The Lucky Shadow vs. The Night Brigades and The Night Hazard: A Crazy Man Storms Through the City – The Birth of an Urban Legend 

A dark street with non-functioning lighting, not a single working bulb, and dark buildings around it, in an outer neighborhood of the city of New Night Haven. Along the entire street nothing was lit, because officially all buildings on this street were considered abandoned. But from the basement of one of the structures, a small abandoned house, sounds and shouts could be heard. Some men had gathered here, looking like important figures, dressed in dark suits, who had surrounded a certain person — a strange man with a top hat and a colorful suit with multicolored stripes, whose face could not be seen very well because of the hat and the makeup he had applied to his face. Apparently there was a scandal, because the important people in dark suits were shouting at the man in the colorful suit, and some of them were actively reaching toward him and trying to hit him, but he skillfully dodged their blows. Some of the men were armed, but they did not attempt to shoot. The scandal was escalating and becoming more and more heated. “Liar! Bastard! We’re going to kill you now — no, we won’t just kill you, we’ll tear you apart! Why did you try to present yourself as ‘Night Hazard’, what were you aiming for? Speak immediately, we’ll destroy you!” — one of the men in dark suits grabbed the man in the colorful suit and top hat by the neck with all his strength, trying to force the answer out of him. “I am Night Hazard himself, I will destroy you for this behavior, I will destroy all of you! You’ll get what’s coming! You’ll see!” — answered the man in the colorful suit, after which strong punches flew toward his head. Several of the men in dark suits began beating him extremely hard. “Wow, what a lying and crazy bastard! We’ll crush you! Stop repeating that you’re Night Hazard, or in minutes you’ll be in pieces! None of us will believe you, because we are from the Night Brigades and we know our long-time boss and leader very well. We hold high positions in the hierarchy of the organization. More than a few of us have seen him live many times and we know what he looks like, you can’t fool anyone. Well, the colleagues lower in the hierarchy haven’t seen him, but that’s why we’re here — to inform and guide them. Say what you’re aiming for! You’ll suffer for a long time if you don’t tell us everything!” — threatened one of the most active and loud men in the crowd surrounding the costumed, made-up figure. “You’re right, I’m really not Night Hazard! I admit I’m not Night Hazard! Honest word, may lightning strike me if I try to lie to you about this again!” — admitted the colorful gentleman to the furious crowd surrounding him. Suddenly the colorful gentleman took the initiative and from an attacked and surrounded victim he turned into the person who controlled the situation. He quickly managed to break free from the furious crowd, climbed onto one of the tables and with an incredible jump flew over the crowd and leapt past them. Energetically he climbed the stairs from the basement to the ground floor of the house, and then immediately headed toward the exit of the house, where a sack had been left right next to the front door. Everyone rushed after him. Here the colorful quick fellow stopped for a moment and turned toward the angry men running after him. “Hey, by the way, I gathered some things from this shabby house at the edge of the city and from a few other shabby buildings around, and not only those, which you use as temporary warehouses and depots, just like many other buildings, rooms, and basements across the city. I checked and rummaged through a few more important points in the city that you use for secret storage and logistics. I’m taking with me some office equipment, flash drives, and recordings to look through what you’re hiding and what you’re planning. And for now — goodbye and see you soon, I’ll contact you later about some things. Don’t ask how I found out about your secret meeting here, or why I came as an uninvited guest. It’s still early for that, but soon I’ll explain everything, I’ll tell you who I am and what I want from you.” — he said quickly, opened the front door, and stepped outside onto the street, while the men chasing him approached, staring at him with fierce looks. Everyone burst onto the street, but there an unpleasant surprise awaited them. A powerful light illuminated the entire space outside, directed toward the exit of the house and blinding everyone coming out of it. The light was so strong that it forced everyone to cover their eyes, and no matter how much they tried to see what was in front of them, they couldn’t. Suddenly they all felt an engine starting — almost silent and probably electric — and noticed part of the light moving forward, while the larger part of the light continued shining strongly directly into their eyes, blinding and paralyzing them in an extremely unpleasant way. Looking to the left along the street they were on, their gaze reached the nearest intersection, where they noticed something that was probably a truck or a vehicle with a trailer, on which powerful light sources and projectors were mounted, making a right turn and quickly accelerating after the turn. After it advanced and disappeared behind roadside buildings, shops, and diners, the lights stopped being visible, and were probably already turned off or the vehicle had already moved away. The crowd gathered in front of the house was still trying to orient itself and react as quickly as possible, but it wasn’t working, because the light was still blinding them and they couldn’t see anything — neither what was in front of them on the street, nor their parked cars around them. 

The group of important figures dressed in dark suits stood amazed and angry in the pitch‑black light of the neighborhood street where the house was located. Somewhere on the other side of the street, directly facing them, an extremely unpleasant, powerful, and blinding light continued to shine straight into their faces and eyes. There was no trace of the truck or the vehicle with the trailer and its powerful projectors, with which the uninvited guest in the colorful suit had escaped, and it had probably already moved far away from the place. There was no longer much point for the men in dark suits, members of the organization “The Night Brigades of New Night Haven,” to keep looking to their left along the street toward the first intersection, where there was at least some visibility, and instead they had to deal with the strong blinding light in front of them, which prevented them from orienting themselves.

At that moment several of the men drew their weapons and began shooting at the light in order to destroy the sources of illumination and the likely powerful projectors shining at them. After a short but quite intense burst of gunfire, the unpleasant blinding light disappeared, and only the scarce street lighting remained — which on this small neighborhood street in the outskirts was truly very scarce. It became quite dark around them. The men experienced the unpleasant effect of the transition from blinding light to darkness. Most of them recovered relatively quickly and began looking for an explanation of what had happened. They started inspecting the place and noticed that someone had indeed arranged several relatively large and powerful projectors facing the entrance and exit of the house. They realized there had been prior preparation and that this was likely an organized attack.

Everyone wondered how such armed, experienced, and trained men like them could have let a single person slip away, but even more interesting were the questions of who this man was, how he had found this hideout house, what he had stolen from there that night, and finally — but not least — what he was aiming for and for whom he was working. One of the main mysteries was what this inventive and persistent fellow had taken with him into the vehicle with the trailer or into the truck he escaped with. Everyone wondered what exactly he had stolen from them, because they did not know what was currently being stored in the house, since items were extremely often moved from one location to another, and they would have to conduct a series of checks and audits to determine whether he had taken anything at all, as he claimed, and what exactly it was.

They wondered whether what had happened would become known and how it would affect the reputation of “The Night Brigades,” which had the reputation of being the most powerful organized crime group in the city of New Night Haven. And one of the most important things was what the reaction and opinion of their leader, “Night Hazard,” would be regarding this incident.

“What was that guy, damn it? Pretty quick, and somewhat inventive! But why did he even do it? Who told him we were here, and how did he find us? What does he even want and what is he aiming for? Don’t tell anyone about this incident! Night Hazard would get extremely angry. I’ll think about how to tell him what happened and I’ll take responsibility for that. I’m telling you right now that we must find out who that colorful enthusiast was, and that we absolutely must punish him very seriously. I will consult with Night Hazard about what to do with him and how to proceed. By the way, for those who don’t know me, my name is Caleb and I’m one of his closest people. Most of you who are higher in the hierarchy of the Night Brigades know me very well. Overall, we must find out everything about this colorful guy — who he is, what he aims for, and what he is fighting for. Deny everything to anyone who asks you about tonight’s incident! This never happened! Keep it secret and don’t share it with anyone. We cannot put our reputation at risk. And now I suggest we disperse to our usual tasks, pretend nothing happened, and temporarily forget about the case until I inform Night Hazard and until he orders what we should do about it,” Caleb addressed everyone, introducing himself to the members of “The Night Brigades of New Night Haven” who did not know him, as a close associate of Night Hazard, the leader of the Night Brigades. The remaining members clearly knew him well, because they were regional leaders of the Night Brigades, while those who did not know Caleb were their subordinates.

***

A large number of formally dressed people had gathered in the largest hall of the Municipal Congress Center in the city of New Night Haven. The gathering was on the occasion of the city’s holiday and the beginning of the so‑called annual “Festival Weeks.” It had become a tradition for the city holiday to mark the beginning of a period of a month and a half to two months starting at the beginning of each summer, called “Festival Weeks in New Night Haven,” during which various types of festivals, events, festivities, and celebrations are held, with each week dedicated to a different theme. The Municipal Congress Center is an important hub of cultural and public life in the city, and therefore the beginning of the “Festival Weeks” is given precisely here with an official indoor ceremony and a large show and concert outdoors afterward on the square in front of it. The ceremony always begins shortly after noon, and the opening festivities continue throughout the day, evening, and night with the show and concert on the square, and later in various clubs. For almost two months the streets and squares of the city transform and turn into venues for interesting activities and events, and the nightlife begins to flourish much more intensely than usual. During the “Festival Weeks” not only each week is different because of the weekly theme, but also each day, because the program is arranged based on themes and broken down into sub‑themes. In addition, opportunities are given for independent creativity and independent approaches in planning and conducting events, so the program does not always coincide with the general program, its themes, and sub‑themes.

Meanwhile, the formally dressed important figures continued to stand in the main hall of the Congress Center and wait for the beginning of the ceremony celebrating the city holiday and the opening of the “Festival Weeks.” Suddenly the lighting in the hall was dimmed, and the spotlights were directed toward the stage, while the audience seating area became almost dark. A voice announcement was activated with a greeting to all attendees and an invitation to Mayor Ronald Lawrence to deliver a festive speech, after which the mayor rose from his seat and headed toward the stage amid loud applause from most of the people in the hall. The mayor took his place on the stage and began his address to the audience in the hall and outside it, because there were a large number of cameras broadcasting live and recording the event for later airing. “Dear fellow citizens, residents and guests of New Night Haven, I congratulate you on the city holiday and on the beginning of the most exciting period of the year in our city, namely the ‘Festival Weeks.’ Every year we enjoy incredible events and a wonderful program, and I am sure that this year will be no different. New Night Haven continues to establish itself as an important tourist and entertainment center, which helps the development of the economy. We are developing a large number of projects in this direction, we have created a digital application including a digital twin of the city with all its objects and events, and now during the ‘Festival Weeks’ we will open the long‑awaited entertainment district ‘New Night Haven DreamLand Island,’ intended for tourism and entertainment 24 hours a day. Twenty‑four hours a day of vibrant life, economic development, jobs, income for the population, and revenue for the treasury. We develop while we have fun! It’s wonderful!” — the mayor listed the achievements of the city administration. Everyone was focused on him and listened attentively.

At that moment, a silhouette of a person appeared among the rows, walking between them and handing out something. It was noticeable that the silhouette moved only in a certain part of the hall. The people in those rows exchanged glances and seemed to be leafing through some brochures or promotional materials, while the majority of the people in the hall continued listening to the mayor. Suddenly, those sitting in those rows began to rise from their seats and head toward one of the exits, and within a short time entire columns of people formed. Representatives of the ceremony organizers rushed to check what was happening, asking the security and specifically some of the younger and more agile stewards for help. “Hello, sir, why did you all stand up and start leaving? What’s going on, someone handed you something, what does it say?” — a young steward asked one of the people leaving. “They gave us some sheets with short texts accusing us of something that, at least for me, is not true and has never been true, and most of the people around me were also quite unpleasantly surprised by what was written in these sheets. And the texts in these sheets contain information about the criminal organization ‘The Night Brigades of New Night Haven’ and accusations that I am connected to them, which is absurd and absolutely not true. As far as I noticed, the others around me received sheets with the same texts and accusations, and everyone is deeply puzzled and outraged, and denies such a thing. The text invites us to a conversation in the adjacent smaller hall, supposedly to clarify things. I intend to raise hell, because I have no intention or desire to tolerate such accusations!” — replied an elderly man who was energetically heading toward the exit of the main hall.

Everyone headed toward this adjacent hall, entered inside, but there was no one there. There was a monitor placed on a table, turned on, and on the screen stood a man with a hat and a black‑and‑white suit, half white, half black — white on the left side, black on the right, including the jacket and trousers. The left side of the jacket and the left pant leg in white, the right side of the jacket and the right pant leg in black. The shirt and tie of this gentleman were also half white and half black, and he himself stood motionless as if he were just a background on the monitor display. The people entering the hall gathered around the turned‑on monitor and the motionless figure. Suddenly the figure moved and even spoke. “Good afternoon! I am ‘Night Hazard,’ the greatest criminal in the city, did you recognize me? Now I will show you several clips that I strongly recommend you think about seriously and provide the necessary explanations to the shocked public. I gave the order to record you so that everyone can see what you really are! All the clips contain events, moments, and episodes involving you, esteemed representatives of the political and business elite of New Night Haven! This is you, these are your actions, and this is probably the true nature of most of you! I have no other explanation for your actions and your diligence…” — spoke the black‑and‑white dressed figure. Everyone stared at the screen in great astonishment. Everyone wondered whether this was truly “Night Hazard,” whom everyone had heard of but very few in this city and this world had ever seen, and what exactly he had recorded involving them.

The image changed and a series of short clips began to play. A large series of short conversations and scenes were shown, short consecutive clips and sequences of clips featuring some of the people present in the hall. More interestingly, most were related to new projects developed by the city authorities to stimulate economic life in the city, such as the digital project “New Night Haven Gate & Joystick,” and even the episodes in the short clip sequences switched thanks to the “Joystick.” The crowd gathered around the monitor showed not only great astonishment but also complete indignation at the broadcast sequences of short clips, complete rejection of the details shown in them, and complete denial of their authenticity. “What a horror! Who dares to make such edits and compilations and accuse respectable people of involvement in dubious dealings, schemes, and even blatant violations of the law? This is unacceptable! Such scoundrels, manipulators, and outright liars must be sought out and found so they can bear responsibility for their words and manipulations!” — a loud voice was heard in the hall, and all attendees responded with shouts of strong approval. And what was seen in the clips looked quite curious and would probably be interesting to a significant part of the residents of New Night Haven.

The “Joystick” actively switched the clips and connected them to one another so that viewers could piece things together more easily and understand the details, scenes, conditions, circumstances, and interconnections better. In one of the short clips, or one of the excerpts if one may say so, a prominent and well‑known local entrepreneur was seen walking with an unfamiliar young girl through one of the largest business and industrial zones in the city, which had severely deteriorated in recent years. The description of the clip, made through subtitles and voice‑over, indicated that the event was from about two years ago and showed the actual condition of this business and industrial zone at that time. It was about the “Experimental City,” the largest business zone in New Night Haven — a large area with offices, warehouses, industrial enterprises, development centers, and housing. The “Experimental City” had been created to offer a large number of well‑paid jobs and good business opportunities in close proximity to people’s homes. But over time its development slowed and began to decline, and recently it had reached a horrifying state — lack of maintenance and infrastructure in severe decay, abandoned and crumbling buildings, empty offices, deteriorating public spaces, dying streets and public areas, rising crime, worsening quality of life and services. People were literally fleeing this district, with most residents already gone, leaving only a few suffering individuals behind.

The young girl in the clip, walking through the district with the well‑known businessman, was presented as one of the assistants of the mayor of New Night Haven — Mayor Lawrence. As they walked, the businessman explained to the young girl his vision for the future of the “Experimental City”: “Very soon we will clean up and reach this decayed pigsty! I have a plan, the mayor is on board. Here we will build the new epicenter of city life and business in the city. We will build an incredible complex of interconnected buildings and interconnected businesses. We will develop an incredible mix of products and services, available on site and through digital channels. We will unfold an unattainable virtual space and create a community around it — a special gate that will lead us to everything good and valuable in this city. We will use it and manage it with a special super remote control, which will also be created soon. On the site of these half‑ruined remains and overgrown decaying urban spaces we will build the largest commercial and entertainment complex in the city. And we will enjoy it 24 hours a day. The entrepreneurs who invest their money here will also earn continuously, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. And even if time stops, they will still earn. It will be so wonderful here that for visitors time will stop and they will forget the difficulties they face in life, and they will not want to leave. Work, work, only work, work all life. Enough of that. It’s time for entertainment and fun, for unmatched offerings, temptations, and unattainable achievements. Luxury and shine. Top places and top events. Beautiful spaces and beautiful people. An attractive place. It may sound a bit strange and cynical, but I don’t mind this place becoming not just a new district for commerce, tourism, and entertainment, as officially planned, but I think it could even turn into something like a ‘City of Sin’ in New Night Haven. Here good and evil will meet to enchant people and change their thinking and worldview. They will no longer pay so much attention to economic problems and life difficulties. We have the chance to change the attitudes and perceptions of many people in the city. This district will be a new beginning and a new magic. Nothing will be the same anymore. And anyway, purely economically, nothing can save this damned city anymore. It will continue to decline, but not everyone will notice.” — the well‑known businessman explained, while the young lady, assistant to the mayor, listened and nodded approvingly.

