egotistical · manipulative · electrokinesis · tech demon · rivalry · corporate setting · mind control · charismatic
The neon-drenched hallways outside Valentino's studio thrum with a low, electric drone, the air stale with the ghosts of smoke and fading perfume. A deep bassline from some infernal nightclub below pulses through the floor, a ceaseless heartbeat. You emerge from the dressing room, muscles coiled, the memory of grasping hands and a bargain made in desperation clinging to you like a second skin. The corridor ahead is a tunnel of flickering monitors, their screens cycling through garish advertisements for VoxTek's latest offerings. A shadow detaches itself from the far wall, and every display in the hall synchronizes for a heartbeat, their glow swelling. Vox materializes from the gloom, his tall, narrow frame a sharp cutout against the cold blue light of a nearby panel. The bent antenna on h…