Beginning

Olympus Mons City, 2934. A perpetual twilight clung to the smog-choked skyscrapers. Neon signs bled color onto rain-slicked streets, painting a deceptive gloss over the city’s deep-seated corruption. High above the grimy avenues, in a tower that clawed at the hazy sky, lay a scene of brutal disruption.

A luxury apartment, designed for serene isolation, was now a canvas of chaos. Shattered glass glittered like fallen stars on the plush carpet. Overturned furniture lay in awkward heaps. And staining the opulent décor, a dark, sticky crimson – blood. Detective Cassian Voss, a silhouette against the doorway, took it all in. His cybernetic eyes, cold and sharp, scanned the room, pulling in details invisible to the naked eye.

“Aegis,” Cassian’s voice was a low growl, barely audible above the city’s distant hum. “Give me the overview.”

A synthesized voice, dry and precise, answered in his mind. “Victim identified as Elara Vex, 25. Socialite, high-net-worth individual. Connections to several prominent Olympus Mons families. Preliminary scan suggests cause of death: blunt force trauma and lacerations. Time of death estimated within the last twelve hours.”

Cassian moved into the apartment, his boots crunching softly on unseen debris. He circled the body, a young woman sprawled amidst the wreckage of her expensive life. Her eyes were wide, frozen in a final scream that echoed only in the silence of the room.

“Robbery gone wrong?” Cassian muttered, more to Aegis than himself.

“Statistically improbable. Valuables appear untouched. No forced entry detected through conventional means. Security system logs show no alarms triggered.” Aegis’s voice carried a hint of its usual condescension. “Unless, of course, the perpetrator was a ghost, or possessed a rather advanced understanding of bypassing electronic security measures.”

Cassian ignored the sarcasm. He knelt beside the body, his enhanced vision picking out the minutiae. A dropped earring, gleaming faintly under the soft lighting. A near-invisible scratch marring the polished wall. A lingering trace of an unfamiliar perfume, sharp and metallic.

“Not random,” Cassian stated, his fingers drumming a silent rhythm on his cybernetic temple. “Targeted. Someone wanted her dead, or wanted something from her.”

He stood, his gaze sweeping across the room again. “Security feeds, Aegis. Now. Check for anomalies, breaches, anything out of the ordinary. And get me everything on this building’s schematics. Unauthorized access points, maintenance tunnels, the works.”

As Aegis’s digital tendrils probed the building's systems, Cassian felt a prickle of awareness. Movement near the doorway. A flash of blonde hair. Nova Arden. The journalist. Of course. Like vultures to carrion, they always arrived.

Nova, notebook and pen in hand – relics of a bygone era she ironically favored – was already engaged in hushed conversation with a man standing nervously by the hallway entrance. Cassian recognized him from the building’s resident directory – Claec Aurik, neighbor of the deceased.

Nova’s voice, though low, carried across the room. “Anything unusual you saw or heard last night, Mr. Aurik?” Her tone was deceptively gentle, but Cassian knew the steel beneath the surface.

He moved towards them, his presence a silent command. “Arden,” he said, his voice flat. “Crime scene. Not a press briefing.”

Nova turned, a spark of defiance in her eyes. “Detective Voss. Just gathering context. Mr. Aurik here is being very helpful.” She flashed a practiced, disarming smile at Claec, who shifted uncomfortably under Cassian’s gaze.

“Context can wait,” Cassian said, his eyes fixed on Nova. “This is an active investigation. Unsanctioned interviews are… discouraged.” He turned to Claec, his voice softening slightly. “Thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Aurik. We may need to speak with you formally later.” Claec nodded quickly, relief flooding his face, and retreated back down the hallway.

Nova watched him go, then turned back to Cassian, her smile fading. “Discouraged? Is that all you’ve got, Voss? This is a high-profile case. The city deserves to know what happened.”

“The city will know when I’m ready for them to know,” Cassian retorted, his gaze unwavering. “And not a moment sooner.”

