s wrong? Nothing is stolen.”

“How can you be sure your engineers tell the truth?”

“They do tell it. Have faith in them.”

“How unfortunate, simply terrible to hear,” Adeline says. “Would you like a drink Ken?”

“Yeah, get me a glass of wine.”

“A cup is the best I can do,” She sighs, and Ken nods.

“So do we know who it was? Or what we’re going to do?” Marc asks seriously.

Ken stares down at the counter and contemplates what he should tell Marc. He is his business partner and should know what’s going on. On the other hand, if he tells him that the STC might have something to do with it, Ken wasn’t sure what his reaction would be.

“We… don’t know who it was. They escaped to Egwater before we can catch them.”

“Damned low lives… It must be your newly hired secretary. She’s from Egwater, must have only wanted the job to steal from you.”

If it wasn’t for the STC’s visit the day before, Marc’s reasoning is reasonable. Eleanor is indeed a strange person, but she seems honest at the least. The possibility, of course, can still be there, but Ken has all but cleared her from having any connection.

“No, I don’t think it’s her.”

“Ha! Yeah, why would it be…”

“Anyways, I’m gonna be spending the night at the Casiem. Maybe they’ll try again.”

Adeline puts down a cup of wine in front of Ken. “By yourself? Is that not too dangerous?”

Ken grabs the cup of wine and takes a sip from it. “I think I’ll be fine. Let’s set that aside for now. Anything new? Any news? What’s going on in the outside world?”

“Interesting you say that, Ken,” Adeline says. “Marc and I were just talking about it. A good lot of merchants have come from many parts of the continent.”

“Hmm, really? What’s been happening?”

“In local news, Princess Cara will be going on a voyage to the empire to deliver tributes. She should be making her way here from the capital. From here, she’ll sail to the Imperial city of Callum. I also hear that there’s been an increase in monster sightings and attacks throughout the Kingdom and the Mercenary Guild has been receiving bigger rewards for subjugation or extermination contracts. It’s a good time to be a Mercenary or Adventurer. It’s also a good time to sell weapons as demand will probably increase. Perfect for your company, I would say,” Adeline suggests.

“I’ve also been hearing that the STC has gotten into something extremely profitable here in Scorcia,” Marc adds. “Fleets of ships from Senvia have been arriving at several port cities and going straight to Scorrest. I wonder what they’re doing?”

“Anything from outside the Kingdom?” Ken asks.

Both Marc and Adeline look upwards to think of any international news they heard.

“Ah, I heard of something,” Adeline says. “A few days ago, an old man came to drink who says he was from Migtia. He claimed that the Ravenian Empire has recently gone into economic decline. Something about an addictive drug that has been spreading across the lands.”

Ken doesn’t know what to make of this news. He doesn’t really care. What he is really interested in is how the new world is perceived.

“What about the new world?” he carefully asks.

“Mmm, not much. The empire doesn’t really like sharing that kind of information. I hear that the new world is full of barbarians,” Marc says, “and that the Empire would spread civilization. And their borders, of course. Infinite riches and resources.”

“Really?” Adeline interrupts. “I heard that imperial troops met resistance from the natives and that some sort of war erupted.”

“Natives?”

“Yeah. I heard that they found humans, elves, and dwarves.”

“Poor fellows,” Marc whispers. “If they are fighting back, the Empire will show no mercy. They’ll get slaughtered. Just like six years ago…”

.

.

Within the night, under the dark sky, the streets have become deserted and quiet. Almost everyone has gone home for the night. The only places that are still alive and kicking are the pubs that never shut down.

Two lone people in black cloaks walk down the road unbothered and seemingly without hurry. Their hoods are up, and their faces are concealed. By any means, these people would catch anyone’s attention if they are seen. They are also walking straight towards the Casiem’s entrance.

“He’s not there. It’s almost 10:00 p.m.” Matt lifts his arm to see his watch.

“Then we’ll wait at the door.”

Matt and Reed stand outside the Casiem’s doors. They lower their hoods to reveal them wearing an earpiece in their ears that, along with a microphone attached to their shirts, connecting to a radio secured on their waists.

“Shit’s cold out here. And dark. Could have brought night vision with us.”

“Our eyes will adjust. It’ll be fine.”

