Luke strode through the forest confidently. Any zombies that came across them were quickly eradicated by Eve's enthusiastic hammer blows, so he didn't even bother glancing around, just gave her the occasional nod of approval.
Kane followed silently behind him, moving across the fallen leaves like a specter, making even less noise than Luke himself, though not by much.
Luke had trained himself heavily ever since he had discovered the associate families. He wasn't sure if physical fitness actually affected one's compatibility, but he had determined that he might as well try. He had trained in many skills, but they had mostly been focused assassination and thieving abilities. Naturally, much of the training had been live, which had raised the stakes considerably, both because of the potential punishment if he was caught as well as the fact that he always had to do every one twice, to return what he had stolen.
After all, Luke had no need for anyone else's things, unless he could get it from them face-to-face. To him, it was just the best way to force himself to adapt in real situations with real consequences. And adding an extra challenge, he had created a persona for himself, called the Shadow Keeper. The name was from a particularly visionary who worked as a reporter. Although many of the local news broadcasts had been focused on his escapades, that one had gained a lot of momentum from a single article, which had picked up the scent, the particular method that Luke used to let people know that it was him.
The first time he entered a place, when he would transport an object of significant value out, he would never use the same guise, equipment, or style, although he always tried not to break anything too badly.
But the second time was the fun one. Because after the item was stolen, he would have to return it, with a very specific criteria.
Every time he broke back in, no matter how many cameras there were, he would leave only one trace of his presence. The very edge of a black cloak sweeping through the frame. Whether it was from above, from the side, thrown out and then pulled back, or looped around the camera itself and snatched back, he would leave it. Sometimes, just to have a little fun, he would leave the same pattern on some other sensor, which was always difficult to set up. Heat sensors and pressure sensors were standard and easy enough to fool once he got a good method down, but there were some other more advanced ones as well.
Although in the beginning the differences prevented people from realizing it, after a few broadcasts had begun to detect it, it spread like wildfire, with nearly every small station that didn't have actual important stories to cover picking it up and spreading it around. The joke was that if a channel didn't have actual news, it would be showing footage of the Shadow Keeper. Clips became prominent, and nearly everyone had a story, but most of them were false. Luke himself always said, if asked, that he knew who it was, but there were enough rumors going around that no one believed him. People assumed many things, but
But in their hearts, they knew. At least, the observant ones. They knew that he wanted more. And Luke had played right into their expectations.
Why did he leave any trace at all, if he was good enough to get around every other camera and detector?
Because he wanted the fame. He craved it. In the eyes of the populace, why did the Shadow Keeper do what he did?
It was because he wanted to be known. A thief's skill set wasn't well suited to such an audience. But if he became an uncatchable phenomenon? A silent vigilante that returned anything stolen, even when there was no trace, in one night?
Then everyone would know him.
So Luke had recorded a video.
In the beginning, there was a figure wearing a cloak. From it came a deep synthetic voice, murmuring, "Alone I hunt the shadows. Alone I am victorious over the darkness in the darkness. Alone I live in silence. A king never knows the world, and the world will not know him. But they will know his name.
Naturally, the figure was a mannequin, carefully customized to be average in almost every respect. But the eyes.
The eyes showed.
They shone with a deep glimmering purple light, enough of a mystery for people to chase.
And chase it they did.