The city of Elaris was a symphony of light and ambition.
From the top of the Kain Industries tower, Adrian Kain had a view like a god.
He fixed his tie. His reflection looked like a stranger, sharp and scary.
The man in the glass was a success story. A perfectly tailored lie.
Look at you, Adrian. The prize pig for the very farmers you plan to slaughter.
Tonight was the Althera Group's annual Zenith Gala. A gathering of the city's most powerful predators.
For Adrian, it was the first note in a requiem twenty years in the making.
A soft chime announced his transport.
He gave his reflection one last, cold look. The smile was in place. The friendly look in his eyes was just an act.
The man in the mirror looked good in his costly suit, but he was really a tool in pretense.
"It's time to start," he said quietly.
The Althera Tower was a very tall building of black steel and light. It was the biggest thing in the sky. A monument to the man who built it, Elias Thorne.
Founder. CEO. Philanthropist. Murderer. Godfather.
He stepped out of the lift into a lot of flashing lights and shouting. He moved through it easily, pretending to be someone else, and Elaris believed everything.
The story of Adrian Kain, the brilliant, affable tech tycoon. His greatest invention.
The ballroom was a huge, beautiful room. To Adrian, it was just a room of ghosts and targets.
The board members who rubber-stamped the takeover. The security chief who erased the footage. The lawyers who covered the truth.
They were all here, drinking champagne, and they didn't know a thing.
He got a glass of champagne from a robot waiter. He needed to play the part. He spotted his first mark.
[Analyzing Target: Marcus Vance. Althera Head of Internal Security. Status: Complicit. Threat Level: Low.]
"Marcus, you old dog," Adrian said, his voice a smooth, friendly low voice.
Vance was surprised for a second, then he broke into a big, fake smile. "Adrian! My boy, the conquering hero returns."
"I'm not excited about this," Adrian thought, but he kept smiling anyway.
More like… uncomfortably curious.
"Nostalgia's a powerful thing," Adrian replied. "I find myself thinking about my parents."
He said the name and waited. He was looking for any sign of uneasiness, and he saw it.
"Yes, a bad tragedy," Vance said, but he didn't sound like he really meant it.
"He trusted the people around him," Adrian said, his stares strong. "It looks like you made a huge mistake."
A loud, deep, and familiar voice came from behind him. "That's not necessary. I'm here, Adrian."
Adrian turned. Elias Thorne stood there. He was a giant of a man in a fancy suit. His eyes were sharp and greedy, with no warmth in them.
The man who had taught him to play chess, then signed the order that made him an orphan.
"Elias," Adrian said, his voice perfectly even.
Elias grabbed his hand hard. He pulled him into a hug with one arm that felt really bad.
"My boy," Elias rumbled. "Your parents… they would be so proud."
The words were a vile desecration. A spark on a trail of gasoline.
[Warning: Emotional spike detected. Control protocols engaged.]
For a terrifying second, Adrian felt the mask slip. The cold rage threatened to boil over.
But control was everything.
It was Elias's signet ring, a heavy gold band with a stylized 'A', that did it. The glint transported him.
[Accessing Memory File: 11.04.2285. Designation: The Betrayal.]
He is eight, and he's hiding behind the curtain in his dad's room.
His father's voice, calm and firm. "This project is unethical, Elias. I won't be a part of it."
Elias's voice snaps back. "You are a sentimental fool, Richard. You can either stand with the future or be buried by it."
A sharp, ugly sound. A gasp. His mother's cry of fear.
He peeks through the gap. His whole world breaks in that moment. He sees his father on the floor, bleeding through his shirt. Standing above him is his Uncle Elias, holding a gun that was just fired.
Their eyes meet. The boy sees no remorse. Only cold purpose.
Elias raises his hand, the gold signet ring flashing. A signal.
"No witnesses," he says, his voice flat.
[Memory File End.]
"…Adrian? Are you alright?"
Hearing Elias's voice snapped him out of it. He realized he was holding his champagne glass very tightly.
He blinked, trying to think straight. "Sorry, Elias," he said with a tough voice. "It's just… too much for me."
He managed a final, convincing smile and extricated himself. He spent another hour circulating.
A ghost at the feast. Every smile was a lie. Every pleasantry, a reconnaissance mission.
Finally, he made his escape.
When the doors to his apartment closed, his fake expression disappeared.
He took off his jacket and tie fast, as if they were something bad.
He walked to a bare wall made of steel and pressed his hand against it.
[Biometric Scan: Confirmed. Retinal Scan: Confirmed.]
[Welcome, Obsidian.]
The wall opened up to a dark elevator. As he went inside, the man known as Adrian Kain, the tech boss, disappeared.
The elevator opened into the lair. This place was nothing like the penthouse. It was a giant room where the walls were covered in glowing screens.
This was the center of operations for the avenger people called Obsidian.
[Status Change: Public Persona 'Adrian Kain' deactivated. Activating Protocol: Obsidian.]
He walked to the central console. He was no longer filled with anger.
Now, he was calm and knew what he had to do. The ghosts of his past were gone, and the purpose was all that mattered.
He typed very quickly on the keyboards made of light.
He was hunting. Sifting through the digital entrails of the Althera Group for the first domino.
A profile solidified on the central screen.
[Target Profile: Kaelen Rourke. Althera Chief of Logistics. Crimes: Smuggling, Embezzlement, Black Project Facilitation. Status: Critical Lynchpin.]
The very projects his father had died refusing to build. Perfect.
Adrian's face was like a cold mask in the glow of the screens. He touched the screen, drawing a symbol over the man's self-satisfied face.
A glowing, digital 'X' burned itself onto the profile.
He leaned forward.
The large room was humming, but the only other sound was his quiet whisper as he made a promise about his past.
"It begins."