“You’re the reason this City can’t breathe anymore.”

The soft hum of electricity was barely audible and tired, straining eyes fought to focus past the dark, looming silhouette that eclipsed nearly all of his sight. The sound grew louder as the figure stooped down low, energy crackling now and again in his ear. The electric baton his assailant held illuminated both of their faces, but he didn’t need that light to know the identity of his captor. He could feel heat radiating off of the deadly, glowing weapon; it was a stark contrast to the cold, damp concrete beneath him. That hard, unforgiving rock provided his sole comfort. As his trembling fingers tightened against the ground and the back of his head soaked up the moisture on the wet pavement, he put all of his faith in the fact that the streets never forgot any secret. Eventually, everything came out in the open.

“You’re a disease.” The shadowy figure’s voice was barbed with the distinct venom of a female’s spite as she hissed through clenched teeth and stood upright again, “I’m doing the whole City a favor by…disinfecting you.”

The faint humming sound surged. His fingers curled and his body tensed as he took in one last, defiant breath. His gaze flew past the arbiter of his fate and traced the distant lines of the dome that kept his City safe from untold horrors beyond its walls and kept the horrors safe from the corruption that festered within. He knew his City better than most and he knew it wouldn’t forget him once he was gone. A bright, terrible light flared in his face and in that moment his eyes snapped to the face of his killer, silently accepting and welcoming his fate with a defiant smile.

A moment later, a lifeless husk was lying on the cold, wet ground with an assured grin still lingering on his lips. The shadowed figure holstered her weapon and swiftly produced another device, this one smaller and less threatening in its design. Without a word, the killer punched a button and brought the device close to give a report, “The threat has been eliminated, sir.”

Above them both, a streetlamp’s light flickered briefly; the only one in a long line of identical lamp posts to waver. If those streetlamps could tell tales, they would reveal far more underhanded dealings, acts of violence, and life-altering mistakes than most of the sleeping City would ever hear about or even care to know. It wasn’t long before more lights, flashing white and yellow, filled the scene. Vehicles arrived and soon enough the grimy street corner was crawling with law enforcement who made certain to shield the scene from the occasional, curious citizen who’d been roused by the growing noise outside. They were told ‘there was nothing to see’ and ‘to go back and get some rest’. It wasn’t the first time they’d been woken by an arrest or murder; it came with the lease around this neighborhood. They all did as they were bidden, retreating to the rooms they’d emerged from without a fuss.

Deeper in the shadows, there were other witnesses; other eyes who’d seen the whole, ugly ordeal. They would ensure that Paden City never forgot, no matter how hard it tried.