====== CHAPTER 1 — Wrong Kind of Fast ====== The Afterlife didn’t change. ---- Not for rumors. ---- Not for noise. ---- Only for patterns that didn’t make sense. ---- ---- Ace noticed it before Rogue spoke. ---- Not the words. ---- The absence. ---- ---- Conversations flowed— ---- but not toward them. ---- ---- Around. ---- ---- That meant the room already knew something was wrong. ---- ---- “This one’s different,” Rogue Amendiares said. ---- ---- No greeting. ---- No setup. ---- ---- Good. ---- ---- Ace stopped at the counter. ---- ---- “Explain.” ---- ---- Rogue didn’t reach for a shard immediately. ---- ---- She watched them first. ---- ---- Measured. ---- ---- “You ever seen someone move before they decide to?” she asked. ---- ---- Silence. ---- ---- V shifted slightly. ---- ---- “…Define ‘before’,” they muttered. ---- ---- Rogue ignored that. ---- ---- “Bodies on the scene,” she said. ---- ---- “Multiple.” ---- ---- A beat. ---- ---- “No defensive wounds.” ---- ---- Another. ---- ---- “No drawn weapons.” ---- ---- Mai’s gaze sharpened. ---- ---- “No reaction window,” she said. ---- ---- Rogue nodded once. ---- ---- “Exactly.” ---- ---- She slid a shard across the counter. ---- ---- This time— ---- it mattered. ---- ---- Mai picked it up. ---- ---- Data unfolded instantly. ---- ---- Photos. ---- ---- Angles. ---- ---- Still frames pulled from surveillance— ---- all slightly wrong. ---- ---- Too early. ---- ---- Victims— ---- mid-motion— ---- before anything had happened. ---- ---- Weapons— ---- still holstered— ---- in the moment they should have been drawn. ---- ---- “This is not speed,” Mai said. ---- ---- Flat. ---- ---- “This is sequence failure.” ---- ---- Rogue leaned back. ---- ---- “Yeah,” she said. ---- “…figured you’d say something like that.” ---- ---- Ace didn’t look at the shard. ---- ---- “Target.” ---- ---- Rogue tapped the counter once. ---- ---- “Not loud,” she said. ---- ---- A beat. ---- ---- “No rampage.” ---- ---- Another. ---- ---- “No escalation.” ---- ---- That narrowed it. ---- ---- “He’s not hunting,” Ace said. ---- ---- Rogue nodded. ---- ---- “He’s not chasing either.” ---- ---- A pause. ---- ---- “He’s just… ahead.” ---- ---- That was worse. ---- ---- Shammy shifted slightly. ---- ---- The air— ---- tightened. ---- ---- “He doesn’t wait,” she said. ---- ---- Rogue’s eyes flicked to her— ---- just for a second. ---- ---- “…No,” she said quietly. ---- “…he doesn’t.” ---- ---- Mai scrolled. ---- ---- Paused. ---- ---- Zoomed. ---- ---- One frame. ---- ---- The image wasn’t clear— ---- but it didn’t need to be. ---- ---- A head. ---- ---- Side profile. ---- ---- And there— ---- embedded at the temple— ---- something that didn’t belong. ---- ---- Not chrome. ---- ---- Not metal. ---- ---- Black. ---- ---- Not reflective. ---- ---- Not textured. ---- ---- Just— ---- absence. ---- ---- It didn’t catch the light. ---- ---- It removed it. ---- ---- Mai stilled. ---- ---- “Object,” she said. ---- ---- Not a question. ---- ---- Rogue didn’t answer immediately. ---- ---- Because she didn’t need to. ---- ---- “…Yeah,” she said. ---- ---- “That’s what my client thinks too.” ---- ---- Ace finally looked at the image. ---- ---- Just once. ---- ---- Then away. ---- ---- “Location.” ---- ---- Rogue tapped the shard. ---- ---- “Cluster of hits,” she said. ---- ---- “Same district.” ---- ---- A beat. ---- ---- “He doesn’t stay.” ---- ---- Another. ---- ---- “He doesn’t need to.” ---- ---- V exhaled slowly. ---- ---- “…So what’s the play,” they asked. ---- ---- Rogue’s gaze hardened slightly. ---- ---- “You don’t chase him,” she said. ---- ---- Flat. ---- ---- “You won’t catch up.” ---- ---- Silence. ---- ---- Short. ---- ---- Ace nodded once. ---- ---- “Value.” ---- ---- Rogue didn’t smile. ---- ---- “High.” ---- ---- Of course it was. ---- ---- Mai closed the shard. ---- ---- Set it down. ---- ---- “Constraint required,” she said. ---- ---- Ace turned. ---- ---- “We go.” ---- ---- No delay. ---- ---- No negotiation. ---- ---- Rogue didn’t stop them. ---- ---- But as they moved— ---- she added one thing. ---- ---- “Hey.” ---- ---- Ace didn’t turn. ---- ---- “What.” ---- ---- Rogue’s voice didn’t change. ---- ---- “This one’s not faster than you.” ---- ---- A beat. ---- ---- “He just gets there first.” ---- ---- That was the difference. ---- ---- And as they stepped back into the city— ---- Night City didn’t react. ---- ---- Didn’t adjust. ---- ---- Didn’t care. ---- ---- Because somewhere out there— ---- in a place where people should have had time to think— ---- something had already decided— ---- and acted— ---- before anyone else even knew it was happening.