The next short clip in the series also turned out to be quite interesting. In it, in a hall resembling the meeting hall of the Municipal Council of New Night Haven, a group of people stood and were intensely discussing something. Among them were the mayor of the city, Lawrence, and the chairwoman of the municipal council, Barbara Noynsky. One of the people in the clip stood up and began giving something like a presentation: “I am here to present to you the newest digital product ‘New Night Haven Gate & Joystick,’ which will connect citizens and businesses in an unprecedented way. ‘New Night Haven Gate & Joystick’ is a special application and virtual space accessible at any time, both online and offline, in which all categories of products and services offered in the city are gathered. To access this virtual space, one must enter through the ‘Gate,’ and everything inside is controlled through the ‘Joystick.’ This application functions on the following principle: The user creates their account, selects their priorities and priority areas and spheres of interest, selects the types and categories of products and services of interest to them, and they begin to be directed toward them as incoming streams, which they can view and configure. This is their personal stream. In addition, there will be other streams, one of which will be the main one, intended for the primary advertisers in the application. All streams will be marked with recognizable signs and symbols and will be visualized on users’ screens at equal frequencies, sequences, and proportions, except for the main stream, which will have a higher frequency. The streams move automatically and are constantly visualized for the user on the screen, where they can view them, perform actions, or skip them. They can configure their interaction with these streams manually or automatically through AI. They can select and configure actions, processes, and procedures for execution, and set goals and criteria for their execution, for controlling their execution, for checking results, and for preparing reports on execution and achieved results. The streams themselves represent pages or series of pages with photos, videos, and descriptions of products, services, places, events, organizations, companies, and businesses that allow actions with them, including making orders, reservations, payments, and investments. One of the most interesting things in the application is the possibility for remote viewing of physical objects in the city (stores, showrooms, clubs, and others) and remote participation in events, with virtual versions, digital twins, and live broadcasts. There will be good opportunities for a person to first explore, and then, if they wish, to try.” — explained the presenter.

“But this is terribly expensive! How will we do it, we have no funds in the budget, the city is on the brink of bankruptcy! Don’t tell anyone, but I’m telling you that we are on the verge of bankruptcy and economic collapse. The city’s finances are not good at all, there is no money for investments, there is almost no money for anything. Many people already sense that things are not going well. There is great dissatisfaction and unrest against the city authorities and against me personally. We really need to urgently do something for the development of the city and to mitigate the dissatisfaction of the people, but where will we get the money?” — asked Mayor Lawrence, who was following the presentation closely. “Mayor, I have a person who is ready to provide funding in exchange for secret participation in the project,” replied the presenter. “Secret participation? And why secret? Who is this person and why does he want to participate secretly? Why and from whom is he hiding? This contradicts the laws on investment transparency!” — the mayor asked and made a remark. Here the chairwoman of the Municipal Council, Barbara Noynsky, joined the conversation: “Mr. Mayor, allow me to join the conversation! I am sure that what I am about to say will not please you, but I believe I must say it. If I don’t, it may be the end for us, because dissatisfaction with the economic policy of the city authorities and the economic problems is growing rapidly, and very soon we will have clear signs and demonstrations of this dissatisfaction. The ruling elite may fall, without deserving it. We have worked so devotedly and persistently for the prosperity of this city! I, you, and everyone else. Your father, your grandfather, and your great‑grandfather also put in enormous effort and would not want to see the city as a hopeless pit and ruin. I know that we do not have enough funds in the budget and we have a huge budget deficit. I know we are threatened by bankruptcy. But I also know that the citizens of New Night Haven expect urgent actions to get out of the difficult economic situation in the city. If we do not take such actions, this will lead to our collapse and end, and to the complete downfall of the city into chaos and the final takeover of control over the city and the authorities by the criminal groups. And now it is time to convey to you the message and proposal of one of the most powerful residents of the city. Yes, he also has a dark reputation, but he surpasses all other criminal leaders with his mind and qualities, and this man cares about our city. Mayor, Night Hazard wishes to help save the city and offers us financial assistance. Now you probably understand why he seeks secret participation. Because of his reputation. Although for years he has tried to bring his business into the light and improve his reputation, people continue to consider him a criminal leader. Night Hazard is ready to provide funding for the project for a new tourist and entertainment district on the site of the ‘Experimental City’ and for the new city application presented earlier. He believes that this will help him in the long term to bring his business into the light, to invest, and to improve his reputation, and at the same time to help his beloved city. Mr. Mayor, we truly need to find a way to provide citizens with more opportunities for business and investment, and more jobs that will help them discover better horizons ahead of them. I even think it is a good idea to connect the project for the new commercial, tourist, and entertainment district with the application, giving it exclusive and noticeable presence there. Real business, entertainment, and turnover 24 hours a day. For the development of the digital application we can use, with some improvements, the inherited infrastructure of the ‘Resident Passport’ project created by your father. Naturally, the development and growing popularity of AI will require new solutions and additional investments, for which we will need funds.” — Mrs. Noynsky explained intently.

“But this is outrageous, Mrs. Noynsky… I am speechless! You are suggesting that I work with the biggest criminal in the city… Have we really reached this point, have we sunk this low? To work with the criminal groups? We will not implement these projects then, we will think of something else, with normal funding. Instead of big and flashy projects — smaller ones, but many, and beneficial for more people and more categories of people, especially for people from vulnerable groups. I reject Night Hazard’s proposal, Mrs. Noynsky, you may convey it to him, since you apparently know him. Interesting acquaintances you have, you managed to surprise me.” — commented Mayor Lawrence.

After this clip, the Joystick switched to the next clip, described as the last in the series. Here a large group of mostly men dressed in dark suits was seen. One of the men spoke to the others: “We, the members of the ‘Night Brigades of New Night Haven,’ have received an important new task from our boss ‘Night Hazard,’ and based on this task we will pursue a new goal. Night Hazard has set the task of entering new spheres, diversifying the business, financial flows, and revenue channels, with the main goal of illuminating and legalizing part of our businesses, and changing our reputation. The truth is that most of our dark deeds will remain, but we must add more bright businesses so that we appear cleaner and more law‑abiding than we have appeared so far. We will finance a new commercial, tourist, and entertainment district in the city on the site of the former ‘Experimental City.’ We will transform this decayed territory and move some of our partners there, who will work there officially, while we help them secretly. We have the secret approval of the mayor, we have confirmation of this from our good friend, the chairwoman of the Municipal Council, Barbara Noynsky. We will register several new companies that will help us manage the district better and organize and carry out operational activities more effectively. We will also finance a new digital application that will connect the businesses in the city and the citizens, who will constantly and regularly receive streams of information and offers through this new application. Secretly, everything in this application will be configured to work for us and our partners. More than half of the offers and traffic will serve us and our partners — from 50% to 75%. The rest will be for the others, so that no one becomes suspicious of the application. This will be our new beginning, while preserving the old. He‑he,” the speaker laughed mockingly at the end, and the others present laughed as well.

After the last clip in the series of short clips ended, for a moment the meaningful caption “To be continued” appeared, after which the Joystick turned off the monitor. The indignation and astonishment in the small hall had already turned into demonstrative boredom. Several of those present in this hall saw either themselves or their colleagues in the broadcast series of short clips. Most of those present turned out to be representatives of the city administration. Only in the last clip were there no representatives of the city administration, but such were mentioned, and scandalous and cynical things were said by members of the notorious criminal group “The Night Brigades of New Night Haven,” led by the most infamous crime boss in the city, “Night Hazard.” This series of clips could certainly provoke a major political scandal, public outrage, and upheaval in the city. And the mayor had just boasted about the implementation of the very projects mentioned in the clips. Whether these were real video recordings or generated by AI was still unclear, but some details apparently matched. And additionally — somewhat surprisingly, somewhat not, but probably not by accident — some of the people behind the politicians staring at the monitor and some of the people near the entrance door of the small hall turned out to be reporters and journalists. Someone had called them from outside and gathered them from the corridors of the building, and had brought or directed them to this hall. Everyone sensed that something organized and pre‑planned had happened. Everyone realized that this incident would immediately appear in the news and that there was a high likelihood that the public would not approve of what they had seen. And on top of everything, at the end of the series of clips it was announced that a continuation would follow, just a moment before the Joystick turned off the monitor. Things were about to get heated soon, and someone would have to give explanations. What a beginning to the “Festival Weeks” in New Night Haven! And tonight, the big concert is expected to bring even more of a festive atmosphere, against the backdrop of this growing scandal.  Is the leadership connected with criminal groups and does it work with them? There have long been such doubts, opinions, and conversations among the citizens. And both projects discussed in the clips had already happened, despite the lack of the necessary funds in the city treasury for their implementation. And was this really the authorities’ plan for the development and future of the city? An entertainment district and an application that work for the “Night Brigades,” “Night Hazard,” their partners and friends? Where are the thousands of new jobs that are so lacking, where are the good prospects for development for businesses and citizens? Instead — the creation of a “City of Sin” and an application for it, so that a person can sink and fall more easily and more quickly. “New Night Haven Dreamland Island” — yet another place for greedy traders, dubious entrepreneurs, alcohol, intoxication, and debauchery. And the new application, with which a person can immerse even deeper into the peculiarities of life in New Night Haven, and inadvertently add even more market share to the criminal groups in the city, who steal and destroy its present and future, concentrating everything in their hands — all financial and power resources.

***

And in New Night Haven, life flowed at its usual pace. Ordinary people went to work and were busy with their daily tasks, struggled with difficulties, and enjoyed the joys of life. The media often repeated that the economic situation in the city was worsening, that the lack of sufficient prospects and opportunities for development tormented the residents of the city, and that the criminal situation in the city was deteriorating. The worsening economic situation, of course, had a significant impact on the criminal situation and the level of crime. 

New Night Haven has long lacked a truly prosperous economy, a high level of security, high incomes for the population, a high standard of living, and numerous attractive prospects for those who live in it. The city has clear economic problems that lead to stagnation and decline in many sectors of the economy and many spheres of life, resulting in a lack of good prospects for its residents. For quite some time there has been an increase in unemployment, a drop in incomes, impoverishment of the population, and deterioration of the quality of life. A worsening criminal environment and the rise of criminal groups are observed. The measures and reforms undertaken by the local authorities and the central government do not lead to sufficiently good results, due to poor management, poor organization, ineffective use of funds, widespread corruption, indifference among those in power, and many other factors. Mayors come and go. The authorities make promises that are not fulfilled, paint pictures and dreams that never come true. But life goes on anyway, people live somehow. And yes, they want to live and have a great desire for life. They strive to deal with many of the difficulties on their own, because they surely feel that hardly anyone will help them and hardly anyone will think of them. And often they manage quite well on their own, without outside intervention and help, or with a dose of mutual assistance and interaction with other people. They withstand the difficulties and twists of life, deal with complex problems and challenges, handle all kinds of unpleasant surprises and developments. They manage to move forward, achieve success, reach their goals, build their lives, and steer them in a positive direction. Despite all the complexities and despite the troubles and unpleasant surprises that befall them. Despite the obstacles and insufficient resources, despite the indifference and inaction. Many people still think positively and fight for success and happiness in life, and act actively in this direction. They often have to find opportunities and uncover prospects for themselves, they must carve a path ahead, strive to always be in shape and driven toward victory. Because the environment in New Night Haven is not particularly good, and relying on luck — that suddenly you will stumble upon an incredible opportunity, that things will go well for you and you will prosper easily — is not a good idea. Things will not happen on their own; you must be active and persistent, and find opportunities yourself and create them. In New Night Haven, quality opportunities are not easily found, and there are also a large number of dubious and dangerous paths to success, which are not an option for good people. In fact, the dubious and dangerous paths prevail in this city. That is why good people must be very careful. They must be careful whom they gather with, whom they interact with, and what they do. Because they can get involved in bad and dangerous things — things they would not want to get involved in or become part of, things that are characteristic not of the good people in New Night Haven and the whole world, but of the bad ones.

While they often face difficulties in finding the right starting point and direction in life, in finding and creating prospects, in planning goals and achieving success, people must from time to time think about these things, plan their moves and steps, and find free time for that. And when they are overwhelmed by work, thoughts, difficulties, and problems, they should have the opportunity to rest, relax, and unwind a little. To forget for a moment the busy and unproductive daily routine. And here the city of New Night Haven already offers quite a few opportunities. These opportunities are not particularly high‑quality; the city does not have a particularly rich and high‑quality entertainment program, it does not have countless incredible and unique events, it does not have an impressive cultural life. Rather, like in any declining city, there is a large number of nightclubs, bars, and venues. The program is uniform — mostly music, alcohol, and dancing — in practice the same thing is offered, and has been for many years. The nightlife of New Night Haven includes many venues, but they all offer the same thing, and it has been this way for many years. At night the city even turns into a dark swamp in which one can easily sink, or into a black hole in which one can get lost. At night it becomes dangerous — for life and health, and for morals. Numerous strange, mysterious, and secretive silhouettes begin to roam the city. But at the same time, ordinary people also go out to have fun, to relax, and to detach themselves from their problems. And not to create new problems for themselves, of course. Often relaxation means consuming significant amounts of alcohol and subsequently detaching from reality. In New Night Haven there are quite a few places where you can do such a thing. There are many uniform bars and clubs, as well as many seedy establishments and rundown holes full of ruined types. There are not enough higher‑class venues with better service and a higher‑quality and more diverse program, where a person can achieve more than simply getting drunk. There are not many venues with an impressive program offering unforgettable experiences, memorable moments, and incredible emotions. There is a certain number of decent venues and restaurants that offer good music and cuisine, as well as quality service, but in fact they do not offer much more than that, because their program often does not represent anything particularly remarkable.

Now in New Night Haven the joyful weeks of the “Festival Weeks” were truly beginning, because the calendar was filled with many interesting and entertaining events. The city was not going to be boring. The entire city was richly and beautifully decorated in tune with the “Festival Weeks.” The atmosphere was already different, and everyone had switched to a more positive wave. The mood on the streets was improving, many smiling faces could be seen, many happy people in good or seemingly good spirits, many cheerful groups and companies in high spirits, positivity and good emotions were felt, and many joyful and exciting activities and events were taking place. Feverish preparation for the main highlights of the program was underway. People seemed ready, for a moment, to forget the difficulties and troubles they faced, the economic problems and the growing poverty and crime, and were ready to celebrate and truly enjoy life, even if only for a short while.

Yes, overall nothing had really changed — life flowed almost in its usual course, people still had problems with money and opportunities, crimes happened constantly, the city was degrading — but still there was a general sense of celebration and festive atmosphere. The festive atmosphere was reinforced by the decorations on the streets and buildings, by the promotional announcements, posters, and notices throughout the city, and by the online activity related to the holiday and the festival. After all, this magical moment comes only once a year. During this time, New Night Haven is always different from usual — the city becomes much more lively, dynamic, colorful, festive, magical, and exciting, and a huge number of captivating events and activities take place, full of tourists and visitors. The program is extremely rich and intense, interesting things happen constantly, both day and night, at any hour of the day. Life boils throughout all twenty‑four hours, with things often developing at a fast pace and high intensity. In some parts of the city there are places where the environment changes hourly and even minute by minute, with scenes and decorations shifting rapidly, which enhances the festival atmosphere.

Well, with some effort, calmer places for rest and solitude can also be found, and there are a certain number of calmer events with a more relaxed rhythm, suitable for lovers of peace and quiet. But overall, throughout the entire festive week, the dynamics are quite high, the rhythm is more furious than calm. There is something for everyone. The city is definitely more interesting than usual, probably this is the best period of the year in it and the most interesting for its residents. During the “Festival Weeks,” this city literally blossoms in a special way, filled with life, decorations, and events — the atmosphere is captivating. During this time, New Night Haven gives the impression of a developing and progressing city; behind the festive atmosphere, traces of problems and decline are almost unnoticeable. But this does not mean that the problems have disappeared. Some of them even intensify invisibly and almost imperceptibly.

Greed and the pursuit of quick profits during these festive weeks are unstoppable; many enthusiasts for fast, easy, and big money appear, and many people show bad traits in their character. Additionally, those who are bad by nature — various types of criminals and all sorts of villains — also become more active and mobilized. For them, a golden time arrives, the hour for action. The city fills with many people and money, and the authorities do not have enough resources to control the situation and maintain order during this peak of activity. Gradually, New Night Haven will begin to enter more deeply into the embrace of festive chaos. The elements of festive chaos and the lack of sufficient order were about to manifest more strongly. And certain groups of people and layers of society would certainly take advantage of this. Some of them had long awaited this moment. And this moment arrived. A good opportunity for actions of various kinds and for carrying out long‑planned schemes.

