The streets were quieter than usual, if silence could ever be trusted in a place like the Lawless City. Broken glass crunched beneath their boots, the glow of scattered neon signs bleeding across the alley walls. Matt leaned his shoulder against a rust-stained pipe, glancing at Kai's hooded figure as if he were trying to gauge which storm they were about to walk into.
"So who's first?" Matt asked.
Kai tugged the edge of his cloak, the bones stitched into its weave rattling faintly with each step. His one good eye narrowed, a tired smile curling on his face. "Well," he began, "we've got the processing center. That's where they stripped me of everything—my belongings, my guardian, even my name for a time. And that damn ghoul, always grinning when they cut me down to pieces. Then there's the Russian roulette game. A kid dragged me into it, like I was another toy to be broken. And Admin—" his voice tightened—"he taunted me daily. Tossed rotten food into the pit like I was a stray dog waiting for scraps."
Matt's jaw tightened. "How about Admin first? He sounds rough."
Kai shook his head, his grin fading into something darker. "Quite the opposite. He's not rough at all. He's mundane. A human."
That word, in Kai's mouth, carried more venom than if he had spoken of demons.
Matt pushed off the pipe. "Admin it is."
They weaved through the labyrinth of alleys until the looming shadow of the processing center rose before them. Once, it had been a warehouse for imported goods. Now it was a slaughterhouse of dignity, where Resonants were sorted like cattle.
And outside the cracked double doors stood Admin.
Kai froze when he saw him—squat, balding, a cheap coat hanging off his shoulders, greasy spectacles reflecting the neon haze. But beside him was someone new. A woman, unfamiliar but instantly notable, her presence sharpened by the twin firearms strapped to her hips. Her hair was cut short, face scarred, posture loose yet coiled like a predator.
"This ain't a charity, dipshit," she snapped at Admin, voice sharp and cutting through the empty street. "Now pay the bounty for the eight Black Omen operatives or else we're going to have to air you out."
Admin raised both hands, words spilling out faster than his courage. "Look, Renn, I—I put up the bounty before I spoke to Reggie. He refused, so it's void. Null. You know that." His eyes twitched left and right, sweat sliding down his temples. "But hey—I know you're looking for enforcers, after losing half your men. Maybe… maybe I can help with that. What about these two?"
He gestured nervously toward Kai and Matt.
The shadowborn warrior and the one-eyed stray. Both clad in black leather armor stitched with red thread, like executioners dressed for the stage. Kai's cloak shifted in the half-light, bone fragments sliding like teeth through its fabric.
For the first time, Admin really looked at him. Recognition hit like a fist. His throat bobbed, his face drained white, and then—he bolted.
Kai didn't move.
The cloak did.
From his shoulders, the ragged sides of the cloak peeled forward like ribbons of midnight, unraveling across the cobblestones and lashing out. They caught Admin's legs mid-run and yanked him hard to the dirt. The cloak never left Kai's back—it clung there, heavy and ominous—yet its sides writhed forward, acting as long, fluid arms that dragged Admin back, scraping him through grit and broken glass.
Admin clawed the ground, shrieking. "N-no—don't—please!"
The cloak's shadow-limbs coiled around him, flipping him over like a doll. Pockets tore open as tendrils of cloth slid inside, prying loose coins, keys, scraps of paper. Each item was delivered back to Kai, set gently into his palm as if Velnix were cataloguing every sin he carried.
Kai crouched, his tone smooth, almost cheerful. "Ohhh, Admin. What a reunion. Look how happy Velnix is to see you. That's rare. You must be special."
Admin kicked uselessly, glasses falling and shattering on the ground. "Don't—don't kill me, please! Str—fuck—I gave you that sandwich, remember? That one time? I kept you alive!"
Kai tilted his head, catching a ring and a set of keys from the cloak's curling edges. His eye gleamed with something feral. "You forgot my name, didn't you?"
The cloak's sides slashed forward again, cloth hardening to razor edges. They peeled off Admin's cheap chest plate like skin from fruit, tossing the fragments behind Kai without breaking their tether to his back. The man writhed, half-swallowed in flowing shadow, as if he were being held in a coffin woven from Kai's garment.
"Fuck—I did, I did!" Admin's voice cracked. "But still—you—you wouldn't kill me, right?"
"Excuse me."
The woman's voice cut like a blade.
Renn. She stepped closer, pistols drawn. Her eyes locked on Kai, calm, unreadable. She fired twice. Bullets cracked into the cloak's extended edges, sparks skittering as the cloth rippled and flexed, redirecting the shots before reforming into seamless shadow-limbs.
"Excuse me," Renn repeated coldly. "I was talking to him."
Matt shifted uneasily beside Kai, shadows pooling at his feet. His hand brushed his weapon, but Kai didn't flinch. He didn't even blink. His gaze lingered on Admin, who whimpered as the cloak twisted his arm back until joints popped.
"Renn, is it?" Kai finally said, tone flat but polite, as if she were nothing but background noise. "I'll return him when I'm finished. He owes me."
Renn smirked faintly, guns steady. "Funny thing. Everyone here owes someone. And debts don't get paid if you keep breaking the merchandise."
Kai leaned down, eye gleaming in the half-dark. "Do you remember the pit, Admin? The mold, the chains? You came every day, threw rotten bread, told me to bark for it. And you laughed."
"I had orders!" Admin sobbed, spittle flying. "I didn't mean it!"
Kai's smile was soft, humorless. "No one ordered you to laugh."
The cloak's sides slipped through his coat again, dragging out a flask, crumpled notes, a bent lighter—each placed neatly into Kai's hand.
Matt's voice cut through, firm. "Kai."
Kai's head turned slightly. Matt's shadows writhed, hungry. "Don't drag this out. We've got more names."
Kai looked back down at Admin, who was sobbing into the dirt. "Say my name."
Admin stuttered, lips trembling. "K-Kai. Malakai! I—I remember!"
Kai rose, slipping the flask into his cloak. The shadow-limbs retracted, folding seamlessly back into the mantle on his back until only ragged fabric remained. Admin collapsed, shaking, gasping like a fish out of water.
Renn lowered one pistol but kept the other raised, unreadable. "You planning to kill him?"
Kai shrugged, cloak bones rattling faintly. "Haven't decided yet."
Silence pressed in as Admin whimpered. The Lawless City didn't care whether he lived or died. Only they would decide.