They are waiting for Ken to arrive. Since the attempted break-in, they would have to spend time in both the warehouse/factory and the Casiem for the next few nights to catch any thieves trying to break in again, hopefully. Tonight, the three of them would monitor the Casiem while Jax and Cayde monitor the factory. The problem is that Ken is now late. He should have already been waiting for Matt and Reed, but he has yet to show up.

“It’s 10:00 p.m. He’s still not here,” Matt mutters.

“Maybe he fell asleep. It was a long day after all.”

They continue to check their watch before they hear footsteps from afar. In the dark, a disguised person reveals themselves wearing the same cloak. He lowers his hood to reveal himself to be Ken.

“What happened?”

Ken hands Matt a small piece of paper without saying anything. Matt takes the small note and opens it.

Ask for Graham Rakee in Egwater, it reads.

“What’s that?” Reed asks.

“Someone left it on my door. I briefly looked around but didn’t see anyone. You ever heard of anyone named Graham Rakee?”

Both Matt and Reed shake their heads.

“Unless the timing is coincidentally perfect, this guy has something to do with the attempted break-in.”

“Could be the guy who did it. Might be trying to scare us and bargain.”

“But, we already know who is responsible, right?” Reed asks.

“Yeah, there’s no doubt in my mind it’s those STC representatives. Just in case it isn’t, we gotta catch them and confirm it.”

“So who’s Graham Rakee?”

“We’ll figure it out later. Right now, we got something else to do. Let’s get into position. Reed, you’ll be lookout.”

“Got it.”

With a fist bump, Reed puts up his hood and walks across the street to hide in the dark. Matt and Ken enter the Casiem, leaving the door unlocked. They want to plan an ambush for anyone who decides to turn up. Each armed with their suppressed Glock 19s and combat knives, they aren’t going to let anyone get away.

“All right, we split here. I’ll stay in reception. You go to storage,” Ken says.

“Roger,” Matt replies as he exits reception through a hallway towards the storage/archives room. All doors are left unlocked. Ken wants the intruders to enter deep inside the building and block off any escape.

He makes his way behind the receptionist’s desk and sits down on the floor beside the chair. He takes out his gun and pushes the slide back a bit to make sure a round is in the chamber. He lifts the microphone on his shirt up near his mouth and presses a small button on it.

“All right, boys. Checking in, everyone ready?”

Ken releases the button and awaits a response.

“Cayde here. Jax and I are in position at the factory, ready to kick some ass. Over,” a voice through his earpiece responds.

“Matt here in position guarding the blueprints, files, and plans. Over.”

“Reed here keeping a lookout across the street. Over.”

“Good,” Ken speaks through the radio. “Now we wait and hope they come.”

“Don’t fall asleep now.”

Everyone is in position and waits. Assuming the STC wants to pressure Ken, the intruders would come again and again until they stole everything or Ken submitted. If they don’t come tonight, they’ll plan an ambush the next night. At worst, no one comes, and Ken wastes his time.

Whether or not they can directly confirm the STC’s involvement, Ken might have to pursue Graham Rakee. The note left on his house’s door only directs him to ask for him in Egwater but nothing else. Maybe he works for the STC and is paid to raid the Casiem. But that wouldn’t make much sense. It’s more likely that Graham Rakee wants to offer some sort of help in exchange for something. Or maybe he has nothing to do with the break-in and wants something entirely different. Whomever he is, or whatever he wants, the fact that he wants Ken to go to Egwater concerns him already. If he is left with no more leads, he’ll entertain the idea.

He’s only been to Egwater once and narrowly avoided being blasted by magic or shot with a flintlock. While he sits in the dark and thinks about Egwater, he can’t help but ponder on the flintlock. He never got to get to the bottom of it. The most likely explanation is that it is an illegal firearm smuggled out of the Empire. The next time he goes to Egwater, he’ll have to be more careful and observant.

Two hours pass, and nothing has happened yet. Everyone sits in silence and darkness. Ken feels his eyes slowly closing and tries his best to remain alert. If only he had a cup of coffee. He hasn’t tasted coffee in months and has desperately missed drinking it.

He is beginning to doubt the plan despite only two hours passing. Maybe they are too early. It is just a little bit after midnight, but the previous break-in was minutes before the sun rose. As he debates how the ambush could have been planned differently, a sudden voice speaks through his earpiece.

“Heads up, three unknowns approaching the Casiem.”