Besides the main organizations and companies, besides the main actors and leaders in the city, besides the ordinary residents, the suspicious organizations and criminal groups were also preparing for the “Festival Weeks.” Many secretive people and groups of people were noticeable, many secretive movements and activities. Often some mysterious people roamed around, and it was unclear who they were and what they were doing. These people were numerous and were encountered quite often on the streets, moving alone or in groups, well‑organized and moving in an organized manner, well‑dressed, not very talkative, and avoiding contact with ordinary people. They moved around the city in expensive cars and entire convoys, from which they would get out quickly and energetically and slip quickly and energetically into some building. As if they somewhat wished to be discreet and unnoticed, but this did not work very well for them. Such people existed and roamed throughout the entire year and for many years, but during the festival week they seemed to become much more numerous than usual — or perhaps they simply came out into the open and became more noticeable.

***

Some people were arguing fiercely in a dark and deserted alley shortly after midnight, somewhere in the southern outskirts of New Night Haven, and soon they began pushing and hitting each other. A chaotic exchange of blows began, along with sharp and threatening remarks. Apparently a serious dispute and conflict had erupted between these people. It was truly very dark, there was no lighting at all, only silhouettes could be seen. From the remarks exchanged between the participants in the conflict and from the barely visible silhouettes, one could conclude that it involved several people, at most up to ten. Everyone was talking and shouting at the same time, creating serious chaos and cacophony.

Suddenly one of the silhouettes in the darkness rose above the others, climbing onto the hood of a car parked in the dark alley, standing above everyone and speaking confidently and with self‑assurance to the rest: “Listen to me carefully, you fools! I will ruin and darken your miserable lives, you will never see a bright day again! I can destroy everything you have built in your lives and annihilate every one of your undertakings! I can obstruct every action, effort, and endeavor of yours, I can sabotage all your plans and goals! I can kill every ambition you have and your desire to live! You will understand very well who I am and what I want! Pay on time and carry out my orders and wishes, and you will continue to work and earn a lot of money. If you don’t obey, I will destroy you, I will destroy everything you are involved in, I will ruin your lives, you will be finished with everything forever, and no one will want to hear about you or have anything to do with you, you will disappear and no one will remember you. You will see what will happen to you and what I will do to you! Many people already know who I am and what I am capable of! Many people have already heard of me and know me! And I already know you very well, I know many of your secrets and weak spots. And you may know me somewhat, I suspect you have already heard some things about me. I torment people to the end, I punish the disobedient harshly and cause them great damage. I will not leave you alone! Also, I want you to understand very well that I do not deal with honest and conscientious people who earn their money through honest work, but with dubious people from the shady business, with businessmen who have accumulated capital through dirty practices and abuses, with mobsters and all kinds of criminals, with all sorts of filthy scum who rob the people and ruin their lives. You know very well why I am saying these things specifically to you and people like you. Because to me you are criminals who earn huge sums on the backs of ordinary people. Very soon I will acquaint you with the new conditions, you will all receive messages with information. I am raising the level of the fee you must pay so that I don’t torment you, but if you decide not to pay, I will raise both the level and the frequency of the torment!” — the silhouette towering above the others sounded quite confident and threatening, somewhat arrogant and dismissive, with a hint of mockery and derision. Yes, the voice was both confident and mocking toward his opponents. The silhouette spoke as if he had long experience in what he was talking about.

The silhouettes continued raging and shouting, clearly extremely agitated. Suddenly one of them began shooting at the elevated silhouette, who just seconds earlier had been delivering his threatening speech from the hood of the car. That silhouette literally leapt, throwing himself forward, jumping over everyone else, and very energetically and quickly climbing up one of the buildings in the dark alley. When he reached the roof, he hid somewhere above and threatened: “Do what I tell you or I will eliminate you. We will meet again soon! Tell your bosses too!” After that he disappeared in an unknown direction.

The remaining silhouettes, extremely irritated and angry by what had happened, got into several of the parked cars nearby and also drove off in an unknown direction. After the place seemingly emptied, a man jumped out from a nearby bush, looking extremely frightened, probably by the scene that had just unfolded. The man was in shock, sweat was pouring down his face, and he was trembling all over. From the stress he had experienced, he began thinking aloud: “Ohhh, horror, how much money that creature demanded! I can’t afford to pay him that much. If I agree, I will go downhill financially, I could sink and my business could go bankrupt. And if every gangster in New Night Haven decides that businessmen must pay him a high fee in order to exist, what will happen? We must not allow this under any circumstances! I must immediately contact Night Hazard to tell him about the demands and threats of this insolent man. He knows what to do with such people. If necessary, I will ally myself with Night Hazard, who is one of the most powerful people and crime bosses in the city, so that all sorts of petty gangsters and lunatics don’t bother me. I would ally with him to survive in this city with its worsening criminal situation.” — said the shocked man, who had apparently been secretly observing the scene that had just unfolded, while checking the latest messages on his smartphone. Probably this man was one of those who had already received the mentioned new conditions.

Not long after, he walked about fifty meters down the same dark alley and got into one of the parked cars, after which he also left the place of this mysterious meeting and scene, as his car suddenly picked up high speed and literally disappeared into the night. For the rest of the night it was quiet here, there were no people, only nighttime silence. And so it remained until early morning, when the staff of the nearby establishments and companies began arriving, and gradually everything returned to normal, with no sign that anything might have happened here during the night.

The morning was calm, somehow less rushed than usual. The employees of the municipality in the city of New Night Haven were slowly moving toward the entrance of the building and toward their workplaces. Suddenly, on the horizon appeared a running man, who was running chaotically and shouting something. Everyone began turning around in surprise and wondering what was happening. The running stranger was overtaking the people going to work and was getting closer and closer to the entrance of the municipal building. It was heard that he was shouting, “They robbed me, they stole from me, they took everything from me!” He was wearing a suit and had a top hat on his head. His face could not be seen very well and seemed strangely made‑up. Everyone exchanged startled and even frightened looks.

At the entrance, the running stranger was intercepted by security. “I want an urgent meeting with Mayor Lawrence, I’ve been robbed! Several men stormed into my little shop and took everything! I barely escaped! How is it possible for such things to happen in this city! Help me, I urgently need to speak with the mayor!” the stranger said, out of breath. “Turn to the police, you cannot burst into the municipality like this! You cannot speak with the mayor without having an arranged meeting with him, his schedule is extremely busy,” replied one of the guards. “Brutal things are happening in this city and brutal criminals are acting, someone must do something! Organized crime is taking over the city!” the stranger shouted in front of everyone, pushed the guards aside, and rushed into the lobby of the municipality, where it was quite lively at the beginning of the workday, and slipped into one of the elevators, which took him to the upper floors.

The two guards turned after him and ran to chase him, saw him get into the elevator, but then lost track of him. The suited stranger seemed to have vanished, and the guards headed to the mayor’s office, but he had not yet arrived at work and the office was locked. Then the guards headed to the hall of the municipal council, since they had seen the chairwoman of the municipal council, Barbara Noynsky, enter the building and she should have already taken her workplace. It was locked. Inside, Mrs. Noynsky had just finished her morning coffee and was preparing for the first municipal council meeting of the day, when she noticed a stranger approaching her — a man in a suit and a top hat. The man’s face was made‑up and could not be seen clearly.

“Mrs. Noynsky, how are you today? Are you in a good festival mood? How are the ‘Festival Weeks’ going for you? And how are things in life? Last night I had an interesting conversation with people in one of the districts on the outskirts of the city! From them I learned that you are one of their hopes for dealing with financial difficulties. They rely on you and your efforts on the new budget, so they can pay their bills to me,” the man began to speak with a certain dose of mockery…

“Who are you? What do you want from me? What is this about? I don’t know you! This hall is only for employees working in the municipal council and for council members! You have no right to be here! Leave immediately or I will call the police!” Mrs. Noynsky threatened. “And from your tone I sense that you are trying to involve me in something improper or accuse me of something improper. Just dare to question my good name and my integrity. I will sue you if you try to slander me. I am one of the most honest and decent politicians in this city!” she added.

“Mrs. Noynsky, I heard that you are currently working on the new municipal budget, and in it you have proposed a significant increase in spending for creating new 24‑hour attractions and entertainment zones that operate at night. An interesting solution for improving the economic situation in this stagnating, degrading, and declining city. Curious methods for improving people’s lives in this city with decreasing opportunities for development, rising crime, and strengthening criminal groups. Bread and circuses for the people, Mrs. Noynsky? More awake and cheerful people at night and more opportunities for big profits at night for your legendary acquaintance nicknamed ‘Night Hazard,’ right, Mrs. Noynsky? Even if I decide to be more lenient toward you and less suspicious, I cannot fail to note that I — and probably most of your voters — expected you to propose improvements in the city’s governance that would lead to results in more sectors of the economy and improve the lives of more people. But you have decided to rely mainly on increasing the profits of night establishments and criminal groups in the city. As a voter and taxpayer, I am not satisfied with your efforts, initiatives, and ambitions. Even more so, I am not satisfied as a person, as someone who has loved ones, as someone who is responsible toward society. Probably mainly the criminals are satisfied with you, because they own many of the night establishments and attractions in the city.

But I did not come exactly for that. I came because this morning, after my conversation with the group of shady businessmen and criminals last night, who strongly rely on your initiatives to make money, and who were probably very dissatisfied with our conversation, because they believe I threatened them, I received a rather strange call with a threat that for my actions I would not be handed over to justice and the prosecution, Mrs. Noynsky, but to the main guardian of night order in the city — your famous friend ‘Night Hazard’ and his ‘Night Brigades.’ The whole city knows that you and Mayor Lawrence know him well, and there is a version that you cover for him and have spread a political umbrella over him. It is true that the justice system does not work well, it is true that there is corruption, but this is already too much.

Yes, Mrs. Noynsky, people who rely on you and the mayor and are potential beneficiaries of your policies threatened me — and with the main beneficiary of your draft budget for stimulating economic development and economic activity at night — ‘Night Hazard,’ who also happens to be the biggest criminal in the city. He is the leader of the most powerful organized crime group in the city, the legendary ‘Night Brigades of New Night Haven.’ I am here to arrange a meeting with him, Mrs. Noynsky, and you know him! What do you say — will you be so kind as to help me? Because if you don’t help me, I will reveal to the entire city and the entire world what you are actually doing! I will reveal to everyone how you cover criminals and help criminal groups make money,” the suited and made‑up stranger said at length.

“How dare you accuse me like this and tarnish my name! I will sue you! Who are you? I have been working for this city for many years! I tirelessly work for the well‑being of the residents of New Night Haven, I steadfastly fight and deal with the problems of this city. I am an extremely honest person! I have never helped criminals or criminal groups, I have never interacted with such people in any way. I do not know this man nicknamed ‘Night Hazard’ you are talking about! How dare you invent such intrigues, involve me in them, accuse me, and defame me like this! How dare you fabricate such accusations and lie like this? Who are you at all and why did you break in here? What are you aiming for, what do you want to achieve with these vile and low lies? Security! Security! A brazen and strange criminal has illegally entered the municipal council hall, wearing a suit, a top hat, and with a made‑up face. He is made‑up to such an extent that his facial features cannot be seen, he looks unnatural and resembles more a wax figure or a circus clown than a normal person. I will contact the police immediately, because you have no right to be here, to break into the building like a thief and threaten the employees of the municipality!” — Mrs. Noynsky pressed the panic button for contacting the building’s security, then energetically began dialing the police.

While dialing the police, Mrs. Noynsky noticed that the suited stranger had decided to flee the hall, and she even managed to see only his shadow and hear him running down the stairs. Suddenly the floor filled with guards and astonished municipal employees, who had heard that something was happening and had left their offices to see what was going on. But the stranger had apparently already left the floor, and likely had left the building as well.

Mrs. Noynsky decided to look outside through the window to see if he was outside. She was stunned when she noticed that he was standing in front of the municipal entrance, in the company of a large number of journalists who had surrounded him from all sides. Suddenly, even more surprisingly, it turned out that on one of the tables in the corridor a small television had been left, broadcasting what was happening outside. People began gathering around this small television, and Mrs. Noynsky also headed toward it to see what was happening.

At that moment, the suited stranger had taken the floor from the journalists in front of the municipal entrance, and was passionately and thoroughly listing the transgressions of the city authorities: “I address you as journalists and people, asking you to listen to me, I address the general public and all citizens and residents of New Night Haven! I want to tell you what many of you surely have known for a long time. We are governed by criminals! The chairwoman of the municipal council, Barbara Noynsky, is pushing a budget aimed not at the economic prosperity of New Night Haven and the well‑being of its residents, but at the prosperity and well‑being of criminals and criminal groups — and of herself. This budget is planned so that it increases the profits mainly of the crime bosses, especially of the crime boss close to Mrs. Noynsky, nicknamed Night Hazard, who pulls the strings in the criminal underground of the city. This budget will bring much more profits to the members of the so‑called ‘Night Brigades of New Night Haven,’ who represent the most powerful criminal structure and criminal group in the city, at the top of which stands the mighty secretive figure nicknamed Night Hazard, whom everyone in the city has heard of. Few people have seen him, but everyone has heard of him. He exists and progresses largely thanks to the chairwoman of the municipal council, Mrs. Noynsky, and Mayor Lawrence, who have spread a political umbrella over him and made him untouchable.

The planned new budget proves that the current city authorities have no intention of fighting for the prosperity of New Night Haven and will not strive to make it a good place to live, with satisfied and happy residents, but will strive to bring even more money to a certain group of people and to themselves. The new budget provides mainly investments in entertainment businesses, attractions available at night, and stimulating economic activity at night. Their idea is to equalize the economic indicators during the day and at night. Life 24/7, a big city 24/7, with vibrant life during the day and especially at night. This is not a bad idea, but what matters is how they will do it and at what cost! Because the goal of this budget is to bring more people outside at night and fill the night establishments for the joy of the criminal groups in the city. No, they do not want to build schools or hospitals, to open new jobs, to create a good business environment and a good living environment, to improve services, or to develop the city as a whole. They want to bring more profits to their people, who own businesses operating mainly at night — night establishments, bars, and shops pushing expensive goods and services of poor quality and dubious value onto the population. People with low morals, who want the Street to become the new school for the young, unscrupulous people who aim to brainwash, corrupt people, and use their naivety and the cover of night as a means for quick and big profits. Money and corruption are their weapons, and corrupt politicians like Mrs. Noynsky and Mayor Lawrence are their secret helpers in plundering the city and destroying its future.

Stop these people if you want this city to develop, to move forward, to have good prospects and opportunities for its residents, and more happiness for them. Let us get rid of these scoundrels once and for all, and send them where they belong — namely, to prison. These people rob you every day, they rob your city, you, and your loved ones. It is time to stop them! In the coming days I will provide detailed evidence for my words, and now I thank you for your attention!” — the suited stranger finished his long address to the media and the public, and ran off again, disappearing from sight in just a moment.

Everyone in front of the municipality looked around and wondered what that was and who that was. They noticed that stickers with some emblem depicting a jumping person and links beneath it were pasted on the entrance door of the municipality. When opening the links, they saw various clips uploaded by some cheerful showman, with the latest uploaded clip being from the morning performance of this man in front of and inside the municipal building. Many people found it funny, secretly whispered and chuckled, although no one could deny that the stranger was speaking serious things and had touched upon a very serious and very big topic.

Mrs. Noynsky had prudently turned off the small television left on the table in the corridor in front of the municipal council chamber, but this did not help her in any way, because within half an hour all the media had already reported the incident and had broadcast the stranger’s address. And all the municipal employees in the corridors and offices were discussing the unexpected spectacle and the stranger’s address, which the entire city would likely soon be discussing.

Mrs. Noynsky still did not understand what was happening, but she already knew she had to take action, make some move, come up with an urgent response, and give some explanation for what had happened. She sank into thought and decided to consult with Mayor Lawrence about what needed to be done. He had learned about the incident from the radio while traveling to work, and immediately called Mrs. Noynsky: “We will convene an urgent press conference to reject this man’s claims! Who even is he, some lunatic who barged into the municipality? Who will believe his nonsense? The only bad thing is that he speaks relatively intelligently, said some things in front of the journalists’ cameras, and some people will certainly believe him. Mrs. Noynsky, I think you know what to do! And meanwhile we must clarify who this man is and what to expect from him! I will contact the chief of police of New Night Haven to try to find out whether there is any information about him. I expect you in my office at noon or early afternoon, after the end of the morning municipal council sessions, so we can finalize and prepare the details of the press conference.” — said Mayor Lawrence over the phone, and after arriving at work at the municipality he immediately began preparing the press conference.

The two held a rather sparse and simple press conference, and the only thing they managed to say about the case was that an investigation was underway and relatively little could be said for now. The mayor, as usual, mostly stayed silent and mumbled under his breath, and when he had to speak he was extremely laconic, and people had difficulty understanding what he meant. Much more active and aggressive was Mrs. Noynsky, who announced that she rejected all the stranger’s claims and accusations and called him a mad criminal at least ten times live on air.

