He was currently sitting in Room 4B, watching a man named Kaelen through a grainy, hidden camera feed. Kaelen was the "action" part of this, a low-level smuggler who had stolen something he shouldn't have. Elias was the "thriller" part, tasked with getting it back before the sun came up.

That’s exactly how Elias, a retired extraction specialist, described his new life.

He retrieved the encrypted USB drive from Kaelen's jacket.

What he runs into on the drive home?

The neon sign of the buzzed, flickering on a rainy Tuesday, perfectly matching the 6.6/10 rating the establishment had on a popular booking site: functional, slightly loud, but gets the job done.

Kaelen walked out, stopping cold when he saw Elias. "Who—"Elias didn't wait. He moved forward, taking down Kaelen with a quick, practiced maneuver, not flashy, just effective.