Adam woke up on a bright new day from the persistent ringing of the telephone in this bedroom, resting on a small, standing cabinet near the side of his bed, forcing him to lazily slump himself upwards from his mattress to answer the phone with a tired expression on his face, putting himself in the position of enduring the need to wake up earlier than usual from this interruption.
Sitting at the edge of his bed, he pulled the outdated phone from its stand and answered the call; his eyes are half awake while his voice is slightly groggy, barely wanting to speak at all but decided to for the sake of it, "yes?" He said it in annoyance, regretting if this was one of the scam calls people get without checking first.
"Is this Adam?" A familiar voice spoke through the phone, sounding concerned and worried about something. From the tone of his words, he could recognize whose this is and why he is calling him, knowing Miller is contacting him for an important matter. "Yes, it's me," Adam answered nonchalantly, not caring what he had to say.
Miller frowned before continuing his statement: "There is a recent investigation happening near the red light district of this city, and I want you to come with me. It's important," he informed, his voice becoming serious, and the perfect time for someone like you to use your talents in getting our bastard behind bars."
Sighing, Adam shook his head in displeasure at Miller involving him in his justice nonsense but nonetheless agreed, "Fine, where are we going to meet up? Back in the restaurant we went to last night?" He asked, having not forgotten the gratitude this person showed by saving his impending doom from Lilith and feeling still relieved of being saved from that situation.
"I'm already outside," the answer caught his colleague off guard, "meet me at the entrance," demanding in such a matter, causing Adam to be rather surprised to be discovered where he lived, let alone have his own residence address known. Nonetheless, he obliged to his wishes this time, as he didn't want to disappoint his new boss and felt responsible for returning his favor.
"How the hell did you—" Shaking his head, "forget it," he immediately placed the phone back on its stand, cutting off Miller from saying another word as he rose himself up from his bed, stretching his arms out with eyes more awake than earlier, still wearing his trademark outfit from yesterday, not torn or messy in the slightest.
Thinking it was not worth inspecting, he decided to do his morning routine first by brushing his teeth and eating breakfast, which consisted of simple cereal and a drink of water. Finishing his short meal within a few minutes, Adam exited his rented room before the door closed behind him, locking it as he headed to the elevator to reach the first floor.
As the shaft began to head down, he calmly laid his back on the wall, allowing the little time of peace he had left before getting himself into these types of shenanigans again. He did not like to involve himself in such matters but was willing to return a favor out of respect, trying to remind himself of the reason for it.
The door then slid open, forcing his legs and back to move; he sighed once more, walking his way out while ignoring the hotel employees doing their job; he ignored them altogether, believing it was meaningless to start a conversation and having more importance in his life to get this over with and bring that asshole to jail.
Reaching the entrance, he wasted no time in opening the doors; bringing himself in, he walked out and smelled the fresh air of Hope City's public streets, noticing Miller waiting outside in his expensive-looking car, parked near the sidewalk with his upper torso showing from the open window, gesturing Adam to come over with, "Hey! Hop in!"
His eyes laid on the expensive-looking car, noticing its sleek and shiny design of what appears to be a futuristic limousine with its silver color reflecting the sunlight above, emphasizing the luxury and wealth of its owner, having its seats and windows tinted, adding a sense of secrecy and mystery to its passengers.
Approaching the vehicle, his colleague opened the side of the driver's seat as the young man entered without second thought, sitting himself comfortably while closing the door, catching Miller's attention as he adjusted his mirror in front of them, preparing himself to drive. "You buckled yourself?" He asked, receiving a nod of yes from Adam. "Good," Miller responded as he began to press the pedal.
He quietly glances out his window, observing the many buildings and infrastructures that Hope City has to offer, from skyscrapers to statues and monuments, showing the advancement and prosperity of the future in contrast to New York's own problems. He admires the futuristic and technological advancements that this City has made.
Hope City has relatively busy and bothersome traffic, especially at the center of the city, where a lot of people are heading to work or getting themselves entertained with the many amenities and activities this place has to offer. However, Miller is a skilled driver, maneuvering and bypassing the many cars and vehicles that are blocking his way, having a clear understanding of the roads and streets, as if this place were his home.
"So," the driver started the conversation to break the awkward silence between them, "how's life for you?" He asked, earning Adam's eyes to look at him, thinking why he should care about his life in the first place and replying with scoff from the question, "Life?" Causing the young man to almost laugh miserably at this question.
"It's been shit," he said in an almost sarcastic manner, glancing away from him while observing the city once more, seeing a group of men having conversation outside of a bar and other random things he doesn't care about. "Why do you ask? It's not like my life matters," he said, earning his boss's frown from hearing this pessimistic answer.
