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Detective Kiramman had been utilizing J1nx’s less-than-legal hacking services on and off for the past four years. Starting small with acquiring private surveillance footage, their relationship blossomed into exchanges involving stolen intel that had led to numerous busts and even more arrests. Their work was mutually beneficial. Caitlyn ascended the ranks fast, quickly becoming the youngest senior detective the force had ever had, and J1nx happily took massive chunks from the inheritance left for her benefactor.
Today was different, the detective needed a device that would hack into the city’s own servers and find the mole without being traceable. It was a tall ask, but if anyone was up to the task, it was her digital pen pal.
Under an overpass just outside the city limits, Caitlyn approached the designated meeting spot. She hid her overly formal suit under a long brown jacket that hugged her waist. The area was barren of life but bustling with various spray painted tags of pink, green, and blue. Despite there being no one in sight, she felt eyes on her, a hand on her gun just in case. What she didn’t expect was a digitized voice above her.
With her gun pointed up, Caitlyn came face to… well almost face, with her contact. Above the detective, nestled between the supports of the overpass, was a thin individual, blue yarn was threaded through long brown hair to make two impossibly long braids that peaked out from the hood and framed an unseen face. The mask was a hybrid of a digital screen with pink dots for eyes and a black fabric covering over the mouth with fabric paint in the shape of a devious sharp-toothed smile. It imitated blinking as the stranger tilted their head.
“Jay one nix, I presume. It’s nice to finally meet you.” Caitlyn said as she put away the gun back into its holster.
LEDs over the eyes lit up with ‘> <’ as they cackled so hard that they rolled off the thin ledge and onto the ground, unfazed by any pain they might’ve experienced from the fall. The voice was altered into a low robotic rumble.
While catching their breath between words, they corrected, “It's Jinx. Have you really been calling me that in your head the whole time? Wow, your boss was right in your quarterly review, too high-strung to notice the obvious.”
They stood and it surprised Caitlyn how short they were in comparison to her. What wasn’t surprising was the mirrored words she had read from her superior. While she had kindly requested that Jinx not do anything so illegal that she would have to interfere, the incessant need to know more than her was consistent with their previous interactions online, even if that meant hacking into surface level police files. At least this proved that Jinx was capable of the task she was asking of them.
Ignoring the ridicule of Jinx’s questions, Caitlyn asked, “Do you have the device?”
The digital eyes got big and teary, “Straight to business I guess. Thought you’d want to get to know each other a little before we start.”
Caitlyn wasn’t entertaining it, “Considering you won't even show your face, I thought it to be a waste of time.”
Circling the detective like a vulture, Jinx looked her up and down before getting so close that Caitlyn could almost see through the semi transparent glass that hid soft blue eyes. Her breath caught in her throat as she felt the warmth of another body pressed against hers.
“Don’t take it too personally, princess. Nobody gets to see my face, not even I have to.” The phrasing left more questions but Jinx knew they would remain unasked and they were right.
“The device.” Caitlyn reminded them.
The led screens lit up to show Jinx’s displeasure with an animation of rolling eyes dramatically, “I’m missing a piece. Had a drone delivering it until this fucking gang wannabe hijacked it. Need your help actually.”
“My help?” Her voice was shocked and offended to have been dragged into this nonsense.
With ‘^ ^’ eyes, Jinx explained, “Everything about you screams cop, I doubt you’d even have to flash a badge to keep em’ busy while I break in to nab it.”
Despite being an officer of the law, it wouldn’t be the first time Caitlyn broke it in order to catch far worse criminals than herself or Jinx.
The frail balding man who opened the door wasn’t what the detective expected from someone who wanted to, in Jinx’s words, ‘make it big’ in the criminal underworld. He was clearly flustered by Caitlyn’s beauty as a deep blush spread across his face that he tried to hide by pushing the glasses further up his nose.
The attraction would come in handy and Caitlyn made her voice sultry to keep his attention, “Huck, right? I’m Officer Kiramman, and I was hoping you could help me with an investigation into your neighbour.”
His shoulders visibly relaxed when suspicion was off him but he didn’t invite her in right away.
He stuttered through his words, “Oh, I don’t really know my neighbours so well. You’d have better luck down the hall.”
Caitlyn’s foot held the door open when he tried to close it. With slow intentional movement she unbuttoned her shirt just enough that her ample cleavage was on display and leaned up against the door frame while fanning herself with the loose collar.
With an exaggerated sigh, Caitlyn feigned exhaustion, “It’s so hot out and I’ve been walking all day. Would you be a dear and get me a glass of water.”
His eyes darted around but kept returning to that eye level bosom as he stumbled across his words just to gesture an invitation inside. Caitlyn quickly took in her surroundings, wires and tools were stroon about messily amongst empty cans and junk food. For a moment she feared Huck would encounter Jinx but he returned shortly with a glass.