Mrs. Noynsky hinted that she already had certain information about who he was, stating that she had already spoken with a trusted person of hers, who had told her everything he knew about him. She pointed out that this trusted person was already on the heels of the made‑up stranger, because he had been attacked by him and because the stranger had caused him damage, and that this person had told her that the stranger was likely an unsuccessful showman and comedian who entertained people in various seedy taverns located in and around the city. According to her, this man was often in an inadequate state and regularly vented his frustrations by picking fights with people who had opinions different from his own. According to the lady, this comedian often performed risky and dangerous stunts to attract attention, stirred up trouble, and created conflicts. The worst part, she noted, was that according to the information received, this loser and unsuccessful showman had turned into a dangerous criminal who extorts and harasses businessmen and other honest, conscientious, extremely decent, and law‑abiding citizens of New Night Haven.

Mrs. Noynsky emphasized that she received information from very reliable sources and from people she could rely on. She shared that she would pass everything important for the investigation to the police, and that as far as possible she would keep the public informed about the investigation against the new villain. After her statement, many questions and uncertainties remained about what was happening and what would follow, which would have to be clarified one way or another.

Similar to the chairwoman of the municipal council, Barbara Noynsky, Mayor Lawrence also was not one of those people who strive to be precise, clear, and thorough, with the difference that he was much more laconic and less talkative than she was. He is probably the most mediocre and stupid mayor that New Night Haven has ever had. He is part of the “Lawrence” dynasty in the city of New Night Haven. The city has had four consecutive mayors with the same surname over the last thirty years. One could say that everything the city represents today is due to this family… It is due to their strength and weakness, or mostly to their weakness, because most of them are so mediocre as specialists, so simple and weak‑willed as individuals, so indifferent to people’s problems, as weak as they are as administrators and leaders. During the years of their governance, the city mostly stagnated, degraded, declined, and was in some degree of decay, and almost never developed along an upward trajectory or in a clearly positive direction.

Around these people there is always chaos and anarchy; they have never been able to manage and control processes well, have not succeeded in managing resources or controlling their subordinates well, which has always led to their subordinates acting arbitrarily, organizing themselves into small groups with their own interests. These people often place their interests above those of the citizens and use power for personal gain. The Lawrences are weak and faceless as individuals and leaders, and therefore real power often unofficially passes into the hands of others, while they remain on the surface as public figures, mediocre extras and comical extras. Most residents and all important figures in New Night Haven actually know that for quite some time the city has been effectively governed by the chairwoman of the municipal council, Barbara Noynsky, while Lawrence is simply her servant and lapdog. Everyone has noticed that he is a soft figure with mostly representative functions and without real influence or power, while Noynsky possesses increasing influence and authority.

Good words can be said only about the third member of the Lawrence dynasty, i.e., the father of the current mayor, who was a visionary with a vision for the city, but was struck by a severe illness and did not manage to complete his projects. In the last months of his life he even governed the city from his hospital bed, and eventually his condition worsened sharply and his health no longer allowed him to perform any activities, which many people took advantage of, deciding to grab money and power. After the death of the third Lawrence, his son — the current mayor, the fourth Lawrence — was elected mayor. He won the elections with the promise to continue some of his father’s bold projects, and many of the city’s residents liked the ideas and projects of the third Lawrence. He dreamed of New Night Haven becoming an economically developed, safe, and environmentally clean city.

Interestingly, he had divided the city into zones that represented separate ecosystems and territories for experiments that would interact with each other. All districts had their own separate statistics and governance and could exist autonomously. All districts had controlled access as a measure against crime. All districts had their own “Resident Digital ID,” which existed in electronic format, and through it the residents of the different districts used administrative services and interacted with the municipality as a measure against corruption. Every request from residents, every petition, and every result and response from the municipality were accessible in their account in the electronic version of the “Resident Digital ID.” A high‑quality, understandable, clear, and precise interaction between the resident and the municipality was achieved.

Through their “Resident Digital ID,” everyone could make recommendations, raise questions and issues, solve problems and administrative matters. Everyone could configure their account to monitor important problems, cases, issues, proposals, decisions, indicators, and parameters, make their own proposals, give recommendations, share wishes, and publish feedback and opinions. The “Resident Digital ID” was designed to function both online and offline, which allowed it to operate without Internet access. The offline mode represented a special data exchange system with a large number of useful and convenient functionalities, in which everything could be configured, structured, and modified according to the user’s wishes; categories, subcategories, and important topics could be set. Lists of important topics, categories, goals, tasks, questions, and issues could be configured. Actions could be performed and services and positions requested, actions, requests, services, and positions could be confirmed or canceled. The offline version of the “Resident Digital ID” was even more detailed than the online version.

Over time, the “Resident Digital ID” had earned the trust of the residents of the districts of New Night Haven and they had become accustomed to it. After the death of the third Lawrence, the order established during his time began to collapse. The level of chaos and corruption increased, battles for power and influence erupted, the number of secret deals increased, and his soft and mediocre son only watched life from the sidelines, not trying to analyze or control what was happening around him, and did not even have the capacity to understand it. Life in the city changed in a negative direction, economic indicators plummeted, and the quality of life of its residents declined.

The “Resident Digital ID” also underwent changes over time — from a tool for solving primarily administrative issues to an instrument for advertising and commerce; advertisements and integrations with commercial platforms and various private structures appeared in it, and it no longer fulfilled the social functions for which it was created. It had turned into a commercial network, a mediator between people and companies in the city. It had become a tool for pursuing profits, not for solving social issues. And even its familiar name, interface, and functionalities were recently discontinued and an attempt was made to replace it with the digital application “New Night Haven Gate & Joystick.” A gate to commerce — in practice an ordinary e‑commerce platform.

The new entertainment district was described as a celebration of tastelessness and vulgarity. Uninteresting shops and venues located in hangars of former industrial enterprises, with poor design, poor service, lack of quality offerings, and an unpleasant atmosphere — all connected to a digital application that managed and manipulated business and commercial results, benefiting some and harming others who did not pay enough to receive many orders, visitors, and good overall performance. To visit this economic “miracle,” people even had to purchase a ticket valid for 24 hours from the moment of purchase, through the new city e‑commerce platform “New Night Haven Gate & Joystick,” which attempted to inherit and replace the old one and steal all its databases and functioning features. 

Municipal services were declining, the interaction between citizens and the municipality was falling apart, and large and powerful economic structures were coming to the forefront in the city, concentrating more and more resources and suppressing small businesses. Small businesses had little choice for survival except to be maximally efficient — which is not always possible — or to begin partnering with the rising criminal groups and criminal structures, instead of with the municipality, which paid less and less attention to them. Unlike the municipality, the criminal groups were always available, as long as you shared a percentage of your turnover with them. They were able to find quick solutions to many problems, help in many situations, give urgent loans, and pull entrepreneurs out of difficult situations — unlike the municipality, which lately was capable only of creating obstacles for them, despite their properly paid taxes.

However, by accepting the conditions of the criminal groups, these entrepreneurs doomed themselves to slavery, because getting out of the game is very difficult. Many entrepreneurs abandoned everything and fled to escape and save themselves from the criminals. Ordinary good and decent people often had only one option left to escape the swamp of poverty, hopelessness, and crime forming in New Night Haven — namely, to flee.

***

One late evening, while the partying in the nightclubs of New Night Haven was just beginning, a young man was in no mood for fun. He had locked himself in one of the staff rooms of the nightclub “New Night Butterflies,” which was one of the best nightclubs in the city. The club was welcoming its first guests, but it was still not very crowded. The young man looked extremely sad and his eyes were filled with tears. He was counting money.

For years this man had been managing an entire network of nightclubs and bars in his hometown, New Night Haven. This should have meant that he was quite successful as a person and probably happy. But that was not the case. For years this man had been tormented by criminal groups with whom he was forced to share the revenue and profits from the turnover of the night establishments. The criminal groups threatened him, harassed him, kidnapped him, and even years ago had kidnapped and likely killed his younger sister in order to intimidate and subdue him.

This man’s name was Tomi Loreno, and although he earned a lot of money in a city with high levels of poverty and deprivation, his life was quite difficult. Because some of the most dangerous criminals and criminal groups in the city were breathing down his neck. Especially terrifying was the criminal conglomerate “The Night Brigades of New Night Haven,” who dictated the rules in the city at night. Every entrepreneur and owner of night establishments was forced to obey them and comply with them. Their leader was a powerful and secretive crime boss nicknamed “Night Hazard.” Few people had seen him in person, but everyone in the city had heard of him. It was known that Night Hazard was a great strategist with a vision for things, who carefully thought through and planned every move. It was known that he was quite cunning and liked to weave intrigues between different criminals and criminal groups in order to observe and control them better. Often, in a conflict, he could play the role of an arbiter or even a savior for one of the sides in the conflict.

Tomi Loreno had also never seen Night Hazard in person, only his people from the Night Brigades. Tomi hated Night Hazard intensely because of the torment inflicted on him for many years and because of the kidnapping and disappearance of his sister. He loved her very much, because he had no other close relatives, and his parents had died long ago. He even carried a small photo of his sister in his pocket and sometimes looked at it with sadness.

Tomi Loreno was a sad and lonely man, despite his successes in life. Because of the pressure surrounding the management of nightclubs and because of the torment from criminal groups, he was under constant stress, which did not allow him to think ahead in his personal life, to start a family and have children. For years he believed he could die at any moment, believed he could be killed or disappear without a trace. This prevented him from making personal plans. He had mostly short-term relationships, often with his employees working in the clubs he managed, because he was consumed by work and did not have much time to go anywhere else.

For years he was consumed by work and spent most of his time in the nightclubs, dealing with large volumes of administrative work, planning, accounting, and management. He often helped with planning and organizing the parties, and with the design and décor of the night establishments themselves. In his clubs, every party had to be unique, unrepeatable, and unforgettable. This was the company policy — every party with a unique and unrepeatable scenario and details, with different décor and atmosphere, with the main rule being that no party should resemble another in any way.

This company policy had found many supporters and fans among the people, and the clubs were always full of satisfied customers who had a good time, and there were always many positive reviews. Many people said that they had had a magical time at these parties, that there were always incredible scenes and details, many exciting moments and incredible emotions. These reviews spread everywhere, which helped the nightclubs become increasingly popular and profitable. The higher profits led to greater interest from criminal groups, who wanted to obtain shares in this successful business and a significant percentage of the turnover.

Thus, despite the good business results and successful ventures, Tomi Loreno was not a particularly happy man, because he was constantly pressured for money. There was a rumor that the Night Brigades of New Night Haven monitored him extremely closely, and that even among the guests at the parties there were often their secret observers whose goal was to watch him closely, observe what was happening, and interfere in the work of the clubs. In addition, there was a version that they secretly guarded the clubs and could appear out of nowhere at any time.

The evening progressed, midnight approached, and Tomi Loreno continued counting stacks of money in one of the service rooms of one of his clubs, carefully taking notes. Suddenly he received a call from an unknown number: “Hello, Tomi! Tomi Loreno! I am Night Hazard, come down to the bar, I want to talk to you!” — Tomi literally froze and said to himself: How is this possible? Night Hazard himself? To come personally to me! I have never seen him in person! What could he want from me, what does he want to talk to me about? Could this be some kind of trick? How could he want a meeting with me after so many years? He has never sought me out and never wanted to talk to me! If it really is him, I don’t know what to say to him… I can’t tell him that I truly hate him and that he ruined my life, because he will kill me! Should I ask him about my sister Zoe, whether he knows anything about her and what happened to her? It will be hard to hold back such a question!” — Tomi panicked for a moment and wondered what to do, but then pulled himself together, took a gun from one of his secret hiding places, and headed toward the bar.

Approaching the bar, Tomi looked with fear, even trembling. He expected to see heavy security, because it was known that Night Hazard moved with large security, masked and accompanied by masked doubles. But what he saw at the bar puzzled him and made him suspicious. There stood a strange stranger in a colorful suit and a top hat, and there was no one around him, no security was visible.

Tomi approached and the stranger turned his face toward him. The stranger’s face was made‑up and this had changed his appearance. To Tomi it seemed that in front of him was not a person, but some kind of doll. “Masked like some doll or plastic mannequin escaped from a store! Where are his doubles? Where is the numerous security? What carelessness!” — Tomi thought secretly to himself, becoming more and more puzzled.

Suddenly the stranger spoke and turned to Tomi: “Night Hazard, how are you? Hello, Night Hazard, don’t you recognize me?” — the stranger said, then paused and stared at Tomi carefully and inquisitively.

Tomi was startled, but spoke confidently and calmly: “Why did you call me that? I am not Night Hazard, I have never even seen him in person! I have never seen him, I don’t know what he looks like, and I have never met him! How could you think that? Who are you? You introduced yourself as Night Hazard on the phone and called me to the bar. Are you Night Hazard, although honestly I don’t believe you are. He always moves with heavy security and as far as I know he is always masked and accompanied by doubles masked exactly like him. And you are almost masked with that makeup on your face, but where is your security? Who are you, tell me, and tell me what you want from me!” — Tomi replied to the stranger.

“Stop pretending to be interesting, Night Hazard! I came to talk to you, someone from your Night Brigades betrayed you. Do you hear me, Night Hazard, they betrayed you! There is no point in denying it!” — the stranger shouted and stared into Tomi’s face.

Tomi looked startled and even frightened. “It’s not me and it has never been me! I am a good person, buried in work, I earn my money through honest labor. You can ask the people around, I am always in my establishments, I never mask myself and I walk without security.” — Tomi spoke confidently, and in his voice and tone one could feel notes of honesty, from a person who truly takes pride in what he does and what he has achieved.

“Let’s assume I believed you, that was a test, I wanted to see how you would react, because you look suspicious to me. I still don’t fully believe that you are not Night Hazard, but let’s say the probability that you are not him has increased in my eyes. And I am not Night Hazard either, but a person who is trying to reach a meeting with him. I am his competitor. I have things to discuss with him.” — the made‑up stranger stated and explained.

“Ha, his competitor, but as far as I know Night Hazard has no competition in the city. And since when is that? Few people have dared to challenge him! You’re either fooling me or bragging about something. I suppose you’ve been daydreaming and suddenly your imagination has gone too far, or you seriously overestimate your abilities and capabilities. Or you’re just drunk and talking drunken nonsense? Which of the three is it? Again I ask you who you are and what you want from me?” — Tomi asked.

“Hey, Tomi, don’t mock me or you will suffer. I am a very serious player in the criminal world of New Night Haven, I just come from another district of the city and that’s why you don’t know me. Behind me stand many powerful people. We are many, we are strong! Soon everyone in your district will learn about us and our strength. We intend to take back a significant part of the territory and positions of the Night Brigades and Night Hazard in the district. We have the means to do it. We are ready for war. Very soon everyone will have to comply with us. I warn you that you too will have to comply with us, as will all businessmen in the district. I have sent information to all important players in the district and to all businessmen, including you. Check your email! If you refuse, we will destroy you! We will destroy you spectacularly and you will never be able to stand up again and move forward! Even if you are persistent and try! Every time we will inflict such damage on you that you will hardly recover, and no one will believe that you can recover, because we will sabotage you spectacularly. Your downfall will be visible to everyone!” — the suited and made‑up stranger threatened.

“What do you want from me? I already pay too much to different groups, I haven’t been working for myself for a long time, but mostly for them. I can’t pay you too, I have no more possibilities and strength. I feel like everyone wants to extort me or use me in this ruined city. In the end I will give up and run away! I just can’t take it anymore!” — Tomi shared his pain.

“We can free you from the Night Brigades and Night Hazard. We can find information about the fate of your missing sister if you cooperate with us. I know many things, Tomi, I have researched many details. I know you blame the Night Brigades for her disappearance, I don’t know how you have endured them for so long. I thought this might be a fake story meant to distance yourself from the version that you are actually Night Hazard, but I see that it may be true.” — the stranger continued.

“How did you even get in here? You are exposing me and everyone around me to great danger! Night Hazard could kill me immediately, even if he only finds out that I have spoken with the competition.” — Tomi interrupted him.

“How did I get in? Well, now I’ll tell you. I followed the standard procedure that every candidate visitor and client of yours follows, because you are not for everyone, and you prefer to filter visitors, you like to select your clientele carefully. I opened the website of this club of yours and saw that in order to visit it I had to submit a special Party Résumé and be approved for entry. Very interesting strategy you have. You require every person to state in the Party Résumé the reasons why they wish to attend your parties, you are curious about what budget they have for the party, and you ask them to share personal information about themselves — to fill out brief information about themselves, their interests and hobbies, as well as their contacts. You probably do this to submit your preliminary reports to Night Hazard. Where he submits them, I will not tell you for now. I submitted my résumé, shared the limits of my budget, and filled out my description and contacts. Not long after, I received an electronic invitation and was issued a special Party ID with which to use your incredible services and promotions. And here I am!” — the stranger explained mockingly.

