The apartment buzzed softly with the sound of machinery. Screens blinked, tools were scattered across the workbench and in the center of it all stood Dax, half-dressed in sleek black and white gear, the last piece of his suit draped over his shoulder. He pulled on the hoodie, the fabric folding into the glider rig at the back.
His mask sat on the table, a smooth, minimalist piece with pale lenses and sharp black markings curling back from the eyes like shadowy claws, his signature look as Specter.
Behind him, Milo paced in front of the projected layout of the security building. "Alright," he began. "Entry point's the west side vent. Laser grid's active from the moment you step in, so you'll have about 45 seconds to cross. Don't touch the floor."
Dax picked up his mask and turned it over in his hands, only half-listening.
"After that, you drop into the second hallway. There's a patrol that comes by every three minutes, so you'll wait in the blind spot here..." Milo tapped the hologram "then slip past when the corridor clears. You'll have a ninety second window to reach the vault. And I mean exactly ninety."
Dax pulled the mask on, voice slightly muffled now. "What if I just skip the vent and go in through the rooftop skylight? I've got the wings now."
"No." Milo's voice was flat. "That's not part of the plan. You go rogue, you risk everything. The timing, the guards, the pressure sensors—I calculated all of it. This isn't a game."
There was a long pause. Dax walked to the window, opened it, and stepped onto the ledge, facing Milo with a smirk under his mask.
"Neah…" he said, the wind brushing through the glider folds behind him. "I'ma do my own thing."
"Dax, don't ! "
Too late. He fell back, arms out, relaxed as the wings snapped open with a hiss of compressed air, catching the current like a bird of prey diving off a cliff.
Milo cursed and rushed to the window. Below, Specter cut a smooth arc between towers, a streak of white and black gliding into the city night.
Milo let out a long breath before he huffed a short, quiet chuckle "One day, he's gonna fall for real."