Morrigan: Year 3101.

Eugène slumped in his chair, taking a massive bite out of his greasy hamburger. The synthetic meat juice dribbled down his chin, and he wiped it away with the back of his hand. He gulped down some soda, the fizz burning his throat.

Across the desk, Jacques hunched over his holo-screen, fingers dancing across the interface as he worked on enhancing the video from the police car.

"Any luck with that footage?" Eugène asked, his mouth full of burger.

Jacques grunted, not looking up from his work. "Shit's fucked, man. Whoever these perps are, they've got some next-level tech. Every time I think I've got a clear frame, it goes all glitchy on me."

Eugène swallowed and leaned forward. "Maybe it not a glitch, maybe you don't know how to enhance it."

"Oh, come on. Like you're any good."

"Sorry," he said between bites. "I'm pre-occupied at the moment with my food."

"Yeah, yeah," Jacques muttered. He paused and rubbed his eyes. "You know, I've been thinking about that vamp theory..."

"Not this shit again. We've got real problems here."

"Ok, hear me out," Jacques said, spinning his chair to face Eugène.

"Here we go. What is it?"

"What if it's not actual vampires, but some kind of bio-engineered humans? You know, like those body mod freaks down in the Undercity?"

Eugène took another swig of soda. "You know, my IQ went down 20 points when you said that part."

"Come on, man. Think about it. We've got tech that can regrow limbs, neural implants that boost cognition. Is it really that crazy to think someone might've engineered humans with... you know, vampire-like traits?"

He rolled his eyes. "Yes, it's that crazy. Next you'll tell me werewolves are running the government."

"I'm serious," Jacques insisted. "What about those puncture wounds on Sato's neck? And the complete blood loss?"

"Could be a new drug, or some sick fetish killer," Eugène countered, crumpling up his burger wrapper. "Doesn't mean we've got fucking Dracula on our hands."

"Fine," Jacques threw up his hands, "but you gotta admit, this case is weird as shit. We need to consider all possibilities."

"All rational possibilities," Eugène corrected. "Let's focus on what we know. We've got a dead tech expert and a bunch of psychos with heavy weapons. That's enough to deal with without adding fairytales to the mix."

"You're so closed-minded sometimes," Jacques grumbled, turning back to his screen. "What if we're dealing with something completely new here? Something we've never seen before?"

Eugène sighed, rubbing his temples. "Look, I get it. This case is frustrating. But jumping to vampire conclusions isn't going to help us solve it. We need hard evidence, not wild theories."

"And what if the evidence points to something... unconventional?"

"Then we'll deal with it. But until then, let's stick to reality, okay?"

"Fine," Jacques conceded. "Fuck, I need a break. You got any more of those burgers?"

Eugène crumpled up his burger wrapper and tossed it in the trash. "If you want one of these grease bombs, there's a joint called Burger Blast two blocks down. Can't miss it - big neon sign shaped like a cow getting shot out of a cannon."

Jacques pushed back from his desk, stretching. "Sounds classy. You coming with?"

"Might as well. My ass is going numb from sitting here anyway."

They headed out of the station, stepping into the crowded Paris street. Hover-cars zipped overhead, their engines humming. Eugène led the way, passing through the throng of pedestrians.

"So," Jacques said as they walked, "you really think this is just some run-of-the-mill psycho killer?"

"There's no such thing as 'run-of-the-mill' when it comes to murderers. But yeah, I think it's flesh and blood humans we're dealing with. Fucked up ones, sure, but humans."

"I don't know. It's still not adding up."

They reached the burger joint, a gaudy establishment with a holographic menu floating above the counter.

Jacques stepped up. "Uhm, gimme the Triple Blast with extra cheese and a large fries."

The cashier punched in his order. "That'll be 15 euros."

He turned to Eugène, holding out his hand. "Yo."

"What?"

"You owe me for the last couple meals. Pay up."

Eugène's eyebrows shot up. "What? No way. I bought lunch yesterday."

"Bullshit. You've been mooching off me all week," Jacques insisted, not lowering his hand. "Now, pay up."

"I'm not your personal ATM," Eugène crossed his arms.

"You know you've been freeloading. Just pay for the damn burger."

"I told you, I'm not paying. You're imagining things."

"Oh, am I? What about Tuesday? And Monday? And last Friday?"

"That's not—"

A loud voice cut in from behind them. "Hey, assholes! Some of us are trying to eat here. Order or get out of the way!"

Jacques spun around, flashing his badge. "Police business. Relax fat ass, you'll live without eating one meal."