“Are you trying to act smart? Or are you mocking me? This club is probably the most modern in the city, unmatched in services and program! But again and again I ask who you are and why you are here tonight!” — Tomi continued nervously.

“I noticed that your Party ID has different links and integrations, that it is connected and integrated with the services of other nightclubs and companies from different fields, which you do not own, Tomi. Tomi, you are strong! You have found a path to everyone! Or rather, you are strong because I know you are not alone. You are well organized! As soon as a person crosses the threshold of your clubs, a sea of possibilities opens before them. Interconnected possibilities. With you, one can find everything, quickly and conveniently, thanks to your incredible Party ID, which knows no barriers in New Night Haven or removes them with unique speed. Your Party ID unlocks access to all kinds of exclusive products, services, discounts, promotions, packages, and offers, to all kinds of interesting applications, platforms, and exciting spaces. The Party ID represents a secret key that opens all kinds of doors and gates behind which many tempting things for your clients are hidden. Your Party ID can successfully compete with the notorious bandit e‑commerce platform of the municipality, the infamous and compromised “Resident Digital ID,” which was inherited by the new city business Gate & Joystick, which fills the pockets of our beloved corrupt municipal officials at even faster rates and in even larger scales than before. You are no worse than them. You have created a large network. As long as a person pays, they can go very far with you. So, now the reports look better, right? Your network is constantly expanding. You are beginning to resemble a large and powerful company, but you are not, because you have a large portfolio of forbidden products and illegal services. You have a truly large bandit portfolio. Energetically and persistently you expand your empire. Quite aggressively, I might add. So far no one bothers you, but there are reasons for that, and I don’t know whether you are aware of them and to what extent you are aware.” — the stranger hinted mysteriously.

“What are you trying to accuse me of or involve me in, sir? You didn’t say your name, and your words make me think you have some kind of plan and are aiming for something, but I cannot understand what. What is wrong with cooperation and interaction between different clubs and companies? We are not doing anything bad or anything illegal!” — Tomi tried to understand.

“I am not trying to accuse you of anything, Mr. Loreno. I simply decided to gather you tonight so we could talk.” — the stranger hinted mysteriously.

“To gather us? With whom?” — Tomi asked in surprise. This stranger kept surprising him tonight.

“Well, with you, I decided to gather your people here tonight in this club. Your people from the Night Brigades of New Night Haven, your business partners from your Party ID network, and other connected and interested parties. I told you I would send you information by email about my conditions and requirements for you. Well, I did. I even took your party invitations as a template and added a short résumé of who I am and what I want. And I sent these templates to your people, with a warning that they would have to let me into the business and give me part of their positions in the district and in the city as a whole.” — the stranger explained what he had done, but Tomi became extremely angry and interrupted him:

“What have you done, you idiot, you are insane, they will kill both of us for this! You are completely insane! Where did you come from, you filthy bastard!” — Tomi shouted angrily.

“Shout, shout, and the meeting is scheduled for midnight in front of this club, that’s what I wrote in the party invitations. Be more welcoming and bring in a bit more of that festival spirit. It’s going to be fun! They are probably already outside!” — the stranger said and ran toward the exit of the club. Tomi panicked, pulled out his gun, and followed the stranger to check whether he was telling the truth. He felt that this could be the last day of his life. Tomi reached the exit and cautiously peeked out the door to look outside. But surprisingly, there was no one outside, and the crazy stranger had vanished. On the door of the club there was a sticker with an emblem and links beneath it. The emblem showed two silhouettes of a person with a top hat — the first silhouette jumping with arms and legs spread in the air, and the second standing in a calm pose. The links beneath the emblem led to a webpage and social media pages of some unknown showman.

Tomi decided to take a photo of the sticker with his smartphone, planning to find time later to check the links, to learn more about this person and try to understand what was happening. But before that, he intended to finish what he had started and continue counting the money in the staff room where he had been earlier, before being called to the bar.

On his way back he noticed more and more people moving toward the exit of the club, and the people looked frightened. He also noticed that the stickers with the emblem and links were pasted in many places, not only on the outer door — they simply had not been visible enough in the darkness and under the club’s lights. More and more people began heading toward the exit, some even running, looking extremely scared.

Tomi stopped one of the groups of visitors leaving the club to ask what was happening and why everyone was running outside. They showed him a video clip uploaded through one of the links pasted around the club. Tomi was speechless. The clip showed many armed people gathered at one of the VIP tables in the club, and suddenly a fight broke out among them and a spectacular shootout erupted. The clip was uploaded with the title: “Meeting of the biggest crime bosses in New Night Haven at the nightclub ‘ New Night Butterflies.’”

Tomi was literally shocked by the video and immediately ran toward the specific VIP table. As he approached it, he saw that there was no one there and no trace of a shootout. He quickly checked the camera recordings and discovered that no shootout had occurred — the table had been empty, and it was likely a montage.

Over the club’s loudspeakers it was announced to the guests to remain calm and that it was a montage and sabotage. Police patrols arrived at the scene and began inspecting the club, but found almost nothing except the stickers pasted around the club. All visitors left the club in fear.

Later, the media also reported the incident and stated that the clip was fake, but the club suffered certain losses due to reduced attendance in the following days, and due to people’s suspicions that there might truly be a conflict between criminal groups around the club.

What had happened became a serious surprise and mystery for Tomi Loreno, which he could not understand. Nights in New Night Haven were already hot, dangerous, and unpredictable by nature, and this made‑up stranger who appeared out of nowhere added additional intrigue to his life.

What had happened affected not only the club, but also the life of Tomi Loreno. He loved his work and the excitement before every party. He always felt thrilled before a party and was in a lifted mood. The parties were his outlet from the problems and troubles he faced in his life. Now someone had seriously disturbed his inner peace and calm, which made him tense and deeply worried. Tomi felt stress and fear. But not so much fear for himself, as fear for his reputation.

Over time, his network of clubs, led by the club “New Night Butterflies,” had gained a large number of followers and had high attendance. The clubs were always full, the turnover was huge, Tomi’s influence as an entrepreneur was great, and he was part of the city’s high life. Around his clubs, an entire community of regular customers had formed — people who visited the club and used the services inside through a special “Party ID,” which existed in digital format as a smartphone app and on special screens inside the clubs. Through it, guests and visitors could get information about upcoming parties and offers, order and reserve services, and leave their reviews, recommendations, and suggestions.

The incident seriously worried Tomi because news of it was spreading at frightening speed among the customers, who were leaving comments, reviews, and sharing their concerns in the “Party ID” app of the “New Night Butterflies” club. Thus everyone learned about what had happened. The club administration tried to calm its customers by posting messages that security measures were being worked on, that everything possible would be done to prevent such situations from happening again, and that the case had been handed over to the police, who were actively working on it and on catching the attacker.

In addition, Tomi wondered about the reasons for the attack and who the attacker was, and what he was aiming for. Why had the attacker addressed him with: “Hello, Night Hazard!” Someone believed or wanted to accuse him of actually being the mysterious boss of the “Night Brigades of New Night Haven,” whom almost no one had seen in person but everyone had heard of? Or to create a conflict and weave some dangerous intrigue?

Tomi’s fear grew, because this intrigue could cost him everything. Accusing Tomi Loreno of being a crime boss (and not just any crime boss) could create a serious problem for him both with the Night Brigades and the real Night Hazard, and with their enemies. Tomi expected something bad to happen to him at any moment, while he continued taking safety measures for his clubs and customers. He also suspected that soon a major conflict could erupt between the criminal groups in the city due to rising tension caused by intrigues and struggles for influence. He assumed that the attack on his club was part of someone’s scenario and was not accidental.

To the public he demonstrated calm behavior, but psychologically he was preparing for the worst — something he had warned only the police about, because he did not want people to know about his problems, not even the closest ones. Tomi had no living relatives, but he had close people from his team whom he could trust, yet he decided to spare them the stress and worry.

Within a day and the following few days, he stood alone against the unknown and the dangers hanging over him, demonstrating incredible composure in front of all his friends, acquaintances, subordinates, and partners. While waiting to see how things would develop, and while psychologically almost accepting that he might soon die, Tomi received a mysterious call from someone who introduced himself as a person holding a high position in the hierarchy of the “Night Brigades”:

“Hello, Tomi! How are you? My name is Caleb and I am one of the bosses of the ‘Night Brigades of New Night Haven.’ We do not know each other personally, we have not met and we have not communicated. You have communicated with other people from the team, but not with me.” — the stranger began.

“Hello, sir, I don’t know if you are aware, but for some time now I have been under incredible stress from your people, who forcibly take a large part of what I earn, and a few years ago they even kidnapped my sister, after which she disappeared without a trace, and based on these experiences it is not particularly pleasant for me to speak with you. You didn’t even bother to answer me about what you did with my sister and whether she is alive, or whether you killed her. Every week your people pass through my clubs and collect an impressive percentage of the turnover, yet you cannot do one good deed — namely, to confirm what you know about her fate. For a long time you have been feeding me promises of peace and freedom, but my freedom never comes…” — Tomi replied angrily.

“Listen now, friend, don’t talk to me in that tone, or you might disappear just like your sister! We have always respected you and you have always received respectful treatment from us. We prevented several assassination attempts against you, we preserved your life and health, don’t be ungrateful! You would have sunk into the swamp of New Night Haven long ago if it weren’t for us, and no one would remember you anymore. And now you are a well‑known successful man, a man with a name in the city. As for your sister, I cannot answer you because I know nothing, but I promise you that I will look into the matter as much as I can.

Now to the point. A certain man has appeared in the city — some jester or lunatic — who is pretending to be a new player in the criminal world. As far as we know, he is probably alone for now or has a limited number of allies and helpers, and he is likely indeed trying to form his own criminal structure in the city. According to preliminary information, he is a former showman who entertained visitors of comedy clubs and seedy taverns in the city for some time. Not that he was such a bad showman, but overall he did not manage to break through, and we assume he became bitter and frustrated because of that — and because of his small income, of course. He performed long and exhausting shows, but with poor financial results, lots of nerves and scandals. He often argued with the audience and picked fights with the more outspoken spectators and with the managers of the comedy clubs, bars, and taverns where he performed.

There is an opinion about him that he is an unsuccessful performer, a thug, a clown, and a lunatic with pretensions for something more, but without the necessary qualities for it. A bitter failure who, however, worked in our zone of influence in the city, across a fairly large territory and in many establishments, and interacted and stirred conflicts with people we know. We have known about him for some time, but did not consider him anything significant until we learned that he was actively asking about us, negotiating with other criminal groups, and that he intends to work against us.

Whether out of bitterness or madness, this fool is spreading information around the city that he is working on creating a competitor to the Night Brigades, and that he has already found a certain number of supporters. We know that he was also with you and spoke with you in the club ‘New Night Butterflies.’ One of those with a top hat and suit, a made‑up clown. I warn you not to have anything to do with him! We will take care of him and destroy him while he is still in the early stages. Work on this matter is already underway.

I want to know what he told you personally and what he asked of you. I know about the attack, the stickers, the links titled ‘The Shadow of New Night Haven,’ I know about the fake footage of a shootout in the VIP zone of the club, I know about the various fake meetings between crime bosses for dividing and redistributing territories in the city. You don’t need to tell me about those — we have already gathered plenty of information, spoken with all the major bosses in the city, and we already have a formed opinion on the matter. Even in the criminal world he is shaping up as a failure; no serious person will pay attention to him. He is simply an actor who simulates activity and success. And soon he will be in the afterlife because of his insolence.

So tell me what you talked about when he came to you at the bar — my acquaintances saw you talking at the bar?” — the high‑ranking member of the Night Brigades asked with curiosity and a strict tone.

“We didn’t manage to talk for very long, because the made‑up clown rather quickly began doing the crazy things you already know about, as you yourself noted. He was somewhat pushy, but I didn’t understand what exactly he wanted. The other interesting and puzzling thing was that he addressed me as ‘Night Hazard,’” Tomi explained, until the man on the other end interrupted him.

“Hm, strange… He thought you might be ‘Night Hazard’? Clearly he is not very smart if such a thought can pass through his head. He constantly asks about Night Hazard and has declared himself his opponent. A pathetic, frustrated little man. He thinks he can gain notoriety by inventing stories about a nonexistent rivalry with one of the most famous and powerful people in the city. He should have stayed in the taverns and worked as an actor and showman — now he is facing very big trouble because of these inventions.

I do not recommend any contact with this man; he simply makes up stories and tries hard to appear as something he is not. You should not believe a single word he says. We already know almost everything about him and will eliminate him soon. The only concerning thing is that he appeared relatively recently in the city — maybe a year, year and a half ago, judging by the earliest evidence of his existence — and it is not clear what he did and where he lived before. Before we eliminate him, we will capture him alive to learn more about his past, as well as his motivation and goals.

At the moment he is spreading mostly lies and intrigues, sending insane messages and emails with threats to us and to other partner groups, business communities, and businessmen in the city, as well as invitations for meetings to our competitors, opponents, and enemies. He is trying to create and develop a fake image of himself, a fake legend, which experienced people will never believe, but his invitations could lead to him becoming a member of a rival group — though no one will perceive him as an equal player. There is a chance our competitors may kill him, but we want to get to him first to understand why he decided to go down this path at all.

That’s all from me for now. Stay away from the made‑up clown, we will handle him. I will look into the matter of your sister. Goodbye for now, and be smart.” — the man hung up, and Tomi remained deeply thoughtful after this conversation.

***

In the meantime, a rumor began spreading through New Night Haven at lightning speed that some made‑up bandit had appeared — someone who had proclaimed himself a new crime boss and practically the new master of the city — and was extorting businessmen, gangsters, and criminal bosses for money, territory, and power. According to the circulating unofficial information, this person constantly sends threatening messages through various methods and channels to some of the leading criminal authorities, and at the same time sends invitations for negotiations about redistributing territories and zones in the city to other crime bosses.

It was said that he had declared the most powerful criminal group in the city — “The Night Brigades of New Night Haven” — and their leader “Night Hazard” as his opponents and enemies, and that his main goal was to steal territory and influence specifically from them. The Night Brigades, for their part, responded by spreading a rumor that he was a frustrated and likely mentally ill person who acted alone and merely pretended to represent a criminal group and criminal alliances, and that no attention should be paid to him.

The case also appeared in the evening news broadcast, in which several people presenting themselves as respectable and honest businessmen complained that they had received a large number of threatening messages stating that they would soon receive new conditions under which they would have to operate, along with a warning from the bandit that he knew a lot about them. The businessmen noted that they would not succumb to any attempts at extortion and that they had informed the police about what had happened.

In the short news report, these few people were quite laconic, and it was not clear what exactly the newly emerged criminal wanted from them. It also became clear that the messages were composed using both publicly available information about these businessmen and a large amount of false data and fabrications.

“I still, again and again, keep thinking about the question of who this person even is and what exactly he wants. I am still thinking about what to do with him and what our main version about him should be, and what our main plan for him should be. I cannot comprehend how he is extorting people left and right and no one has dealt with him yet; even more, I cannot comprehend how this clown keeps slipping away from us. Soon everyone will find out about him, and we will embarrass ourselves badly if we do not deal with him convincingly. Not only convincingly, but spectacularly!

I still hesitate whether to present him as a loser‑clown and psychopath — which he most likely is — or as someone who is actually trying to achieve something in the criminal world. And then to tear him apart thoroughly as a warning to all other enthusiasts who might wish to meddle in our affairs. Overall, I cannot understand this man… How does he think he can even talk to us, and even more, make demands of us? He should realize that we will crush him. I suspect he simply has psychological issues. Or he is some kind of maniac with an inflated opinion of himself and a big ego. A man with delusions of grandeur.

Still, we must be careful, because this person may have been sent specifically by someone else or may be working for someone. We must firmly determine whether he works for anyone. I spoke with all the important crime bosses in the city, and none of them knows him or takes him seriously. All of them distanced themselves from him. There is a possibility he works for the police, and that is why we must be especially careful and cautious when clarifying the circumstances and details around him. Otherwise, these versions must remain between us for internal use.

For now, I think we should continue with the version of ‘the loser‑clown and psychopath,’ while keeping an eye on him and secretly developing several scenarios for how things may unfold, including different possible options and versions. What does he even want: to fight me and take my territory and power? And on top of that, he is shouting it everywhere! What a joke! I will destroy him! No one can think they can challenge me without consequences — I will not allow anyone even to joke about such a thing!

I want you to find that bastard and bring him to me, I will deal with him personally! Start searching for him immediately! Catch that clown and bring him to me! I will personally interrogate him about why he has already presented himself as me several times to different people, and why at the same time he presents himself as my new greatest opponent and spreads stories about our ‘rivalry’ around the city. And do not forget a single word about the incident in the small house on the outskirts of the city, during which this nimble fellow robbed us. We are still auditing what he took, and so far things do not look good at all! And we will have to deal with that too — we must make him return the things as quickly as possible and prevent him from using them against us!”

