Episode 4 — Rooms With No Floors
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Cold Open — The Judge's Bed
Theo never believed in fairy tales, but the city spun them anyway — always ending in blood.
Tonight's was no different. Judge Halloran's penthouse overlooked the city like a smug god. Inside, champagne glasses and velvet sheets drowned the law in perfume and sweat.
Marisol Cruz was there — not undercover, not pretending. She was straddling Halloran's lap, red lipstick smudged on his throat. He grinned like a man who thought power was eternal.
But Theo wasn't watching through a keyhole. He was standing in the corner, invited.
Marisol's eyes cut to him, dark with calculation. "You want his signature, rookie?" she purred, tracing her nail along Halloran's chest. "You want those warrants to stick? This is how it happens."
Halloran chuckled, drunk on lust and arrogance. "Your division always knew how to… persuade."
Theo's HUD flickered faintly:
[Court Manipulation: +15 EXP]
[EXP: 940/1000]
Theo didn't move closer. He hated every second. But when Marisol leaned in and whispered to the judge, her words bending his will faster than any law book, Theo saw the signature slide across the table — inevitable.
Justice bought with sex. Power bartered in skin.
And yet… the case moved forward.
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Act I — Dirty Warrants
By morning, the signature was gold. With it, the Division had authority to raid East Side Storage, the very facility where they'd found the second artifact coin.
Captain Reynolds slammed the folder shut in his office. "You three better pray this sticks. IA already smells blood. If Halloran so much as twitches, Keller will gut us."
Marisol smirked, lighting a cigarette. "Let Keller try. He'll drown in the paperwork."
Briggs stood silent, arms folded like a stone guardian. Vega leaned against the wall, eyes bloodshot, face unreadable.
Theo kept his focus on the HUD.
[Case Thread Active: East Side Storage.]
[EXP Potential: 250–400.]
One more solid find, and he'd hit Level 7. The slow grind gnawed at him, but it made every gain sweeter.
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Act II — The Raid
The raid wasn't loud. It wasn't sirens or battering rams. Wicked Spies Division didn't play for headlines. They played for shadows.
The unit door rolled up with a reluctant groan. Inside: another suitcase. Another foam cutout.
But this time, it wasn't empty.
Inside lay photos. Hundreds. Victims of trafficking, kidnappings, murders across boroughs. And tucked between them, slips of signed evidence releases, each marked by different judges. Halloran. Hollis. More names.
Theo's stomach dropped. This wasn't just Calderon. This was a network.
As he touched the stack, his HUD pulsed:
[Major Clue Identified: +70 EXP]
[EXP: 1010/1000]
[LEVEL UP → 7]
Theo's breath caught. Not prestige. Just one more rung on a brutal, endless ladder.
The world tilted. Dice rolled.
And from the far end of the storage hall, a slow clap echoed.
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Act III — Vale's Shadow
A figure stepped from the dark, dressed in a tailored black suit, hair slick, eyes like polished ice. He smiled like a man who'd written the ending already.
Jericho Vale.
"Bravo," Vale said smoothly. "You've proven you can follow crumbs. Morales would be proud — if his brains weren't on your floor."
Briggs raised his gun. Marisol didn't flinch. Vega stiffened.
Theo stepped forward. "You killed Morales?"
Vale chuckled. "Please. I don't kill pawns. I recruit them. Morales was sloppy. He didn't want to play. You…" Vale's eyes narrowed, locking on Theo. "…you're different. Luck doesn't bend like that without breaking bones. What did you touch, rookie?"
The coin in the suitcase hummed, resonating with the one in evidence lockup.
Theo's HUD screamed:
[Foreign Probability Source: Interference Rising.]
[Warning: Manipulation Attempt Detected.]
Vale smiled wider. "Ah. So that's how it is."
Then the lights blew out.
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Act IV — The Sexy Trap
In the chaos, Vale vanished. Thugs emerged from side units, armed, masks on. The firefight lit the dark like lightning.
Theo moved on instinct — not skill. Bullets grazed, ricocheted, missed by inches. Dice rolled. A falling pipe knocked a thug cold. Another slipped on oil at the exact moment Theo stumbled past.
[Probability Break: +25 EXP]
[EXP: 35/1000]
When it ended, three men were cuffed, two unconscious, the coin still in the case. Vale was gone.
Back at the precinct, IA swarmed. Keller wanted heads. Reynolds wanted silence.
And Marisol wanted Theo.
She cornered him in the records room, her eyes burning. "You feel it, don't you? Every time reality bends? Every time a lie breaks?" Her hand pressed against his chest, sliding lower.
Theo's breath hitched. "Marisol—"
"Don't play shy," she whispered, lips brushing his ear. "You think I don't know? I've seen the impossible follow you like a pet. And if you don't let it break you, rookie, you'll be the most dangerous man in this city."
Her mouth found his. The kiss was fire and poison. Theo knew it wasn't love — it was leverage, lust, survival in a city where sex bought more than gold.
The HUD flickered:
[Forbidden Bond Deepened: +20 EXP]
[EXP: 55/1000]
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Act V — Rooms With No Floors
Later that night, Theo couldn't sleep. He walked past the evidence cage. Both coins — the one from the warehouse, the one from storage — pulsed faintly.
The HUD displayed something new:
[Foreign Probability Sources: 3 Detected.]
[Jericho Vale — Tagged Entity.]
[Threat Level: Severe.]
Three sources. Three coins. Three holes.
And somewhere in the city, Vale was smiling, waiting for Theo to fall into a room with no floors.