Morrigan: Year 3101.

Rain pelted the A86 highway, turning the asphalt into a slick, treacherous surface. Police lights flashed, their blue and red hues reflecting off the wet road. Officers had cordoned off a wide perimeter around a mangled vehicle, its door blown off its hinges.

An ambulance sat parked on the shoulder, two injured officers receiving treatment inside. The crash site was a mess of twisted metal and shattered glass. Forensic teams combed through the wreckage, collecting evidence in sealed bags.

A black sedan pulled up to the scene. Detective Eugène stepped out, followed by his partner.

"Look at what we got here, folks," Eugène glanced around. "This is some serious shit we got here."

"I know what you mean," Jacques muttered, examining the mangled vehicle. "It's like a war zone."

Eugène stepped closer, squinting at the debris. "It's really different when you see it personally."

"Yo, partner," Jacques nodging his elbow and pointing at the injured officers. "Should we talk to them?"

"Yeah," he said, standing up. "That might be a good idea."

They approached the ambulance where the officers were being treated.

"Now, tell me," Eugène said, leaning against the ambulance door. "How did two well-armored and well-equipped officers with the state-of-the-art weapons got their asses whooped by civilians?"

The officers exchanged glances before the one with a bandage around his head spoke up.

"We don't have a fucking clue, Detective," he said, wincing as he shifted. "One minute we're chasing this person on the highway, then a rocket suddenly smashes one of our car windows. Our hover car lost balance and it crashed. It was over before we knew what hit us."

Jacques whistled low. "A rocket? Jesus Christ."

"Mind if we take a look at your camera feed?" Eugène asked.

The other officer, sporting a sling, shrugged. "Go ahead. Not like we can stop you anyway."

Eugène waved to his partner, and they made their way to the crashed vehicle. The twisted metal groaned as they sat on it, accessing the onboard computer.

"Alright, let's see what we've got," he muttered, tapping the shuddering screen.

The footage flickered to life, showing the high-speed chase from the officers' perspective. The chase unfolded on screen, their colleagues' hover car in hot pursuit of the suspects' vehicle. Warning shots were fired, accompanied by shouted commands to pull over. The suspects ignored the warnings, pushing their car to its limits.

Then, a figure emerged from the suspects' vehicle. A woman with fiery red hair climbed onto the roof, clutching what appeared to be a rocket launcher. The officers' voices on the recording grew more urgent as they realized the threat.

The suspects' car slowed unexpectedly, maneuvering closer to the hover car. In a split second, the red-haired woman took aim and fired. The rocket streaked towards the officers' vehicle, and the feed spun wildly before cutting to static.

"Fuck me sideways," Eugène said. "I can't believe what I'm looking at."

"Damn, whoever's driving that car knows what they're doing," Jacques commented.

"You ain't wrong there kiddo. That level of maneuvering...you gotta to have some serious level driving skills to pull that off."

"Me neither. I've never seen that kind of skill since the early 2000s."

"Yeah, me too. The driver must went manual mode on their car."

"Really? How can you tell?"

Eugène pointed at the screen. "Look at the way they drifted around that corner. No auto-navigation could do that. It's all instinct, all human."

"So, we're dealing with a professional here? Someone who knows driving like the back of their hand?"

"More like a master driver. Moving at around 100 miles per hour then slowing down then drifting at the side? Christ, that some kind of voodoo level kind of shit."

"Wow, that's something coming from you. So what's next?"

Eugène leaned in closer. "Can we enhance this? I want to see if we can ID any of these fuckers."

Jacques tapped a few commands, and the image zoomed in. The quality degraded, but they could make out some details.

"Looks like we've got at least three suspects," Eugène noted. "Driver, rocket launcher psycho, and... is that a third person in the back?"

Jacques squinted. "Yeah, I think so. Can't make out much though. It's all pixelated."

"We may need to get this footage to the lab. Maybe they can clean it up, give us something more to work with."

"That might be a good idea. What do you think we're dealing here?"

"I don't know," Eugène said. "Could be terrorists, could be some high-level criminal organization. I don't know." He stood up, stretching his back. "Get the data there, will you?"

Jacques nodded, downloading the data. "What's our next move?"

"We follow every lead we can. Check traffic cams along their escape route, put out an APB on the vehicle, and start digging into any chatter about weapons smuggling or terrorist activities."

"Ok, will do."

Suddenly, his phone buzzed in his pocket. He fished it out, glancing at the screen before answering.

"Eugène here."

"Detective, it's Dr. Moreau from the morgue. We've got a body you need to see."

He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Look, I'm knee-deep in this highway mess. Can't someone else handle it?"

"That's why I'm calling you specifically," Dr. Moreau pressed. "The victim died minutes after the car chase on the highway."

A body turning up so soon after the chase? It couldn't be a coincidence. He wondered if this victim was connected to the suspects, or if they were just collateral damage.

"What can you tell me about the body?"

"Female, mid-twenties, Asian. And here's the kicker - two holes in her neck."

"Did you say two holes?"

"Yes, that's right. No other injuries. Cause of death appears to be blood loss."

Blood loss from neck wounds? It sounded like something out of a bad vampire movie. He'd seen plenty of bizarre cases in his career, but this was new territory. Was it some sick fetish killing? A ritualistic murder? The timing seemed too convenient to be coincidental.

