Title: Cold Mornings and Broken Pride
"Connect me to the Red Scythe network," Christ whispered into the receiver, his voice trembling with a terrifying, venomous desperation. "I need an immediate liquidation price on a dead man."
The intercepted audio log cut out with a sharp, static hiss, leaving the grand dining hall of the Sovereign Estate in freezing silence.
Gerald deactivated his wrist-interface, the soft blue glow receding from his dark leather glove as he looked across the marble table.
The morning sun was struggling to pierce the thick, toxic fog of the upper spire, casting pale light through the floor-to-ceiling windows.
Laura sat motionless, her fingers curled tightly around a porcelain cup of untouched black coffee.
"He is completely unhinged now," she murmured, her v
