28 December 2025 – Chicago Time: 11:00
Chicago was in mourning today; or so it seemed. Television channels were reporting on the huge explosion near Dawson Bridge with headlines such as "The city's respected psychologist Michael Hale died in the middle of a mafia showdown".
The police had confirmed that DNA samples found in the warehouse rubble (pieces of Michael's bloodstained shirt, deliberately left there) belonged to Michael.Michael was watching his own "obituary" on a dusty television screen in the attic of an abandoned clock tower in the south of the city.
He now understood better why his father had once kept this tower as a secret operations centre. It was a blind spot overlooking the heart of Chicago, yet unseen by anyone.Natalia Reyes appeared on the screen. Her eyes were swollen, her face ashen. She was making a brief statement to the press in front of the police headquarters:
"The case is not closed. No one in this city will sleep until Michael Hale's killers are found."Michael stepped away from the screen. Natalia's pain was real, and it left an indescribable ache in Michael's heart. But this pain was the shield Natalia needed to survive. If everyone believed Michael was dead, Luca would have no business with Natalia.Time: 15:30 The Transformation Begins Michael looked at the items he had taken out of his father's steel briefcase.
Several different fake passports, a large amount of cash, and that famous photograph: Thomas Sterling.Michael stood in front of the mirror. He cut his hair short with the scissors in his hand and darkened his hair colour by a few shades with a special solution his father had left behind. He erased the ever-present "ready to help" psychologist expression from his face.
The look in his eyes now held not compassion, but cold determination.Outside, it had started snowing. Michael had to find a secret name mentioned in his father's notes: "The Alchemist". The identity and data expert of Chicago's underworld.Time: 21:00The Underground – An Industrial AreaMichael stood in front of a rusty metal door, his hood pulled over his face.
After making the coded knock, the door opened. Inside was a technological cave filled with screens, every surface wrapped in cables."The dead don't talk, Hale," said the Alchemist, without looking up from his screens. "But the dead like you have a hefty bill to pay."Michael placed a wad of cash on the table.
"I don't need a new life, I need a ticket into Thomas Sterling's life. I need to infiltrate his inner circle."The Alchemist smiled. "Sterling has a weakness: art. Tomorrow evening, he's holding a private auction at Millennium Park. The city's elite will be there. Your entry ticket is that famous painting your father 'lent' to Sterling years ago: Shadows of Chicago. You don't have the painting, but I have a code that will make Sterling's system think you have it."Michael took the digital card the Alchemist held out.
"When I confront Sterling, I'll find out who Asher Burke is."The Alchemist paused. "Asher Burke... That's not a name, Hale. It's a method. If Sterling is his pawn, when you take down Sterling, you'll see Asher's true face. Are you ready for that?"Michael walked towards the door without looking back. "I already died on Dawson Bridge.
What does a dead man have to lose?"MidnightNatalia Reyes's HouseNatalia placed the glass in her hand on the table. She was examining the evidence she had gathered from Michael's office. Leo Cross's key, Michael's last calls... It all pointed somewhere, but a piece was missing.Just then, she heard a clatter on the fire escape outside her window. She drew her gun and peered out the window.
There was no one outside. But a small piece of paper lay on the ledge.Natalia picked up the paper with trembling hands. It had only one psychology term written on it; the term they had argued about the day she first met Michael:
"Cognitive Dissonance".Natalia's eyes widened. This was a signal Michael had sent her."I'm alive. But you'll have to question everything you believe."Natalia looked out onto the street. In the darkness, the silhouette in the long coat beneath the street lamp vanished like a shadow before Natalia could look at it.