"Alright, I'll be there," Eugène said. "Give me thirty minutes." He ended the call and turned to his partner. "Change of plans. We're heading to the morgue."

"Ow?" Jacques raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

"Not sure yet, but it might be connected to our case. Let's go."

They made their way to their car parked at the edge of the crime scene. As they climbed in, Eugène let out a heavy sigh. "This case is turning into a real clusterfuck," he said, starting the engine.

Jacques buckled his seatbelt. "No kidding. Rocket launchers on the highway? It's like something out of an action movie."

They pulled away from the scene, joining the flow of traffic. The rain had eased to a light drizzle, and the wipers squeaked across the windshield.

"What do you make of it?" Eugène asked, keeping his eyes on the road.

"Hard to say. Could be terrorists, like you mentioned. But why attack a police car? Seems like a weird target."

"Maybe they weren't the target. Maybe the cops just got in the way of whatever they were really after."

"That's a scary thought. What could be so important that they'd risk blowing up cops to get away?"

Eugène drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. "And now we've got this body at the morgue. Two holes in the neck? What the fuck is that about?"

"Sounds like a vampire attack," Jacques joked, then sobered when he saw Eugène's expression. "You don't think..."

"Don't be ridiculous, vampires aren't real. But I've got a feeling this case is about to get a whole lot weirder."

Part of him wanted to laugh it off, stick to what he knew. That this is just another murder investigation and that the killer is some sicko with a taste for the dramatic. But another part whispered that maybe, just maybe, there was more to this world than he understood.

They fell into silence for the rest of the drive, each lost in their own thoughts. As they pulled up to the morgue, Eugène killed the engine and turned to his partner.

"Whatever we find in there," he said, "let's keep an open mind."

"What do you mean 'open mind'?"

"Just don't dismiss anything. The case had been strange lately, and I don't want us to overlook something crucial because it sounds nuts."

"Why? Are you also in that vampire theory?"

"No, not really. But I'm keeping my options to anything."

"Alright, but if we find a coffin in there, I'm out."

"Ha. Ha. Very funny. Now, let's go. Remember what I said."

"Got it. Let's see what Dr. Moreau has for us."

They stepped out of the car and headed towards the morgue entrance with Dr. Moreau, a middle-aged woman with graying hair, greeted them there.

"Detectives, thank you for coming so quickly," she said, leading them towards the examination room.

"What've you got for us, Doc?" Eugène asked, following her.

Dr. Moreau pushed open the door, revealing a body covered by a sheet on a metal table. She picked up a data pad, its holographic screen flickering to life.

"Victim is Yuki Sato, 28 years old, cybersecurity expert at TechnoSphere Industries," she said, pulling back the sheet to reveal the victim's face. "Found behind Le Pixel café near the Louvre."

Jacques leaned in, examining the body. "Cause of death?"

"Exsanguination," she replied, pointing to two puncture wounds on the victim's neck. "These are the entry points. Oddly clean, like they were made with needles rather than a knife."

"Any signs of struggle?"

"Minimal. No defensive wounds, no skin under the fingernails. It's as if she didn't fight back at all."

"Could she have been drugged?" Jacques asked.

"Tox screen came back clean. We're still waiting on some more detailed tests, but so far, nothing unusual in her system."

Eugène circled the table, taking in the details. "Any other injuries?"

"Nothing significant. Some bruising on her arms, but that could be from falling after the attack."

"Shit," Eugène muttered. "This doesn't make any sense. Who the fuck kills someone by draining their blood through neck punctures?"

Jacques shot him a look. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Don't say it."

Dr. Moreau glanced between them. "Am I missing something?"

Eugène sighed. "It's nothing, Doc. Just a stupid theory. Any surveillance footage from the café?"

"Not my department," she replied. "But I did hear the cops who brought her in mentioning something about the cameras being on the fritz that time."

"Of course they were. Anything else we should know?"

She consulted her data pad. "Just one more thing. We found traces of an unknown substance around the wound. It's being analyzed now, but it doesn't match any known toxins or drugs in our database."

Jacques raised an eyebrow. "That's weird. Could it be related to the murder weapon?"

"Possibly. We'll know more once the lab results come back."

"Ok, thanks. I mean, I already knew all of these info when you called me."

"I thought you might say that," she pulled a phone out of her pocket, wrapped in a plastic bag, and held it out to him. "This is the reason why I told you to come here."

Eugène took the device and studied it. "Is this..."

"Yes, it's the victim's phone. It's encrypted, so you'll need a hacker to open it."

"Alright, thanks Doc," he said. "We'll need a copy of your report when it's done."

"Of course. I'll send it over as soon as it's complete."

As they left the morgue, Jacques turned to Eugène. "So, what do you think? Cult killing? Some kind of ritualistic murder?"

"I don't know, man. But whatever it is, it's fucking bizarre."

"Come on, you know what it is."

Eugène raised a finger. "I told you don't start with that."

"Geez, you're such a killjoy."

"Why do you want it so badly to be a vampire case?"

"Because it is. You've seen the evidence, the puncture wounds in the neck, the draining of the blood, no signs of stabbing and shit."

"That could be anything."

"No it's not, and you know it."

Eugène prided himself on being logical, yet this case defied conventional explanation. The idea of supernatural beings existing in his rational world made him uncomfortable. Still, he couldn't shake the nagging feeling that there might be some truth to Jacques' words.