Ruby paced her hidden workshop, her mind replaying the ambush at the courthouse. The figure in tactical gear hadn’t been a random enforcer—they’d been deliberate, methodical. Someone was watching her, studying her.
She pulled up a list of Ravenport’s elite on her tablet, cross-referencing recent targets with past investigations. Grayson, Calder, Merrick—they all had connections to the Paragon Order, a shadowy network of wealthy elites rumored to manipulate politics, economics, and media from the shadows. The name had always been a whisper in underground circles, dismissed as conspiracy.
But the precision of the courthouse ambush told her it wasn’t just a myth. The Paragon Order knew about the Scarlet Harlot—and they were making their move.
The next day, Ruby tried to maintain her routine, but the weight of her double life pressed harder than ever. In her lecture hall, she discussed reaction rates and equilibrium, but her focus wavered. Tessa-Rae Crofton sat in her usual spot, sketchpad open, stealing glances at Ruby between notes.
After class, Tessa caught up with her in the hallway.
“Ruby, you’ve been… distracted,” Tessa said, her tone probing.
“Just busy,” Ruby replied curtly.
Tessa hesitated, then held out her sketchpad. “I thought you’d want to see this.”
Ruby flipped through the pages, her chest tightening. The drawings were striking, capturing the Scarlet Harlot in vivid detail. One, however, stopped her cold. It was a shadowy figure, masked and armored, facing off with the Scarlet Harlot.
“You’re perceptive,” Ruby said, her voice carefully neutral.
Tessa smiled, but her eyes were sharp. “Art is all about observation.”
Ruby returned the sketchpad, her mind racing. Tessa was piecing things together, but her obsession with the Scarlet Harlot could become a dangerous liability.
That evening, Ruby returned to her workshop and began digging into the Paragon Order. Financial records, leaked emails, cryptic mentions in chat forums—pieces of a larger puzzle began to emerge.
At the center of it all was Victor Halstead, a tech tycoon who controlled the country’s largest surveillance and cybersecurity firm, Halstead Systems. His company had contracts with the government, private corporations, and even international organizations. If anyone could track her, it was him.
Ruby stared at Halstead’s photo on her screen. Mid-40s, polished and ruthless, with an empire built on the control of information. The Paragon Order wasn’t just a club for the wealthy; it was a machine, and Halstead was its engine.
Halstead had been untouchable for years, but Ruby knew she had to find a way to expose him.
Later that night, Ruby prepared to infiltrate a Halstead Systems data center on the outskirts of Ravenport. The facility was heavily guarded, but it housed a server farm containing the company’s most sensitive files. If she could access them, she might find the key to dismantling the Paragon Order.
Dressed as the Scarlet Harlot, she slipped through the perimeter fence, her crimson suit blending into the shadows. Using a combination of chemical smoke and EMP charges, she disabled security cameras and entered the main building.
Inside, she navigated rows of humming servers, her gloved hands moving quickly to extract data onto a portable drive.
But as she worked, the lights flickered, and a cold, mechanical voice echoed through the room.
“Scarlet Harlot. You’ve made quite a name for yourself.”
She froze, her blood running cold. Halstead’s voice.
“I have to admit, I’m impressed,” he continued. “Few people have the audacity to challenge the Order. But you’ve become… inconvenient.”
A figure stepped into view on a nearby monitor. It was the masked adversary from the courthouse, standing in a sterile, high-tech room.
“Meet The Warden,” Halstead said. “A little insurance policy for people like you.”
Before Ruby could react, alarms blared, and steel doors slammed shut, trapping her inside. Gas began to hiss from vents, thick and noxious.
Ruby activated her respirator and pulled a small canister from her belt, triggering a chemical reaction that corroded the hinges of an exit door. She slipped out just as armed guards swarmed the area, her heart pounding.
Back in her workshop, Ruby reviewed the files she’d managed to steal. They confirmed her worst fears: Halstead was the Paragon Order’s enforcer, using surveillance to monitor dissenters and eliminate threats.
But the files also revealed something chilling—a surveillance log labeled “Harlot Project.” It contained detailed footage of her vigilante exploits, including angles she hadn’t realized were being recorded.
They knew who she was.
The next day, Tessa-Rae knocked on Ruby’s office door, holding a small folder.
“I didn’t know where else to go,” Tessa said, her voice unsteady. “I think someone’s been following me.”
Ruby stiffened. “Following you?”
Tessa handed her the folder. Inside were grainy photos of Tessa walking through campus, at the art studio, even at her apartment.
“I found these slipped under my door this morning,” Tessa said, her voice trembling. “Do you think it’s connected to… the Scarlet Harlot?”
Ruby forced a calm expression, but her mind raced. The Paragon Order wasn’t just after her—they were targeting anyone close to her.
As night fell over Ravenport, Ruby donned the Scarlet Harlot’s armor once more. Halstead and the Paragon Order had declared war, and Ruby knew this wasn’t just about justice anymore.
It was survival.
And for the first time, she wasn’t sure she could protect the people she cared about.
Gemma Ortwerth 
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