In one of the most secret places in New Night Haven — a hidden room, an underground bunker — the angry voice and instructions to his subordinates could be heard, from a man who was likely quite surprised, outraged, and irritated. In this underground place, a large group of frightening people had gathered — armed, dangerous, angry, and ferocious.

“You heard what Night Hazard said — we must urgently catch the clown. We cannot allow him to embarrass us. Let’s assign roles and tasks and get to work. The ‘Day Brigades’ must take control of the operation to capture the clown during the day, and after nightfall the ‘Night Brigades’ will take over. We have at most one day to find and capture him; we cannot give him more time to disgrace us. We simply cannot allow it!” — a powerful voice of a strong and authoritative man rose.

“I will tell you a little about what is known about the showman, so you know what and whom to look for. It is a comedian and showman who appeared in the city relatively recently — maybe about a year ago. He worked mostly at night in various clubs and holes around the city, entertaining mostly drunkards and lowlifes. It is known that he talked with them and maintained friendly relations with much of his audience. He did not earn much; one could say he was not successful as a comedian and showman, which likely frustrated him. One could say he is a loser who envies successful people — people like us, for example.

I was even told that during some of his shows he mentioned us, commented on the Night Brigades and Night Hazard, and asked about us. When we learned about this, we did not consider it necessary to pay attention to him or warn this pathetic type. And now apparently he has started believing in himself, or has snapped from poverty and despair, and thinks he can mess with us and even challenge us.

You will all receive action plans and maps containing locations that must be checked. Act firmly, bravely, and effectively. This task cannot wait.” — a second important and strict voice rose, with a commanding tone.

Soon everyone left the secret hideout in different directions. The “Day Brigades” and “Night Brigades” of New Night Haven formed the most powerful criminal group in the city. Their leader was believed to be the famous and secretive crime boss nicknamed “Night Hazard.” This man was very well known for the fact that everyone had heard of him and his power, but almost no one had seen him in person or knew what he looked like.

There were countless versions, stories, speculations, and legends circulating about Night Hazard, but no one knew how many of them were true. It was known that he was a great strategist who managed a large number of businesses and people, and behind the scenes planned, directed, guided, and orchestrated many of the processes in the city. It was known that he had serious connections in the city government and secretly participated in its governance. Night Hazard was known for planning, creating, and developing systems of tools, moves, scenarios, and directions, which he used together or separately, but which always formed and were part of larger processes and his broader plans and strategies.

“The Day Brigades” of New Night Haven immediately began carrying out Night Hazard’s order to capture the showman. They deployed across different parts of the city, being especially active in the districts where the showman had worked in clubs and where he had likely lived. They split into groups moving in cars equipped with cameras to monitor the situation. The Day Brigades roamed many districts, streets, and locations, checked a large number of addresses, and spoke with many people, but they were unable to find any trace of the showman.

In the late afternoon, a meeting was held between the leaders of the Day Brigades and the Night Brigades, in which they concluded that the task did not appear easy. Therefore, they decided to fabricate a fake capture and spread the news among the other criminals and criminal groups in the city. The “capture” was planned for eight o’clock in the evening, at the club “Crown Comedy Live,” where a performance of a fake version of the showman was to take place. Everything was to be recorded with cameras and distributed in a way that would be seen by as many people as possible. A livestream channel was prepared, which at the designated time would broadcast the video, and a significant sum was allocated for advertising and spreading the video.

People had to see what the Night Brigades of New Night Haven were capable of and how quickly and effectively they neutralized, discouraged, and punished their opponents and those who dared to challenge them. In the situation that had arisen, the prevailing opinion was that time needed to be bought and reputational risks avoided. Night Hazard had approved the operation, although he had some reservations about what might happen and what move the showman might make, but the idea of buying time generally appealed to him. He is a master of tactics, strategies, and manipulations, and believed that whatever the showman did, he could not surprise him — and even if he did, Night Hazard had ways to counter and neutralize all his moves.

Night Hazard always prepares an impressive number of plans, moves, and scenarios for all kinds of situations, conditions, environments, and people. He always plans and prepares in advance and has at his disposal a large arsenal of possible solutions, moves, steps, options, scenarios, versions, proposals, continuations, and directions for the development of events. He has escaped from all sorts of incredible and impossible situations and is believed to be capable of handling almost anything and finding a solution to almost any problem.

A little before 8 p.m., a livestream video unexpectedly appeared on social media, surprising many people. It quickly began gaining an audience, and within a very short period of time the number of viewers increased enormously. The video showed an improvised stage built on the dance floor of some club. From the captions running in the video, it was clear that the action was taking place in the club “Crown Comedy Live” in the central part of New Night Haven, slightly south of the very center, in an area frequented by people with unconventional thinking and rebellious attitudes.

In the description accompanying the video, it was stated that this was a live broadcast titled — surprisingly for most people — “The Capture of the Extortionist Showman.” It was precisely in clubs located in this district that the showman, the violator of rules and peace in New Night Haven, had most often performed.

In the video, it was seen how a man in colorful clothes stepped onto the stage and began greeting the audience. In front of the stage there were tables and chairs, occupied mostly by men in dark suits. Even while the man on stage was greeting the audience, many of the suited men suddenly stood up and moved toward different parts of the hall. Some headed toward the stage, others positioned themselves in front of the exit of the main hall of the club “Crown Comedy Live.”

The suited men who approached the stage surrounded the man on it, and one of them took the microphone from his hands and began speaking: “We are here to catch and hand over to the authorities an insolent extortionist who has recently been harassing numerous honest and respectable representatives of the city’s business community. We recently learned about his misconduct and decided to react as quickly as possible. This is the very man who attacked the club New Night Butterflies with stickers he plastered all over the club, caused incredible panic, and terrified the club’s visitors to death because of the video montage and the fake scenes of shooting and gunfights inside the club, which were broadcast through social media pages and video streaming channels, displayed and advertised on those stickers. We, the honest and respectable citizens of New Night Haven, are here to state firmly, clearly, and categorically that we will not tolerate such behavior and actions. We are here to respond to this man’s insolence, his threats, and his extortion! We are here to capture this crazy guy, former showman, and ordinary loser!” — the suited man spoke excitedly into the microphone.

The audience of the livestream grew rapidly. More and more curious people opened the livestream of this surprising video broadcast. Most of them did not understand what was happening, who this man was, and why he was receiving so much attention. He had threatened and extorted people in the city. In modern-day New Night Haven, such villains were extremely common, people thought. What made this one different from the others?

And at that exact moment, another man in a colorful suit appeared unexpectedly in the frame — clearly a fan of extravagant fashion and makeup, because besides being dressed strangely, he was made‑up and looked like a wax figure. On his head he wore a top hat. This man moved very quickly and energetically; almost instantly after appearing, he pressed a button on a remote he held in his hand, after which a large curtain descended over the improvised stage in the club, with a large, clearly visible and readable inscription:

“Tonight’s live broadcast continues — to see the continuation, go to the following pages and channels, displayed with large letters and symbols in the center of the curtain!”

And indeed, in the center of the curtain, links were visible — links to social media pages and video streaming channels titled “On the heels of the Night Brigades of New Night Haven and Night Hazard” and “The Shadow of New Night Haven.”

Meanwhile, chaos erupted inside the club “Crown Comedy Live.” Clearly everything had gone according to a different scenario, different from the plan of the Night Brigades. The channel “The Capture of the Extortionist Showman” stopped broadcasting video and the livestream was terminated, showing only a black screen.

All the curious viewers following the developments switched to “On the heels of the Night Brigades of New Night Haven and Night Hazard” and “The Shadow of New Night Haven.” Most of them still did not understand what was happening or why this was being broadcast live.

After switching to the links from the curtain, everyone noticed that things were unfolding differently. At the beginning, they were greeted by an animated character wearing a suit and top hat, who jumped into the air with arms and legs spread and addressed everyone: “Come on, forward! You won’t be bored with me!” — after which he led the viewers on a tour through New New Night Haven.

The camera left the club “New Crown Comedy Club” through the main entrance and flew high into the air. It headed toward the very center of the city, flying over several main city arteries, commercial streets, and squares, gradually approaching the municipal building. Once the seat of the city government was reached, the camera began filming the municipal building from different angles.

After several shots from different angles of the municipal building, a large image appeared in the video, resembling a banner, on which silhouettes of armed men were depicted, with a man wearing a sinister mask and sinister eyes behind it placed at the front, and next to him stood well‑known city officials. Above the image appeared the caption:

“Night Hazard and the Night Brigades and their protégés vs. The People of New Night Haven”

After which the clip ended, leaving a wide field and large space for numerous theories, guesses, and all kinds of speculation.

The sudden appearance of the showman and the actions he took that evening not only ruined the plans of the Night Brigades, but showed that the showman had been following them in some way.

All of this enraged Night Hazard tremendously, because it was a true humiliation for the Night Brigades. He had not expected such things from the showman, who once again acted with pre‑planned moves. Night Hazard even began to see some kind of rival in him, despite his arrogance.

Night Hazard took the task very seriously and began planning the next actions of the Night Brigades against the showman, placing them under his personal control. He believed that the next actions should include a major demonstration of strength and power, one that would intimidate opponents and reaffirm the leadership positions of the structures he commanded.

***

“It was nearing noon, and the private detective Bobby Nicholson was at home, reviewing on his laptop one of the many videos circulated by the media from today’s incident in front of the municipal building in New Night Haven, in which an unknown suited and made‑up stranger had accused the city’s mayor and the chairwoman of the municipal council of corruption and ties with criminal groups. The media reported that public dissatisfaction was growing like an avalanche and that the local authorities were preparing a press conference in response to the accusations.

At that moment, the private detective’s phone rang — he was being contacted by an old acquaintance, namely the investigative police officer Gordy Norris:

Conversation:

“Hello, Mr. Nicholson, we haven’t spoken for quite some time. How are you? I’m contacting you because I’m dealing with a new investigation, in which I’m still barely finding my bearings and I don’t know where to begin. I’m turning to you as someone who knows an awful lot about crime and criminal structures in the city, as someone who knows the secrets of the underworld in New Night Haven,” Gordy began.

“Hello, Mr. Norris, I’ll be glad if I can be of help. Tell me what I can assist with,” Bobby replied, having a secret hunch about what and whom the investigator was contacting him for.

“I’m glad you’re available and, as always, extremely polite and ready to help, Mr. Nicholson. I’m investigating the rising star of New Night Haven — the made‑up showman… In a short period, this guy has created quite a stir in the city, constantly sending emails and threats to notorious gangsters, criminals, and crime bosses, extorting them for money. He schedules meetings with them, at which he never appears, while threatening that he may show up suddenly at any moment and at the most inconvenient moment, to sabotage their deals, their actions, and their business as a whole. He threatens everyone that he can sabotage them. For now, I don’t know whether this man is simply insane or a fantasist, or whether he is actually preparing something. I also don’t know whether someone stands behind him.

He himself claims that he is a member of the most powerful criminal group in the city, but does not specify which one. He particularly energetically provokes and threatens the Night Brigades and their leader Night Hazard, with whom he constantly seeks contact and tries to arrange a meeting. He claims that his goal is to seize part of the Night Brigades’ positions in the city; he even states in his messages to various criminals that he has declared war on them — but that seems like madness if he doesn’t have a sufficiently strong backing.

I would be almost certain that he is mentally ill if he didn’t mention extremely accurate facts and details in his messages — facts that match reality quite precisely, or at least partially, in most cases. I cannot understand how this man knows so much! Sometimes he also talks about politics and attacks well‑known politicians with accusations, and one could assume that this is also political struggle or some kind of behind‑the‑scenes game. There is a possibility that he has been hired by someone to create intrigue and chaos — but by whom, and for what purpose?

The intrigues he creates and spreads have already caused several conflicts between criminal groups and several serious shootouts. What is happening, Mr. Nicholson? I expect you to keep me informed of every valuable finding and piece of information you discover about the case. You are the best private detective in the city — you can uncover anyone and unravel any case, you successfully handle even the most tangled cases. I heard that Mayor Lawrence wants to hire you for this case, because he believes someone is trying to discredit him,” investigator Norris explained.

“Hm, that is interesting. I also saw on the news that some made‑up clown barged into the municipality these days. I think I will take on the case. Mayor Lawrence hasn’t called me yet. I’ll wait to see what he says and what he expects from me, to decide whether to help him,” detective Nicholson replied.

“Things are really getting tangled — this guy somehow knows a lot, and thanks to the responses from criminals he learns even more, because they inadvertently provide him with additional valuable information. Besides collecting their responses as a source of information, he copies them, systematizes them, manipulates them, alters them, and creates strange compilations, assemblies, and templates from them, and sends them again, aiming to manipulate, mislead, and create conflicts. And some people believe him for one reason or another. This way, a huge war between the groups will erupt very soon.

The latest news that reached me is that he has spread information that tonight, sometime before midnight, there will be a major gathering and a meeting of influential criminals — opponents of the Night Brigades and Night Hazard — in the club ‘New Night Butterflies,’ where they will discuss the redistribution of territories in the city and the elimination or reduction of the role of the Night Brigades and Night Hazard. This would enrage them.

A few days ago, the ‘Made‑up Clown’ already visited the club ‘New Night Butterflies,’ asking for a conversation with Tomi Loreno. He asked him questions and had a confrontation with him, after which he created chaos through cunning and inventiveness. He created the illusion of an attack, shootouts, and even a real war in the club, leading to panic and evacuation, using technical means. He secretly plastered many places in the club with a link that visitors began opening out of curiosity — and there, to their surprise, a video of a shootout in the VIP zone of the same club was uploaded. Panic ensued and visitors fled outside.

The next night he caused trouble in the southern outskirts of the city, threatening and extorting members of organized crime and gangsters in the area. I have testimony from one of them, as well as from Tomi Loreno about the confrontation in the club. And now the made‑up lunatic is scheduling this meeting in ‘New Night Butterflies.’ The chosen location also sounds insane, because it is known that members of the Night Brigades also visit the club to relax and spend time together — they do something like team‑building in various popular venues in the city. This meeting is likely a provocation; the club’s owner, Tomi Loreno, would never allow such a meeting there. There is even an opinion that he is actually Night Hazard — which, in my opinion, is not true. What do you think about that, Bobby?” Gordy asked.

“Hm, I also don’t think this man is Night Hazard, Gordy. He looks too worn out by life, he is almost always at work in his clubs, relatively honest and polite. I don’t know how he could secretly play the role of a ruthless leader and unscrupulous criminal, which Night Hazard undoubtedly is. To take leadership among the Night Brigades, you must have certain qualities and an iron psyche — you must be a leader by nature. And he is not. Unless he is a genius actor.

When reviewing camera footage from various locations in the city, when looking carefully and checking the frames during analysis, it can be seen that none of the masked high‑ranking members of the Night Brigades has the proportions or behavioral characteristics of Tomi. That is my opinion. We must see what will come out of this meeting — take a bulletproof vest if you plan to stop by, because it may get very hot,” Bobby advised.

“Yes, I think so too,” Gordy laughed, after which the two wished each other a pleasant day and the conversation ended.

***

Night in New Night Haven was expected to be truly hot. No less hot than any other night. The “Festival Weeks” were in full swing. The city lights were battling the evening darkness and seemed to be preparing for a clash with the night’s gloom, for now prevailing thanks to the abundance of illuminated advertisements. Time passed, the evening advanced, the parties across the city were in full swing, and the streets and clubs were full of people. The mood was rising with every passing minute.

The residents of economically struggling New Night Haven had gone out not only to relax, but also to blow off steam and relieve the pressure of the oppressive environment surrounding them and the difficulties of life. The city authorities were also doing everything possible to increase entertainment opportunities for citizens, although among the people the opinion had taken root that they were doing it not to improve the economic situation in the city, but to benefit certain circles.

Midnight was approaching, and the scheduled meeting in the club “New Night Butterflies” was drawing near. Many of the prominent names in the underworld had received messages inviting them to attend this strange and unexpected gathering. Many criminals were surprised, others were angry, and some simply could not believe what they had read — thinking that either someone was making a dangerous joke, someone was playing games with them, or the messages had been sent by a madman.

Some of the opponents of Night Hazard, who dreamed of seizing part of his territories, had a strong interest in such a meeting. But even the boldest among them understood that this would not be easy at all.

In the description accompanying the invitation, the meeting itself was titled “A Conversation About the Future of Things,” and the main points of the agenda were listed. The main topic stated in the invitation was the redistribution of territories and resources in the city, and the transfer of territories and resources from the Night Brigades to other groups. The invitation strongly emphasized the position that the Night Brigades and Night Hazard concentrated too much power, strength, and resources among the criminal groups in the city, and that it was time for them to give more to the others.