She kept him busy with small talk and questions about his neighbours and waited for a text that would signal the all clear but it never came. What was estimated to take a few minutes was turning into a half hour affair and the nerves were making her heat stroke story more believable with real beads of anxious sweat rolling down her face. Heavy footsteps in the other room caught her attention.
“Is someone else here?” She asked.
Huck seemed nervous, “Oh, just a few friends. I should get back to them actually-”
His excuse was cut short by the shattering of glass down the hall and Caitlyn sighed. Already spent from insufferable conversation, she pulled out her gun to stop the wannabe hacker in his tracks.
“W-Wha-” He stuttered.
“Shut up and take me to that.” Caitlyn demanded.
He walked to the end of the hall where large server towers made the space difficult to navigate and slipped through a barely visible door. Inside were two muscular men, smoking and playing video games. Surprised, one reached for his own firearm just to be stopped when Cait removed the safety on the gun pressed to Huck’s temple.
“Where are they?” She barked.
With a thick accent, one of the muscular men responded, “We don’t know what you mean.”
He was a good actor, but Jinx’s mask was on the couch behind him. Everyone stayed silent but their eyes said it all, nervously peaking at the door behind them was the answer to her question.
She got lucky, shoving Huck into his muscle caused the big one to drop his weapon. With the butt of her gun, she dazed the bald man while the other shoved Huck out of the way. The second was still sitting, which made kicking him in the face a simple matter. She heard a crack and assumed his nose would never be the same. Utilizing the stunning blows, Caitlyn rushed over to the door and unlocked it. Before she could open the it, the bald man slammed into her, flattening her body and limiting her movement.
Things would be so much simpler if she could shoot one of these morons but discharging a firearm came with paperwork and explanations she wasn’t willing to give. Instead, she twisted her body and broke free long enough to slam her knee into the man’s groin. When he crumpled to the ground, Caitlyn rushed into what turned out to be a bathroom.
On the floor balled up in the corner was Jinx who made no effort to even turn around to face the detective. Wrists were bound and a makeshift gag was wrapped around their head and tied in the back. Shards of shattered mirror littered the floor and there was blood at the impact site above the sink.
“Jinx! We have to go now.” Caitlyn insisted, but her companion remained motionless.
Not having the time to spare, she tugged on the knots and freed Jinx from their bindings, but all they did was wrap their arms around their knees like a frightened child. In the other room, Caitlyn could hear the men get to their feet, groaning in pain, their window of opportunity was quickly closing. With a violent yank, Caitlyn forced Jinx to look at her and was stunned at what she saw.
Before her was the most beautiful young woman Caitlyn had ever seen. She couldn’t be older than 20 with big pale blue eyes like seafoam and soft full lips, the vision was only interrupted by a crimson dripping from her forehead down the side of a perfect button nose. Jinx had been crying based on the puffy red swelling around her eyes and bit her lip as though unable to speak. It was only for a moment that Caitlyn was graced with the sight of an angel before Jinx hid away her face in the crook of her arm.
A half whispered request was the only thing the hacker could manage to spit out, “Mask.”
The door slammed open against the wall as a muscular man barreled in. Caitlyn used his momentum against him, grabbing his arm and twisting until he tripped over his own feet causing his head to slam into the toilet. It cracked and water began to spray everywhere from what was once the basin. Jinx didn’t even flinch.
Baldy got a hold of the gun that had fallen but it was clear he had never held it before so Caitlyn wasn’t too worried and held her hands up in surrender. Just behind him she could see the mask unattended on the couch by Huck who was cowering pathetically. To clear her mind, Caitlyn took a deep breath as the man stepped closer. As fast as she was able, she stepped to the side while pushing the barrel which clicked uselessly with the safety on. It was a simple matter to use her other hand to wrench the weapon free and she finished off the maneuver with a kick to the shin that had him reeling.
In a reckless act of desperation, Caitlyn slipped past the hired muscle and snatched the mask which she tossed at Jinx. As though they could sense it in the air, one arm reached out and snatched it without looking. That digitized maniacal laughter sent shivers down her spine as Jinx rose to their feet. The twang of metal against bone rang out as Jinx’s steel-toed boot connected with the bald man’s jaw with a deafening crack.
With an impatient speed Caitlyn asked, “Did you get it?”
Calm as a cucumber, Jinx skipped over to Huck as though all went according to plan, their digital eyes flashed bouncing pink hearts with glee. They moved quickly, causing the coward to flinch, but simply reached past his head to grab a small cardboard box.
Jinx whispered in his ear, “Next time you try to play dirty, make sure to hire someone competent.”
They didn’t speak until reaching Jinx’s base of operations, an abandoned shipping container off the highway not too far from where they met. It was surprisingly cosy inside despite the rusted exterior.