Nova leaned in, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. “Come on, Cassian. We both know how this works. Information is power. Let me in, and maybe, just maybe, I can help you.”

Cassian considered her, his internal processors whirring. Nova was a pest, yes, but a resourceful one. And in the murky depths of Olympus Mons City, sometimes a pest was exactly what you needed to stir things up.

“Fine,” he conceded, surprising even himself. “You want in? You’re in. But under my rules. Everything you see, everything you hear, stays between these walls until I say otherwise. No leaks. No whispers. Understand?”

Nova’s smile returned, sharper now, laced with triumph. “Understood, Detective. You won’t regret this.”

As Nova moved deeper into the apartment, her journalist’s instincts already kicking in, Aegis’s voice cut through Cassian’s thoughts. “Cassian, security feed analysis complete. Multiple anomalies detected. Tampering is evident. However,” a pause, a digital breath, “I have also isolated a secondary access point, overlooked by initial scans. A maintenance shaft, directly connected to the victim’s apartment, via the neighbor’s ventilation system.”

Cassian’s gaze snapped to the hallway where Claec Aurik had disappeared. “Neighbor’s ventilation… Aegis, run a forensic analysis of the air quality in Aurik’s apartment. Check for any… residuals consistent with the victim’s apartment. Specifically, that perfume.”

“Analyzing… Results pending…”

While Aegis worked, Cassian watched Nova as she examined the crime scene with a practiced eye. She was sharp, he had to give her that. But trust? That was a commodity in short supply in Olympus Mons City, especially for Cassian Voss.

Suddenly, Aegis’s voice crackled with urgency. “Cassian! Residual analysis complete. Positive match. Perfume compound identical in both apartments. High concentration detected in Aurik’s ventilation system.”

Cassian turned, his gaze locking onto the hallway again. Claec Aurik. The nervous neighbor. The helpful witness. The killer?

As if on cue, a shout ripped through the tense silence. “Everyone, stay back!”

Cassian whirled around. Claec Aurik stood near Nova, his arm clamped around her throat, a glint of steel flashing in his hand. A small, wickedly sharp knife pressed against Nova’s skin. Claec’s eyes were wild, sweat beading on his forehead.

“I don’t want to hurt her,” Claec’s voice trembled, “but I will! Just let me go!”

Nova remained remarkably calm, her eyes meeting Cassian’s, a silent message passing between them.

“Claec,” Cassian said, his voice deceptively calm, “let her go. This doesn’t have to get worse.”

He took a slow step forward. Aegis’s voice echoed in his mind, “Exits are sealed. Backup en route, ETA five minutes.”

Cassian kept his focus on Claec, measuring the distance, the angle, the desperation in the man’s eyes. He saw Nova subtly shift her weight, a flicker of movement that telegraphed her intent. She was going to make a move.

And she did. With a sudden surge of energy, Nova twisted, her free hand slamming against Claec’s wrist, trying to dislodge the knife. “Now, Cassian!” she yelled.

In that split second of chaos, Cassian moved. He launched himself forward, cybernetic enhancements kicking in, blurring his movements. He slammed into Claec, his momentum knocking the smaller man off balance. The knife clattered to the floor. He grabbed Nova, pulling her out of harm’s way, and then wrestled Claec to the ground, pinning him beneath his weight.

“It’s over, Claec,” Cassian growled, his voice tight with controlled fury.

Nova, breathless but unharmed, stood beside him, a surge of adrenaline still coursing through her veins. The sirens wailed closer now, a promise of order descending upon the shattered apartment.

As uniformed officers swarmed in to take Claec away, Cassian met Nova’s gaze. A silent acknowledgment passed between them, a fragile bridge built in the crucible of danger. This case was far from closed, and Olympus Mons City held countless more secrets in its smog-choked depths. But for now, under the harsh neon glow, an unlikely partnership had been forged, ready to face whatever darkness lay ahead. The game, as they both knew, had just begun.