The man grumbled but stepped back.

Jacques turned back to him. "Alright, how about this? You pay up, or I show the chief those sexy bikini pics of his daughter you've got hidden in your work computer."

Eugène's eyes widened. "You wouldn't dare."

"Try me," Jacques said with a smirk.

"That's blackmail, you piece of shit!"

"Nah, just some friendly persuasion between partners. Now, you gonna pay or what?"

Eugène fished out his wallet. "Fine, you penny-pinching asshole." He slapped a 20 euro note into Jacques' palm. "Happy now?"

"Ecstatic," he said, grinning as he handed the money to the cashier. "Keep the change."

"You're buying next time, you hear me?"

"Yeah, yeah," Jacques waved him off, grabbing his tray of food. "Let's find a table before this grease bomb gets cold."

Eugène ordered large fries for both of them, then followed behind his partner.

They found an empty table in the corner, away from the noisy crowd. Jacques plopped down and unwrapped his burger, taking a massive bite. Eugène sat across from him, munching on his fries.

"Fuck, this is good," Jacques mumbled through a mouthful of food. He swallowed and wiped his mouth with a napkin. "Hey, what's taking Ezra so long with Sato's phone? It's been like 3 hours."

Eugène shrugged, popping another fry into his mouth. "Relax, man. This shit takes time. You can't just wave a magic wand and crack military-grade encryption."

"I know, I know. What if he's holding out on us?"

"Ezra? Nah, he's too much of a pussy to try that. He's probably just being thorough. Besides, after that stunt we pulled with Jenny, he knows we mean business."

Jacques nodded, taking another bite. "I guess. So what do you think we'll find on that phone anyway?"

"Could be anything. Client lists, black market deals, maybe even some dirt on whoever's behind our case."

"You think it might lead us to the killers?"

"It's possible. At the very least, it should give us a clearer picture of what Sato was involved in. Might help us figure out why she was targeted."

Jacques finished his burger and crumpled up the wrapper. "God, I hope so. This case is driving me fucking insane. We need a break, and soon."

"Tell me about it," Eugène agreed, pushing his empty fry container aside. "But hey, at least we're making progress. Days ago, we had jack shit. Now we've got a lead."

"Yeah, if Ezra ever finishes with that damn phone," Jacques grumbled.

"He will. And when he does, we'll be ready. Now come on, let's get back to the station. We've still got that security footage to go through."

They stood up, tossing their trash in the nearby bin before heading out of the burger joint.

As they approached the station entrance, Eugène and Jacques spotted Ezra heading out, likely for his own lunch break.

Jacques called out, "Hey! Where's that phone at?"

Ezra stopped. "Shit, guys. I'm sorry. The phone's been confiscated."

The two detectives exchanged a look.

"Confiscated?" Eugène asked. "By who?"

"That chick in the chief's office," Ezra said, pointing back with his thumb. "Just showed up and took it. Said it was above our pay grade or something."

"You've gotta be fucking kidding me," Jacques growled. "Did she say who she was?"

"Nah, just flashed some fancy badge and swooped in. Look, I gotta run. Good luck with that mess," he said, hurring off, leaving the two staring at each other.

"Well, this is just great," Eugène muttered. "What now?"

"What do you mean 'what now'? We go there in the office and find out who the fuck she is."

They stormed through the station and burst into Chief Dubois' office. There, they found themselves face-to-face with a tall woman sporting long black hair, shades, and a black jacket. She stood next to the chief, having a chat with him.

Dubois looked up when he saw them. "What is it now?"

"Chief, someone's taken evidence from our investigation," Eugène said. "Is that true?"

The woman in black turned to face them. "That would be me." She briefly displayed her badge, then tucked it back into her pocket. "I'm Colette from Directorate of Territorial Security."

Jacques' eyes narrowed. "DST? What the hell does the DST want with our case?"

"That's classified information, Detective," Colette's expression remained impassive. "I'm also here to collect any remaining evidence related to the incident on highway A86."

"This is bullshit," Eugène spat. He turned to Dubois. "Chief, you can't let this happen. You assigned us this case. Are you really going to let them swoop in and take it away?"

He sighed, reaching for a document on his desk. "My hands are tied. The order comes from way above my pay grade."

Jacques slammed his hand on the desk. "So that's it? We just roll over and let them take our case?"

"Watch your tone, Detective," Colette warned. "This isn't a request. It's an order from the highest levels of the EU Federation."