They didn’t waste time getting to work, sitting with one knee tucked against their chest in a second-hand office chair at a work table . The smell of soldering wires filled the narrow room. Tapestries and Christmas lights decorated the cold walls and an impressive computer setup was the centrepiece of the room. Up in the far corner was a hammock with a worn grey rabbit and some blankets. It would have been perfect if not for the loud vibrations of the generator by the door.
Jinx noticed their guest’s curiosity, “I’d normally use the solar panels I have hidden on the roof, but it’s been cloudy lately.”
Ignoring the small talk, the detective asked, “Will this take long?”
“Long enough that you might as well sit.” Jinx muttered, not sparing a glance away from the delicate process at their fingertips.
The bean bag sank into the ground when Caitlyn sat in it, and a picture frame caught her eye. It depicted two young girls holding hands and laughing, one with reddish ginger hair and a similar face to Jinx’s, but the odd part about it was the other girl. She looked younger but the photo had been scratched and torn until nothing remained of her face but a hole that showed the cardboard holding the frame together. It had to be Jinx, a cursory look around confirmed her suspicions, not even a single shiny surface that would reflect someone’s face could be found.
With a dramatic spin, Jinx rolled their chair to the other side of the shipping container and plugged the device into their computer. After dragging around some files, a loading bar filled one screen and they leaned back, seemingly done with their work. Caitlyn’s need to know the hidden truths of the world sometimes came off as being nosy, but she had to know who she was working with, especially with a matter as sensitive as a mole in the police force.
“What happened back there?” Caitlyn was vague to give Jinx some wiggle room to expand.
They brushed it off, “You kicked some ass and we got what we needed?”
With a dramatic roll of her eyes, Caitlyn claimed, “You got caught. Smart thinking using the mirror to alert me, though, did you want me to take a look at the cuts on your face?”
“No!” Jinx snapped back frantically, their real voice loud enough to circumvent a bit of the voice changer and slipped out. They took a breath and spoke at a normal volume once again, “I didn’t expect anyone. They caught me. You saved me. End of story.”
Unsatisfied, the detective retorted, “After causing yourself bodily harm to alert me, you completely shut down. What was even the point of it?”
Jinx corrected her firmly, “I didn’t do it to alert you.” Their body balled up like it had in the bathroom, both knees held close at their chest. “I just don’t like looking at myself.”
Remembering that face of an angel, she attempted to flirt, “I can’t imagine why, you’re a very pretty girl.”
“I’m not a girl! I’m a Jinx.” They spat out in digitized tones through the mask.
“My apologies for the mistake. It was meant as a compliment.” Caitlyn admitted.
“Yeah, I’ve done enough digging to know exactly how you meant it.” The venom in their words was pointed.
“What do you mean by digging?” She asked with growing concern.
Jinx’s glowing pink eyes formed into hearts as they opened a file on their desktop labelled ‘Hat Lady’. There must’ve been a unique program attached because it immediately filled the many monitors with pictures of Caitlyn. Her official portrait on the force, CCTV footage of arrests, and photos of her with various women on dates from their social media profiles. It wasn’t only photos, there was documentation of all their conversations, quarterly reviews from her boss on the force, report cards from college, and even an article about Caitlyn from a shooting competition she had won in her childhood.
Suddenly, the cosy shipping container felt more like a coffin than a secret hideaway. A bead of stress formed on Caitlyn’s forehead. There was tangible evidence that connected her to this criminal, documentation of every illegal action that if discovered, would set free dozens of criminals on this technicality while destroying the budding detective’s lucrative career. She felt the room spinning as all her fears were laid bare before her.
With impressively fast speed for her size, Caitlyn grabbed the hacker by the tattered collar of their black hoodie, lifted them from their chair and slammed them against the decorated metal wall. The entire room shook from the force of their altercation. Jinx’s age showed with underdeveloped muscles and childish attempts to struggle away from the grasp.
Caitlyn’s voice was hoarse and frantic, “What do you want? Money? My body? Weapons? Spit it out!”
The digital eyes conveyed fear as Jinx pathetically said, “I just wanted to meet you.”
“...What?” It was as though the hacker was speaking another language, one without motives like the criminals she had dedicated her life to expose.
The confusion loosened her grip and Jinx wriggled free before spitting back in a familiar venom, “It’s not like I was gonna trust some stranger to walk into the police station with hard evidence of my meddling… Besides, II thought you’d be impressed.”
Caitlyn stared at nothing in particular for a moment, analyzing her situation before speaking, “Delete it. Everything. You won’t get your money if there's even a trace left.”
“Awe, is the big scary detective scared of the slammer?” Jinx teased, the painted smile on their mask finally fitting their devilish demeanor.
That hard exterior cracked with Jinx’s audacity, “Like you’re not?”