"Don't say that man," his driver almost sounds offended by the answer; "we all have lives," reassuring Adam of having importance; "everyone is important," Miller responds, earning a brow from him; "even you," added with a hint of optimism that causes the young man to chuckle in response, shaking his head from such positivity.
"Nah," disagreeing with the opinion, "most people are selfish assholes like me, caring only themselves," recalling the many bad memories he experienced from his miserable life, mostly caused by people, "they don't care about anyone or anything," arguing back, believing the lack of belief in good despite having experienced them before.
Before Miller could say anything further, he was interrupted by Adam's sudden apology for the behavior: "Sorry, I shouldn't have said that," admitting his mistake of acting like this: "It's just..." Pausing from the thought of remembering the past, taking a deep breath, knowing he cannot talk about this any further, he says, "It's nothing," deciding to let it go.
Adam's boss secretly expressed a display of confusion and concern in hearing this person's behavior, wondering what is the cause of his attitude while having suspicion, having known this person's background from his father's word of advice; carefully driving his way through the roads, Miller calmed him, focusing on the road.
Thanks, I guess," bringing his attention elsewhere, "glad you understand me then," staring boringly at the road ahead of them, thinking of something to distract his mind, "mind waking me up when we are they? I'm going to take a short nap for awhile," he said, his eyes slowly closing before his head fell backward against the leather seat, drifting himself to sleep.
Unbeknownst to him, Miller glanced at his partner before returning his focus to the road: "What's with this guy?" He whispers under his breath in bewilderment, not understanding the behavior of his colleague but still determined to find the root cause of Adam's strange attitude. He can tell that this person has suffered from something horrific.
It has to be that demon in the alleyway. She probably has done something to him, or at least something related to his past. A curious mystery he wants to unravel but is unable to due to how busy he is in bringing that son of a bitch to justice and eagerly beating The Deviler with his bare hands for the terrible things this prick has done.
So many unfortunate people have their lives ruined for what? He doesn't know; better yet, maybe he shouldn't even bother knowing the motives behind those crimes. Nevertheless, Miller swears to bring this monster down, putting a stop to all the suffering he has caused for Hope City and hoping everyone can sleep soundly.
Gripping the wheel harder, he hasn't forgotten seeing the scenes of this mutilator's victims; the worst is that they are alive and still able to continue living at the cost of having excruciating pain throughout their bodies, sometimes losing eyes or limbs, and left traumatized to the point no one would want to be around them.
The worst has yet to come; this scumbag they are hunting is clever and intelligent enough to evade their detection, only coming out at night and leaving his gruesome masterpieces for them to find, taunting and mocking them for failing to stop him. Miller hopes his new partner can help him finally capture this freak.
Better yet, he would probably allow the death penalty on this piece of crap, but he's better than this. He didn't create this group to become the executioner; they bring criminals to justice and rehabilitate them through various treatments and therapy, helping the outcasts return to normal society.
This is why he still believes in this old system through and through, although corruption and abuse have occurred; he still sees Hope City as much safer than New York, and although the disappearances are becoming concerning, they are manageable. Having hope in humanity to become better people, believing they can become ordinary people again.
Miller truly believes in this old system, having faith that people can become good individuals; some would disagree with this, but he still wants to believe in that idea. He may be seen as naive; he does not care about others' opinions on his morals and values, seeing them as fools for believing otherwise. This is the justice he believes in.
A type of justice to reform others while punishing them by limiting their freedom, forcing them to reflect and change their ways through rehabilitation. It may or might not work, but at least it's something. They aren't going to kill every single creature out there; they aren't bounty hunters, they are law enforcers.
Quickly glancing at his side, Miller can see him sleeping soundly, unbothered by anything around them to the point of not caring about the world. "Must be nice," he whispers to himself, wishing to do the same while driving through the still busy roads in this city, pondering whether he should wake his partner up or not.
Deciding to keep the silence between them, the driver continued moving his vehicle; the further they go, the less their surroundings become populated and the more derelict the buildings are until there are little to no people walking around, only deserted and abandoned neighborhoods that are seemingly untouched.
Parking at the side of an empty sidewalk, he calmly breathes a sigh of relief at not having to get himself involved with irresponsible drivers on the road, something he is used to due to his experiences living in New York City. "Pretty quiet, don't you think so?" he says to his passenger, expecting him to answer back.
Only to receive no response whatsoever, beginning to contemplate whether it was time to wake him up now, "I'll let him rest for a while; the guy just got up from his bed," removing his seatbelt, he left his seat and exited the vehicle. Closing the door, he leans himself against his car, inhaling the air and admiring the peaceful, quiet atmosphere in this place. It is a sort of tranquility to him.