"We've been busting our asses on this case for weeks. You can't just waltz in here and—"

"I can, and I am," Colette cut him off. "Now, I suggest you both cooperate. It'll make this process much smoother for everyone involved."

Jacques laughed bitterly. "Smoother? Lady, you just torpedoed our entire investigation. What are we supposed to do now?"

Chief Dubois stood up. "You'll be reassigned to other cases. There's plenty of work to go around."

"This is such bullshit," Eugène muttered.

"I'll need access to your case files and any physical evidence you've collected," she added, turning herself to leave. "Immediately."

"Hey, at least tell us if we're on the right track," Jacques said. "Vampire bioengineering, that's it, right?"

Colette paused at the door. "Vampires? Detective, I think you've been watching too many old movies."

With that, she was gone, leaving Eugène and Jacques staring at each other in disbelief.

"Chief, what the fuck?" Eugène said.

Dubois leaned back in his chair. "I understand your frustration, but my hands are tied. Sorry boys."

"So that's it?" Jacques chimed in. "Game over?"

"Look, I don't like it any more than you do," Dubois said, spreading his hands. "But when the DST gets involved, we don't have much choice."

Eugène paced the office, running a hand through his hair. "How did they even know about our investigation? We've been keeping this under wraps."

"I wish I knew. Colette just showed up out of the blue."

"This stinks," Jacques muttered. "There's got to be something we can do."

"Unless you want to take on the entire DST, I suggest you drop it," Dubois warned. "They've got the authority to shut us down completely if we don't cooperate."

Eugène stopped pacing. "So what, we just roll over and play dead? Let them waltz in and take our case?"

"That's exactly what we're going to do," Dubois said. "I'm not risking this entire department over one case, no matter how big it is."

Jacques leaned against the wall, crossing his arms. "This is such bullshit. We were close to cracking this thing wide open."

"Continue the case? You were suggesting vampire bioengineering. What's up with that?"

He shifted uncomfortably, aware of how ridiculous it sounded out loud. "Look, Chief, I'm just considering all options. This case has been weird from the start."

"By giving more conspiracy theories?" Dubois scoffed. "Face it, you guys are going nowhere with this case."

Eugène shot Jacques an 'I told you so' look before turning back to the chief. "Sir, with all due respect, we were making progress. The bioengineering theory might be a stretch, but we've got solid leads."

"Solid leads? Like what? Puncture wounds and drained bodies? That's tabloid material, not police work."

Jacques stepped forward. "It's more than that. The tech involved in these killings, the precision of the attacks... There's something bigger going on here."

"Something bigger did came, and that's the DST," Dubois reminded them. "Now, I want you two to gather every scrap of evidence and data you've collected on this case. Hand it over to Agent Colette, and then report back to me for your new assignments."

"Ok, Chief."

As they turned to leave, Dubois added, "And boys? No more vampire talk. We're the police, not ghost hunters. Got it?"

"Got it," they mumbled in unison, stepping out of the office.

Once in the hallway, Jacques spoke up. "This isn't over. Something's not right here."

"Forget it. It's over."

"How can you say that? After everything we've uncovered?"

Eugène stopped and turned to face his partner. "Why not? It's not like there's something in this case that's tying me up. DST wants it? Let them have it."

Without waiting for a response, Eugène pushed past Jacques and headed out of the station. He walked a few steps to the side of the building, leaned against the wall, and pulled out a cigarette. He lit it up and took a long drag, exhaling a cloud of smoke into the air.

"You're seriously just gonna give up? Just like that?"

"What do you want me to do?" Eugène took another puff. "Fight the entire DST? Go rogue? Throw away our careers over one case?"

"But it's not just any case. You know there's more to this. The tech, the killings, that woman from DST showing up out of nowhere... Don't tell me you're not curious."

Eugène flicked some ash off his cigarette. "Curious? Sure. Stupid enough to go up against the government? No thanks."

"What if we just... kept digging? On our own time. No one has to know."

"You're talking about going behind DST's back. You know how crazy that is, right?"

"Crazy? Maybe. But tell me you don't want to know the truth."

Eugène took one last drag of his cigarette before dropping it and crushing it under his heel. He exhaled slowly, the smoke curling around them both.

"Look," he said, "I get it. This case is weird as fuck. But sometimes, you gotta know when to fold. This is one of those times."

Jacques opened his mouth to argue further, but Eugène cut him off with a wave of his hand.

"I'm going home. I suggest you do the same. We've got new assignments waiting for us tomorrow, remember?"