“Please! All I’d need is an old phone and a pack of gum and I’d break out in under a week.” They said with calm certainty.
Caitlyn didn’t respond, instead she stared at the monitors that depicted her likeness until Jinx took it upon themself to start purging the data. She wasn’t certain, but it almost looked like the digital eyes depicted broken hearts before Jinx turned their head to get to work.
The download finished, and Jinx unplugged the fake flash drive, which prompted Caitlyn to fish out the envelope of cash secured in the inside pocket of her jacket. But when she held it out, Jinx raised a palm to stop her.
“Keep it, I added something on top of your mole finder in the program. Wouldn't have been able to sneak in to use it myself, so let's call it even.” Jinx stated with finality while pushing the thumb drive into her hand.
“What is it?” Cait asked with suspicion.
Jinx’s digital eyes rolled, “Don’t get your panties in a twist, I’m just looking for someone. My sister. If I’m right, her disappearance might even be related to your dirty cop business.”
Turning to leave, her conscience got the better of her, and she turned to apologize, “Thank you, for everything. And… sorry about-”
“Don’t sweat it.” Jinx interrupted, pretending to be busy with something on their computer, but clearly hurting.
“If there's any way I can help you find your sister, I’ll do it.” Caitlyn stated before leaving, not waiting for what was sure to be a dismissive response.
In the precinct, it wasn’t difficult to get the server room to herself. The two tech nerds who usually spent their time fiddling with it only needed to be told of the pizza she had bought everyone for lunch downstairs in order to leave their posts. As soon as Caitlyn plugged it in, a program ran and opened various files, circumventing their security with ease. The first picture that stayed up was of an inmate at Stillwater, a maximum-security prison, with familiar lips and reddish-ginger hair.
It had to be Jinx’s sister, older and far more toned than the little girl in the photo she had seen in the hideout. What was particularly interesting about her file was that the reason for arrest and conviction was left blank, as though there had been no reason at all. Not only that, but the file had to be corrupted, there was no way this woman had been in prison that long or she would have been arrested as a child. The program highlighted the arresting officer and pulled up an old photo, it was Caitlyn’s direct supervisor, Marcus.
“Oof, I was such a scrawny beat cop back then.” Marcus’s voice sent shivers down her spine.
Turning around proved Caitlyn’s worst fears to be true. Marcus stood behind her with a half-eaten slice of pizza on a greasy napkin. Her mind raced with excuses she could spew that might throw him off the trail, but they got caught in her throat.
“Oh, I know what this is about.” Marcus sighed.
Caitlyn argued, “No. It’s not what you think-”
He interrupted her, “You’re finding old photos to show off on my birthday this friday. Trying to embarrass the boss are we? Did Maddie put you up to this?”
A nervous laugh was great cover for her settling nerves, “I tried to talk her out of it, but you know how sly that one is. I’ll tell her I couldn’t find any.”
Marcus sighed with relief, “I appreciate you covering for me, let me know if there's any way I can make it up to Piltover’s brightest young detective. You know, I heard Ambessa mention that if you even make one more big arrest she’d have to promote you, so I might as well start the ass kissing early.”
“Are you serious?”
Her boss nodded while chewing a particularly tough pepperoni as her mind swam with the possibilities. All the good she could accomplish with a higher position, not to mention the approval of her mother that she had been striving for all these years. It was all so close she could taste it.
The flash drive caught her eye before a twisted idea formed in her mind, “Hey Marcus, what’s the maximum sentence for digital extortion?”
Jinx never should have trusted a cop. No matter how sexy or righteous Caitlyn was, at her core she was just as crooked as the rest of them. Waiting to get what she wanted just to turn around and use them just to further her career. They knew it was suspicious that the detective wanted any trace of their connection erased, making it easier to deal with the loose end of a careless hacker.
The prison floor was cold but they couldn’t bear the discomfort of the crummy mattress, so they would have to get used to the concrete eventually. When the police took Jinx in, they took their mask and chopped off their hair until it was a short bob.
The incompetent men couldn’t figure out how to undo the yarn threaded into Jinx’s hair, they barely tried before taking scissors to it. And of course their mask was confiscated. The cold breeze on their bare face made the betrayed hacker feel vulnerable, but at least there were no reflective surfaces they would be forced to endure.
They picked at the loose skin around their finger nails until it bled, too enraged to care as they plotted Caitlyn’s downfall. That was, until an officer rattled on the bars to get Jinx’s attention.
It was a man with slicked back hair and big fish-like eyes, his uniform had his name written on it, Steb. He didn’t speak, but motioned Jinx over with a nod of his head. The way Steb moved, constantly looking around to make sure they were alone, made Jinx trust him at least initially. Once they were close enough, he slipped a shitty plastic halloween mask through the bars. Inside it was an old brick phone, a pack of gum, and a short note.
Inmate 516. Good luck.
-C