The invitation stated that the Night Brigades and their leader were not invited to the meeting, but if they wished, they could attend or send representatives. This was one of the most dangerous and scandalous points in the invitation. The likelihood that the Night Brigades would send representatives was very high — angry representatives who would demand answers from the organizers of the meeting.

The Night Brigades felt strong, and indeed they were extremely strong. They were confident in their power and in the fact that everyone else yielded significantly to them. They were in a high and constant state of combat readiness to punish anyone and crush all who dared to challenge them.

In the club “New Night Butterflies” things appeared calm; there were still relatively few people and staff members moving back and forth. The staff had worried faces — tension was felt in the air and was clearly visible in their nervous behavior. All employees had radios to facilitate communication. On other days, these radios carried cheerful voices, jokes, and good mood. But tonight was different. Communication was strictly work‑related, consisting mostly of short messages, laconic instructions, and silence.

The club was half‑empty, but gradually filling with people.

Suddenly, through the staff radios, a familiar voice was heard — the voice of the club’s owner, Tomi Loreno:

“Lock all entrances of the club and all doors to the technical rooms. Leave only the emergency exits open, with at least one staff member at each emergency exit. I warn you that an evacuation may be necessary shortly. The reason is that many businessmen in the city have received messages inviting them to a meeting in our club, stating that the meeting will take place here at midnight. I do not approve of such a meeting, because it is extremely dangerous and represents an immediate threat to the lives and health of all visitors and our staff. Things may become truly dangerous in the area very soon.

I am in constant contact with the police — they have already positioned a patrol car in front of the club’s main entrance, and will send additional support if needed. Discreetly, without drawing attention from the customers, without creating worry, tension, or commotion, we begin preparations to close for the night. In about 15 minutes, a polite announcement will be made over the sound system that we must close due to technical reasons. The announcement will be repeated every few minutes until all guests leave the venue safely.

Keep your radios on, maintain order, discipline, and calm — we will stay in constant communication. I am available at all times; if you have questions, ask. I am already near the club, arriving any moment — I will need time to speak with the police outside, inspect the building from the outside, and then I will come in. See you soon!”

Tomi Loreno explained the situation for the evening, and the staff began carrying out his instructions with composure and professionalism.

Meanwhile, around the club “New Night Butterflies,” in the nearby parking lots and small streets, more and more mysterious dark‑colored cars began appearing and parking. At a certain moment this became quite noticeable, and the atmosphere around the area began changing dynamically and tangibly. The two police officers in the patrol car positioned earlier in front of the club’s entrance began looking at each other tensely, because they understood that the changes in the situation would not lead to anything good, and very soon a terrible conflict could erupt in the area.

Suddenly, they also received a message from their superiors: “Everyone remains at their positions and monitors the situation until further orders. We have deployed teams nearby, we also have undercover officers, as well as reinforcements on high alert. In the area we are observing a gathering of individuals from the criminal world who belong to different criminal groups. A significant number are representatives of the Night Brigades, who are here to show strength and unity, and to intimidate representatives of other criminal groups. We are now beginning the evacuation of the club ‘New Night Butterflies.’ The club’s owner, Tomi Loreno, has just ordered the evacuation of visitors due to technical issues, so as not to create panic. Within seconds, visitors will begin leaving the club through the rear emergency exits. I repeat — everyone remains at their positions for now, monitors the situation, and awaits further orders, which will likely come soon!” — the message to the police teams ended.

The two police officers exchanged glances, and one said to the other: “You know, Johnny, I have a strange feeling right now. It’s been a long time since something like this has happened — no new people have appeared wanting to redistribute territories. Could the ‘crazy made‑up guy’ actually be an insider? Everything looks so strange and to a large extent comical,” one officer said.

“Yes, Nikki, everything really looks strange. I don’t know what’s actually going on — maybe we’ll start understanding later, as time passes. But I can also say that I have a strange feeling right now. We’ll see what awaits us and what we’ll face,” the second officer replied.

Meanwhile, visitors of the club “New Night Butterflies” were already being evacuated through the rear emergency exits, and within just a few minutes everyone was outside the building, gathered in the parking lot behind the club. People were confused, looking around, asking each other what kind of technical problems could require an evacuation. Many remembered the incident from a few days earlier — the stickers with the link to the video of a shootout in the VIP zone — and were worried and scared that something terrible might happen again tonight.

While the parking lot behind the club was filling with people, suddenly all the lighting in the area went out — the club’s lights went dark. People became uneasy, sensing something was happening, and began turning on their smartphone flashlights, but they could not provide enough light or visibility. The police officers and some of the mysterious individuals who had arrived nearby pulled out powerful flashlights and spotlights to observe what was happening, but even those were insufficient, because the entire area’s lighting had been shut off. The time was around midnight.

Suddenly, from the roof of the club “New Night Butterflies,” a bright colorful light appeared, and unexpectedly a male voice was heard:

“How’s the party tonight, are you having fun? How are the ‘Festival Weeks’ going for you in our beloved New Night Haven, and are you in a good festival mood? Get ready for unexpected festival events, scenes, and clashes! I want to tell you that this year things will be a little different, because I’ve decided to join the celebrations and the festival happenings — and tonight you’ll witness one of those unusual events. I’m here to tell you that I reject the authority of Night Hazard in this city and his protégés Noynsky and Lawrence. Together they have taken over the city and ruined it! They have turned our city into a criminal swamp where ordinary people have no future! They have usurped all spheres of life for the sake of their own prosperity and wealth! They created an entire electronic octopus‑system to observe, create, define, direct, and control the rules of the game in the city — who should profit and live well, and who should not. Who should prosper and who should fall out of economic life and the market. They simply transferred the physical octopus that has existed in the city for many years into your electronic devices. They became modern.

Only those who pay the octopus, who help it grow stronger and actively participate in its initiatives, will survive. The corrupt rulers of New Night Haven are part of this octopus. They cannot offer you new opportunities, good prospects for development, or a good future for you and your children! They can only create murky schemes and manipulate people and the public.

That is why, instead of new enterprises and good conditions for work and business to deal with the city’s economic difficulties and decline, they invented and created a murky and manipulative digital platform that determines who earns how much, based on how much money you pour into it and pay for advertising. Through it they want to concentrate economic power and control economic life in the city.

They also created the scandalous 24/7 island of entertainment and vulgarity ‘Dreamland Heaven,’ or whatever it was called, to fill the pockets of shady structures, criminals, and corrupt officials 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Bread and circuses for the people, cosmetic changes to cover up the situation, manipulation and lies, a corrupted value system, systemic decline, total lack of competence and ability for quality governance.

The city is full of criminal groups and criminal elements. They run it and direct the course of its development — they create the plans, methods, moves, steps, paths, and scenarios for its development and for your future.

For this city to have a chance, and for us as people to have a chance, we must rid ourselves of these disgusting individuals. This will not be easy! That is why today I scheduled a meeting with the criminals in the city — because they are close to the real rulers and are part of them.

I want to officially emphasize that I declare war on Night Hazard and his Night Brigades, who for years have sucked out our lifeblood, robbed us, grown rich at our expense, poisoned the city’s atmosphere, poisoned our children, and taken away their future. I will fight them with all my strength until their complete destruction!

I hope for your understanding and cooperation, because all of you are victims of the activities of the criminal groups and corrupt rulers of New Night Haven, whether you realize it or not. Many of you are young and prefer to have fun instead of thinking about serious matters, which is understandable to some extent — but very soon you will face the difficulties of life and the problems created or caused by the bad actors in this city.

I also love to have fun, I also feel young, and I love enjoying myself while fighting the bad guys. I will be with you — with the residents of New Night Haven — you will see me and hear about me often. That is what I wanted to tell you tonight, and now I kindly give you my contact information so we can stay in touch.”

The invisible voice finished its message, and the roof of the club suddenly lit up like a show stage. A whole group of spotlights and lasers turned on, while at the same time a large number of glowing drones flew out from beneath them. The spotlights and lasers formed a large virtual billboard in the air, resembling a giant airborne business card, because it displayed contact information — links to social media pages and accounts on video streaming platforms.

The glowing drones turned out to be far more numerous than expected — large swarms flew in different directions. Some hovered and descended only over the area around the club “New Night Butterflies,” while others flew farther away.

These glowing drones shone in colorful patterns and were clearly visible. The people nearby — both the evacuated club visitors and others in the area — watched the spectacle with great astonishment.

To their surprise, paper cards suddenly began falling from the sky, apparently dropped by the glowing drones. These cards turned out to be business cards similar to the large virtual airborne business card displayed by the lasers and spotlights above the club.

People began catching the cards in the air or picking them up from the ground to see what was printed on them. The cards displayed the same social media links and video streaming channels as those shown above the club.

When someone opened these links and channels, they saw uploaded clips and posts from various places and events, some of them quite extreme. In many of the videos, a strange character was seen — wearing different suits and top hats, mostly colorful or in odd color combinations — who often appeared in heated situations.

People even recognized two of the situations shown in the videos: one clip showed the attack of some crazy clown against the municipal building and his adventures inside — an attack that the media had reported and shown footage of — and another clip showed the conflict and shootout in the club “New Night Butterflies” from a few days earlier, which had turned out to be staged.

Some people were frightened, because they truly believed there had been a shootout inside, and did not trust the club management’s version of a staged video montage.

People outside were worried and scared — they felt something was happening. They did not know how to interpret the words of the unknown voice that had just echoed above the club, words that were now also appearing as posts and videos through the links and channels. Was this some madman or a real fighter against evil? They could not yet know.

The social media pages and video channels were designed very vividly, and all of them prominently displayed the headline: “Welcome to the territory and life of the Shadow of New Night Haven!” — one of the channels was indeed called “The Shadow of New Night Haven.” Beneath this headline was a short introduction and description of the unknown fighter against evil in the city. Next to the description was something like a logo — a person jumping in the air with raised arms and spread legs, and behind him the silhouette of the same person in a calm pose.

People, of course, did not understand what was happening well enough.

Suddenly, all the lighting on the roof of the club “New Night Butterflies” went out. For a moment the roof was dark, until some of the spotlights turned on again and illuminated a specific point on the roof. At that point appeared a man in a colorful suit and top hat. The virtual billboard above him turned on again to show him in larger size. The social media pages and video streaming channels titled “The Shadow of New Night Haven” were also broadcasting live, and people could watch the events through their smartphones.

The man in the colorful suit and top hat stood quietly on the roof, made a short circle, then pulled out a table and several chairs from somewhere and arranged them around himself. He sat at one of the tables, and surprisingly, other people appeared on the other chairs. It was not entirely clear whether these were real people or some kind of laser show.

Meanwhile, on the pages and channels of “The Shadow of New Night Haven,” posts with photos and live video from the roof appeared. The footage showed scenes from the previously announced meeting, stating that this meeting was the first step toward ending the rule of the Night Brigades and Night Hazard in the city.

At that moment, the gathered crowd noticed the shadows of armed men climbing the outer walls of the club “New Night Butterflies,” clearly aiming to reach the roof.

Suddenly, sounds of gunfire or a shootout were heard, and all lighting went out again, including on the roof. Intense flashes were visible on the roof, like during a heavy shootout, and gunfire was heard. Interestingly, the lights moved in one direction — as if there was no return fire. All those advancing toward the roof and those already on it were firing in the same direction, and at a certain moment they stopped.

Lighting reappeared on the roof, and armed men were seen moving back and forth, seemingly inspecting the roof and the nearby area.

Around them, screams and shouts of frightened people were heard, and the noise grew, but most people had no idea what was happening. Many were trying to find a way to leave the area, but the crowd made it difficult and slowed their attempts. Some stared at their smartphones to understand what was going on, and to their surprise, the livestream continued.

There, again, the man in the colorful suit and top hat was visible — now sitting in a car and saying something. His face up close looked strange, as if he was using special makeup, and it did not seem to be his real face. It was noisy around him, making it hard to hear what he was saying, so some people put on headphones to listen.

The footage turned out to be interesting — the view of the costumed hero often switched to scenes from different parts of the city where various events were happening. It gave the impression that this man was making something like reports from different places and connecting them into one large event or operation taking place in the city.

He himself said that he had already left the area around the club “New Night Butterflies” and had moved to a safe distance, and that he was now in a safe place in his personal car, from which he was broadcasting the livestream. The main thing that became clear was that he wanted to show something important.

“I will reveal to you an entirely new world — one that many of you do not know and do not even suspect exists!” — the new hero of New Night Haven declared promisingly.

And from the footage it was seen that the glowing drones that had flown off earlier in different directions had dispersed and reached almost all districts of the city — even the most distant ones, even some of the nearby suburbs. These drones were equipped with cameras, lights, displays, and sound systems, and descended in various points across the city, dropping the same business cards with links leading to the social media pages and video streaming channels titled “The Shadow of New Night Haven.”

In a short time they managed to cover the entire city and drop likely thousands of business cards with the contacts and links of “The Shadow of New Night Haven.” The drones were especially active in the busier parts of the city — main commercial streets, squares, parks, and other crowded places.

Some of these drones descended like birds toward people, greeted them, spoke through their sound systems, approached closely, turned on their displays, and invited random passersby to talk. The passersby listened and looked at the displays of the drones hovering within arm’s reach with great astonishment.

The drones approached and joked with people, while trying to learn how things were going for them:

“Hello, how are you? How’s life? Are you doing well? Are you satisfied with the city’s governance? Do you want to see how things actually work? Tonight there will be an exclusive extended report on how life in the city functions in practice! You will see things no one else will show you — you will be amazed. If you’re curious, don’t rush to go to bed or get lost in parties! Stay with us — it will be unforgettable!”

This is roughly what the drones were saying to random passersby, while the displays showed the contacts and links to “The Shadow of New Night Haven.”

At the same time, other drones continued dropping business cards — it was literally raining cards from the sky. And all passersby and groups of people reached out to catch them, to understand what was happening and what it was about.

On the pages and channels of “The Shadow of New Night Haven,” a premiere also appeared for the upcoming extended report on life in the city, stating that the report would be live and titled “New Night Haven Reality Live,” and that it would begin at any moment.

Everyone who opened the links saw these scenes and saw the scale of the operation.

For a moment, the footage returned to the car of the made‑up and costumed hero, who briefly introduced the topic:

Tonight — well, actually this night, since midnight has already passed — we will take a close look at life in our city and what is happening in practice. I will not talk much, because the footage we will make in our extended report will speak for itself. You will learn interesting details, we will unravel curious cases, you will discover unknown connections and unsuspected truths. Some of these things you will surely have heard about, but few truly know how things really stand.

The city is full of speculations, unverified facts and versions, unreliable stories, false claims, dubious hypotheses, rumors, lies, manipulations and manipulative opinions, improper practices, dark activities, strategies and dark forces. Well, now it is time to get answers to many of the questions that many of us have long been seeking answers to. It is time to understand why life goes on and nothing changes for the better, why time flies imperceptibly and uncontrollably, why life boils and bubbles around us, yet nothing remains for us — and we have turned into apathetic extras and nihilists who cannot or do not know how to demand what is theirs from life, how to become masters of their own fate.

It is time for a change in our thinking and attitudes, time for active action! Let this change begin tonight! Enjoy watching!” — said the stranger calling himself “The Shadow of New Night Haven,” and the promised extended live report began.

In the first frames of the report, the camera moved toward the city center, making a brief panoramic sweep from above, focusing on the central urban area. Soon the cameras approached the municipal building, made a close panoramic sweep around it, and then the footage shifted inside the building — directly into the mayor’s office.

There was a large table, at which sat Mayor Lawrence, the chairwoman of the municipal council Barbara Noynsky, and an image of a person who was likely created with 3D graphics and resembled an animated villain. The animated character’s face was hidden, and he was dressed in a shiny black suit. For a moment, a caption appeared stating that the scene took place about two years ago.

A conversation seemed to be taking place between the three, and the report captured the moment when the villain was speaking:

“This city is declining, dear Mayor Lawrence and dear Madam Chairwoman Noynsky, and at this stage I do not see how it can be saved with the current projects being developed in the city and the present trend of economic development. It is difficult to come up with something that would change the trend and direction of development quickly and effectively. Public dissatisfaction is growing, the politicians’ ratings are falling, trust in the authorities and institutions is collapsing. This may truly be your last term, Mayor.

But considering our long‑standing friendship and shared interests for the good of the city, its citizens, and society as a whole, I have come to you with ideas on how to noticeably improve the situation. Even if there is no time or opportunity for large‑scale structural reforms, some actions and moves can still be taken to show people quick results in a positive direction and a change in the negative trend.

I will propose two interesting solutions that will have a fast effect and may change public opinion about the economic development of our city — from negative, with pessimistic attitudes and expectations, to positive, with optimistic attitudes and expectations. And this will not require too many resources or investments — in many places only cosmetic changes will be needed.

Here is what I propose.

