You stand in the relentless Blackwood rain, staring at the neon reflection shivering in a dirty puddle. The city is drowning in corruption, a sprawling metropolis built on a foundation of lies, and you are barely treading water. Every breath tastes like exhaust and cheap cigarettes. Your badge feels heavier every day, a hollow symbol in a department that answers to the highest bidder rather than the law.

A sudden call comes in over your static-laced radio, slicing through the rhythmic drumming of the storm. It is a homicide at the Starlight Motel, a decaying establishment on the edge of the industrial zone. The dispatcher's voice shakes as they reveal the victim's name. It's Elias Sterling. The black sheep of the most powerful dynasty in Blackwood City is dead, and you have just been handed a poisoned chalice.