Chapter 5: An Unlikely Alliance

Chapter 5: An Unlikely Alliance

The crisp hundred-dollar bill sat on Leo’s worn kitchen table, a tangible symbol of his first victory. It should have been a source of pure triumph, yet it felt strangely small next to the glowing blue screen that now dominated his apartment. The mission to take down Marcus Thorne, ‘The Rot at the Root,’ was a different beast entirely.

Bartholomew had been a street-level boss in a video game, predictable and easily beaten with the right strategy. Marcus Thorne was the next level, a corporate entity shielded by layers of bureaucracy, HR policies, and plausible deniability. Leo knew that world. He had navigated it, managed it, and ultimately been crushed by it. He knew that a head-on assault was suicide. You couldn't just walk up to a man like Thorne with a clever turn of phrase; you needed leverage, data, and a plan of attack that would leave him with no escape route.

For a full day, the problem gnawed at him. At the construction site, as he hauled steel beams under the indifferent sky, he wasn't just working; he was strategizing. He broke down the problem just as he would a complex logistics project in his old life.

Objective: Publicly disgrace Marcus Thorne using the system he built. Knowns: Thorne is the architect of the punitive bonus system. Unknowns: Everything else. His habits, his weaknesses, his secrets. The System had called them "hidden vices," but it provided no specifics. It gave him the target, not the ammunition. Resources: Leo Vance, one man. The Karmic Retribution System, a supernatural guide. Conclusion: Resources insufficient.

He was a lone operative trying to infiltrate a fortress. He could see the target through a high-tech scope, but he had no way to get past the front gate.

That evening, exhausted and covered in grime, he sank onto his couch. His fingers found the business card in his wallet, the sharp edges a familiar presence now. Clara Jensen, Investigative Reporter. She had the skills he lacked. She knew how to dig, how to ask questions, how to navigate the labyrinth of public records and corporate structures. She was a key that could unlock doors he couldn't even see. The System had given him the power, but it seemed fate had provided the tool.

He took a deep breath, steeling himself, and dialed the number.

“Clara Jensen.” Her voice was as crisp and professional as he remembered.

“This is Leo Vance,” he said. “The man from the bus.”

There was a brief pause. “Mr. Vance. I was wondering if I’d hear from you. Decided you want to share your story after all?”

“Not exactly,” Leo said carefully. “You told me you were looking for a story. I think the one about Bartholomew Higgins isn’t the real story. He’s just a symptom. I think the real story is about the man who pulls his strings.”

The silence on the other end of the line was different this time. It was charged with professional interest. “Go on.”

“I think you should look into his boss, a District Manager named Marcus Thorne.”

“Thorne,” Clara repeated, the name sounding foreign. “He’s a few rungs up the ladder. Why him? A lot of people have grudges against management, Mr. Vance. I need more than that to launch an investigation.”

This was the crux of it. He had to give her enough to hook her, without revealing the impossible truth. He chose his words as if laying a foundation for a skyscraper.

“It’s not a grudge. It’s the system he designed. I’ve heard from… sources… that Thorne created a bonus structure for fare collectors. They get cash incentives for minimizing ‘unpaid fare incidents.’ That means every time they refuse service to someone who’s a few cents short, or can’t make exact change, it puts money in their pocket. And in his. He’s monetized cruelty.”

The clacking of a keyboard started on her end. Clara was already working. “Monetized cruelty,” she murmured, more to herself than to him. “That’s a hell of a headline. If it’s true.”

“It’s true,” Leo said with a certainty that he hoped sounded like inside knowledge, not divine intervention. “Look into the MTA’s internal performance metrics for his district. Look at the budget for employee incentives. The paper trail has to be there. Thorne is rewarding guys like Higgins for the exact behavior you saw on that bus.”

“And where did you hear all this, Mr. Vance?” Her voice was sharp, probing.

“Let’s just say a lot of good people have been pushed out by men like Thorne,” he said, letting the ambiguity hang. “And they still talk to people on the inside.”

It was the perfect bait. He was framing himself as the face of a network of disgruntled ex-employees, a source with access to whispers from within the corporate walls.

Clara was silent for a long moment. Leo could almost hear the gears turning in her mind, weighing the risk against the potential reward. A story about a corrupt manager systematically preying on the city’s most vulnerable citizens wasn't just a local news piece. It was a career-maker.

“Alright, Leo,” she finally said, her tone shifting from skeptical journalist to co-conspirator. “You’ve got my attention. Meet me tomorrow. Noon. The Daily Grind cafe on 4th and Elm. We’ll talk strategy.”

The next day, sitting across from her in a small booth, Leo felt a spark of his former self return. This was familiar territory: a stakeholder meeting, a project kickoff. Clara had a laptop open and a notepad in front of her. She was all business.

“Okay,” she began, “I did some preliminary digging after your call. You’re right. There is a performance bonus program in Thorne’s district, and it’s an outlier. No other district in the city has anything like it. Officially, it’s for ‘operational efficiency.’ Unofficially…” She looked at him. “You’ve given me the ‘what’ and the ‘who.’ Now we need the ‘why.’ Guys like Thorne don’t do this just for a gold star from corporate. There’s usually a personal angle. Greed. Vice. Something.”

Leo leaned forward, his voice low. The System had hinted at ‘hidden vices.’ He decided to make a calculated leap of faith, presenting it as a logical deduction.

“A man who builds a system that profits from misery is likely cutting corners elsewhere. What’s his lifestyle like? A mid-level city manager’s salary is public record. Does he live within it?”

Clara’s eyes lit up. “That’s the first place to look. Expense reports, asset declarations, social media. If his spending doesn't match his income, we have our thread.”

For the next hour, they worked. Leo, drawing on his dormant project management skills, sketched out a flowchart on a napkin, outlining potential avenues of investigation and possible points of failure. Clara, using her research databases, began pulling up information on Thorne—his address, his vehicle registration, his professional history.

A picture began to form. Marcus Thorne lived in a condo that was well above his pay grade. He drove a late-model luxury sedan. He was a member of an exclusive golf club.

“There it is,” Clara said, pointing to her screen. “He’s living a six-figure lifestyle on a five-figure salary. This is where we start. I’ll do a deep dive into his financials, property records, any corporate shells registered in his name. You…” she paused, looking at him. “You’re the man on the ground. Can you do some old-fashioned surveillance? See where he goes after work? Who he meets? The golf club is a good place to start. Find out what kind of man he is when he’s not behind a desk.”

Leo nodded, a cold resolve settling over him. “I can do that.”

He had the System providing the targets. She had the skills to build the case. For the first time, taking down Marcus Thorne felt not just possible, but inevitable. They were an unlikely pair—a disgraced manager working a dead-end job and an ambitious reporter hungry for a big story. But together, they were a weapon aimed at the heart of the city's corruption.

Their first joint investigation had begun. The hunt was on.