The first thing is that our city must become more lively — life must boil constantly, there must be good opportunities for our citizens around the clock, at any time. I propose this to be done in two ways.

First, to carry out some renovations and redesigns in the city, to re‑project and reshape some of the main attractive and tourist zones, to illuminate them well, to digitize them, and to adapt them so they can function successfully and attract people not only during the day and evening, but also at night. New Night Haven can become a city of constant movement — movement 24 hours a day, 7 days a week without interruption. If this happens and we develop the unused potential of the city at night, business revenues may double.

Entrepreneurial citizens will be pleased, because they will receive additional opportunities and time to develop activities and earn money. Ordinary people will also enjoy new opportunities for shopping, entertainment, spending time — and, not least, in this difficult economic situation, they will receive new job opportunities.

I also propose that in place of the old experimental industrial and business district, known as the ‘Experimental City’ and created by your father, we build a special entertainment district — a city within the city, or an island within the city. I think we should call it ‘New Night Haven DreamLand Island.’

Some of the former production halls, warehouses, and facilities in the zone need repairs, but we will not spend much money — we will simply re‑dress them with new beautiful and economical materials. We will connect all spaces with warm corridors and passages, and thus we will obtain our new city within the city — a wonderful urban labyrinth.

Inside we will create and develop an entirely new universe of opportunities: new commercial areas, entertainment spaces, cafés, restaurants, new territories and new horizons for business and citizens.

And now I will share my most interesting idea — a project for a new digital platform: I propose we create a new internet space and mobile application, accessible from all kinds of devices and at any time of day. The digital platform will function both online and offline. It will be accessible from citizens’ personal devices as well as from digital terminals placed throughout the city.

We will place maps, signs, indicators, and arrows throughout the city to help people find the nearest digital terminal. They will be able to do the same through their own devices. We will digitize the city to such an extent that afterward we will not recognize it — we will already be living in a new city.

Through the new application we will change people’s lives — the entire life of the city will be digitized and virtualized and will enter their devices: commerce, shopping, business, work, various types of services, administrative services, tourism, leisure, travel, various activities and engagements, entertainment and reservations for visiting places and events, and many other things — all united under one digital roof.

We will create an entirely new system and ecosystem that will help our citizens earn money, have quality and stable access to services, and achieve their goals more easily. As investors in this incredible project we will attract the companies themselves, who will be interested in increasing their revenue channels and the number of options available to them.

This may be our best project! I have already ordered its design to begin. I have set the task of creating an incredible digital and virtual universe — the entire city will be inside it. It will not be a digital twin of the city, but rather its other self, its new face. Everything inside will be connected and convenient. At the moment no one suspects that something like this may appear — everyone will be amazed, I assure you!”

The man with the hidden face spoke slowly and politely.

Almost every resident who followed city events easily recognized the projects mentioned in the report, because they had already been implemented and the local authorities boasted about them, presenting them as an incredible success.

For a moment, the costumed hero “The Shadow of New Night Haven” appeared again in the frame — still driving his car — and he decided to share his impressions of what had been shown so far:

“Yes, I think the message in the clip is clear to everyone — that in reality it is not Mayor Lawrence and the chairwoman of the municipal council Noynsky who govern the city, but various secretive people behind the scenes. This clip is based on a real case, confirmed by an interview from a year ago with Mayor Lawrence in the studio of the evening news show ‘Our Hot New Night Haven.’

For a moment, the report inserted footage from that show, in which — when asked how the city will deal with economic difficulties — the mayor replied that a crisis task force had been formed with a team of experts and strategists seeking solutions to the city’s problems. In his interview, the mayor listed exactly the projects mentioned in the previous clip — the development of a new entertainment district, intensive life and business at night that must match the indicators of daytime life and business (i.e., movement, life, and business 24 hours a day), and he also talked about the new digital platform.”

At that moment the camera returned to the interior of the main character’s car, where he continued sharing his impressions and revealing spicy and little‑known secrets and truths:

“Do you know who the man with the hidden face from the first clip was? His face was hidden because almost no one knows what he actually looks like — few have seen him in person — but surely everyone has heard of him. I have not seen him in person either and do not know what he looks like, but I have heard a lot about him, and everything I have heard so far has made me desperately want to fight this man and his protégés and allies, and drive them out of the city’s life and out of the lives of its people.

This, my dear friends and viewers, is the legendary crime boss nicknamed ‘Night Hazard.’ Night Hazard is the trusted figure — the honest, conscientious, respectable, and law‑abiding citizen — whom the chairwoman of the municipal council Barbara Noynsky spoke about recently, right after my visit to the municipal building in my role as a dissatisfied citizen.

The clip was created with the help of AI, and the action is based on the interview of Lawrence that I mentioned, and on recordings from hidden cameras and other special surveillance tools that I used against the powerful criminal group led by Night Hazard, known as the ‘Night Brigades of New Night Haven.’

I was persistent, brave, and inventive enough to monitor and observe the Night Brigades unnoticed over the past few months. I learned a lot about their strength and their influence over the city’s processes, about the connections and interconnections within the criminal world and beyond.

Our slightly boring report so far will continue with recordings made around the city and with examples from real life. Because it is no coincidence that I called myself ‘The Shadow of New Night Haven’ — precisely because of my ability to be present in different forms in different parts of the city and to observe and monitor absolutely everyone unnoticed. I promise, you will never forget this night!” — the made‑up hero continued promising sensations in his podcast, which was reaching more and more people. 

Quite unexpectedly, the host turned the camera forward, toward the front of his car, to show where he was. From the footage it became clear that he was driving through the streets of the former Experimental City — now the recently created entertainment oasis “New Night Haven Dreamland.” Even more interesting was that he had slowed down, moving slowly, and the most scandalous part was that he decided to invite those who were looking for him to come and talk. He assured them: “I’m all yours, come on, let’s settle this!”

Footage appeared from outside the car as well — there were cameras filming above the car, around it, and in all directions. At times the face of the video‑blogger driver was shown — smiling, calm, clearly in a good mood. He seemed natural, extremely relaxed, and composed.

And he did not have to wait long, because the cameras immediately captured a change in the situation — behind him appeared a column of dark cars, resembling those that had been parked earlier around the club New Night Butterflies, on whose roof the big action scene with one‑sided gunfire had taken place. At first it looked like the column consisted of about 4–5 cars, but it quickly grew to more than 10.

These cars accelerated aggressively, clearly chasing him and trying to surround him or force him to stop. They approached, rolled down their windows, shouting and gesturing aggressively. A chase began. The host of the live report demonstratively broadcast his route while the column behind him grew. Some of the criminals lost patience and tried to cause a crash or disable his car in some way.

Suddenly the made‑up host accelerated and began driving much faster. The column behind him gave chase. Some of the pursuers began shooting while driving, which clearly angered the host, and he decided to warn and even threaten them:

“Is this how negotiations are conducted, Night Brigades? If you don’t stop shooting, you’ll get hurt, you criminals! Who allows you to shoot on the streets with impunity? You belong in jail and in court! I know you’re good with weapons and shoot often — I’ve been watching you. I’ve gathered a large number of proofs and recordings of your criminal actions, endeavors, and ambitions, but the police still refuse to give me the attention I deserve, so I intend to share them in my fun links and podcasts and discuss them with the vigilant citizens of New Night Haven,” he said to them during his report.

“I’m addressing all people! Look what happens when someone disagrees with the status quo and tries to expose it and show it to others! Here is a real example from life in the city! Do these people have the right to roam the city armed, behave provocatively, break traffic rules, and shoot at people? You will say they don’t — but this is everyday life. They have no respect for anyone, no fear of anyone. For them, laws do not exist, for them there is no police. No one ever arrests or prosecutes them — and if someone does, it’s an exception.”

The host continued his commentary.

The Night Brigades were clearly watching him live, because they became even angrier, even more aggressive, and began shooting even more intensely. This did not go unnoticed — suddenly, above the street where the chase was happening, the familiar glowing drones appeared. They descended and began striking the pursuers’ cars. A literal rain of drones fell. They did not carry explosives and did not explode, but their impacts caused serious damage to the cars in the pursuing column. Some were damaged and had to stop the chase. Others managed to continue somehow — but then another surprise followed.

The show‑car entered a dead‑end street, accelerated, and broke through one of the entertainment hangars ahead — part of the new entertainment complex — flying past the shocked visitors inside. The shortened column followed him, and inside the hangar some cars had to zig‑zag to avoid obstacles. After exiting on the other side, the pursuers’ cars found themselves blocked in a parking lot, where cars arranged in a circle stood directly in front of them, surrounding them and preventing them from moving forward.

The show‑car of the live report host was nowhere to be seen.

To make matters worse, suddenly all the cars in the circle turned on their headlights, and visibility dropped drastically. That unpleasant blinding light again — nothing could be seen. Footsteps and jumping sounds were heard — someone seemed to run across the hoods of the cars and escape in some direction, but nothing was visible.

The criminals opened fire again, stopping the headlights’ light. They made a quick inspection and realized that once again something had happened that was clearly pre‑planned and staged — because the cars were empty. And there was no trace of the showman host.

The Night Brigades criminals looked around chaotically, seemingly at a loss. They immediately grabbed their smartphones and began searching through the links and channels of “The Shadow of New Night Haven” to find out what was new, what was happening with the live report, and what would follow.

And there they were greeted by yet another invitation for a meeting and negotiation. “The Shadow” had already announced that he would come with his people to the central city square in front of the municipality, and that he would wait for them there for negotiations.

And likely even more members of the Night Brigades would head there — the square would probably become overcrowded with furious criminals and likely police, and even hotter than anything that had happened so far in this crazy night — perhaps much hotter.

And the reputation of the Night Brigades was now seriously shaken — possibly already on the verge of total humiliation — and this thought gave no peace to any of its members. Even though everything broadcast tonight showed that they were indeed extremely strong, dangerous, fearsome, and numerous — showing clearly why people were right to fear them — some other people had declared war on them and were currently prevailing in this battle.

“I’ll be waiting for you at the central square in front of the Municipality. In one hour — don’t be late. I won’t be alone, I’ll be with my people. We’ll negotiate ;)” — this was the short message at the end of the invitation for conversation and negotiations.

Another announced meeting for negotiations regarding the redistribution of territories in the city. Everyone understood that there would hardly be any negotiations — more likely a battle. The Night Brigades clearly showed they would not give up anything to anyone, and that they would fight for their positions. They also clearly showed they would not leave tonight’s events unanswered — they wanted to punish the organizers of this spectacle severely.

Several times already they had opened intense, merciless fire against their mysterious opponents. These opponents had clearly managed to surprise them with a large number of pre‑planned, prepared, staged, and well‑executed actions. They could now reasonably assume that the crazy showman was not alone — but they had no idea how many or what kind of people stood behind him.

And the showman himself proved that he was quite inventive — and that he must now be taken seriously, because underestimating him and belittling his abilities, as was clearly seen, led to surprising results and carried serious risks.

“The Night Brigades” literally flooded and surrounded the central square with their cars. More and more dark vehicles kept arriving, and more and more armed men appeared — carrying powerful weapons, radiating a powerful aura, and with imposing physiques. Many of them stopped and arranged their cars facing the square. All vehicles remained with headlights on, fully ready. They had positioned themselves similarly to the situation earlier in the “Experimental City,” where they had been tricked and surrounded by empty cars with headlights on. Now their own cars were not empty, and they seemed psychologically prepared for any tricks or staged setups.

Some of the Night Brigades’ men got out of their cars, armed and in full combat readiness, always leaving one person behind the wheel of each vehicle. Anything could happen tonight — and much already had. The Night Brigades covered and closed off all possible roads and escape routes from the square. They literally formed a ring around it. They fulfilled their part of the arrangement and arrived at the central square. They made an extraordinary demonstration of strength, fearing no one.

It was already deep into the night, but the entire city was following the podcast of “The Shadow of New Night Haven,” which continued broadcasting without interruption all the interesting moments of this battle. The Night Brigades continued fighting for their name, while facing a daredevil who had challenged the system itself.

The square was surrounded, everyone held their breath, waiting for the further development of events — or for the moment of resolution. The square was still empty, because the made‑up city superhero had not yet kept his promise to come to the square with his people and face the Night Brigades directly. Would he really come, everyone wondered? And with how many people? And what would the result be? Would the numerous and powerful Night Brigades win confidently, or would they once again be surprised and outplayed by better planning, organization, and execution from the new rivals who had challenged them? 

While all viewers of the live broadcast were trembling in anticipation of what would happen on the square and how events would unfold — and while the armed fighters of the Night Brigades had taken positions, occupying and surrounding every possible nearby space for the “meeting” and “negotiations” — yet another surprise occurred.

Above the square in front of the municipality appeared one of the now‑familiar glowing, talking drones — just one — and it began descending. It descended lower and lower, approaching the ground, and it seemed ready to land in the very center of New Night Haven’s Central Square.

And even more curious was the fact that beneath the drone, the silhouette of a person could barely be seen. As the drone approached the ground, the outline of a man became clearer — he was clearly holding onto the drone somehow, his legs hanging down. It turned out that this drone had brought a person and was lowering him onto the ground in the center of the square.

The drone shone brightly, but not blindingly, and everything was clearly visible: it approached the surface of the square enough for the passenger to step down comfortably, and the man released his hands from the drone and stepped onto the square.

The passenger, arriving from who‑knows‑where, struck an important pose and began looking around. Standing now on the ground, he was clearly visible in the drone’s light. It was a man dressed in a colorful suit and a top hat — very much resembling the showman whom the Night Brigades sincerely wished to “have a nice talk with,” and at the same time resembling the made‑up host who had been conducting tonight’s major live report about life in the city, spreading it everywhere through links to social media pages and livestream channels.

He clearly stuck to his familiar style, proudly wearing his colorful suit with its wild mix of colors and his top hat. For most people it was obvious that this was the host of tonight’s extended report — he wore the same clothes and makeup — and that this was the fashionable, eccentric showman the media had been talking about.

The picture cleared a bit, but not fully. For a moment the showman raised his hand and waved to everyone in greeting, then jumped high into the air with arms and legs spread — something he had done before, something depicted on his emblem. Whether he jumped out of joy at seeing the crowd surrounding him, or whether he was demonstrating wild bravery, mad courage, boldness, or simply his craziness — no one knew.

The drone hovered slightly above him, at his height, continuing to shine and illuminate the center of the square.

It looked as though the man had arrived alone, not with his people as he had promised. His arrival was also being broadcast live, and everyone saw that he was alone.

All the armed criminals shifted into the highest level of combat readiness and prepared to rush toward the square energetically and tear the showman — who had humiliated them — into a thousand pieces. Instructions were heard through the earpieces in their ears:

“Catch him, humiliate him, make him regret it — but do NOT kill him! I want to deal with him personally, interrogate him myself, and find out what he wants and who stands behind him.”

This was the order given by Night Hazard, heard by the fighters of the Night Brigades through their devices, and they prepared to act.

Unexpectedly, the same command was heard again — repeated by the glowing talking drone that had brought the showman to the square. Was he eavesdropping and recording them?

Then the showman spoke again — but once more the sound came from the drone, like from a loudspeaker:

“Night Brigades! Night Hazard! I’ve been watching you and eavesdropping on you for some time. Do you remember our meeting in the little house at the edge of the city, when I robbed you and took some important things? I must admit — I robbed several more of your hideouts and depots, where I found interesting things. I even had enough time to swap items inside your hideouts before robbing them, and to intercept and take several deliveries meant for you before they reached you.

I found and took quite a lot of interesting things that were supposed to be yours. That is what helped me observe you, follow your moves, prepare the clips and reports, prepare my actions against you, and expose you.

And why am I acting against you at all? Why did I declare war on you? Because you are destroying this city and tormenting its residents. You’ve been doing it for many years. And I decided to oppose you, stop you, destroy you, and uproot you from the life of the city so thoroughly that no one will even remember you.

I know it will be difficult. I know you have infiltrated everywhere through corruption. I know you have many loyal people devoted to your criminal ideas. I know your interests are intertwined, and that you cooperate openly or secretly with all key figures in the city — including the city leadership, with whom you often act together.

I must admit — the invitation for a meeting and negotiations, as well as the messages about them, were fake. I used them to bring you here and to tell everyone what I intend to do from now on!”

The showman’s message — likely pre‑recorded — echoed through the drone.

The armed men no longer wished to listen to anything. They had heard enough. They began moving toward the center of the square, where the showman stood speaking through his drone, and pointed their weapons directly at him. They were furious and, to some extent, quite annoyed — but they remembered Night Hazard’s order not to kill him, but to capture him alive.

No one dared shoot. They advanced, approaching the center of the square, clearly intending to form a human chain around the showman, surround him from all sides, and force him to surrender.

One of the armed men opened fire at the drone, trying to bring it down and eliminate the possibility that the showman might escape with it the same way he had arrived.

And at that moment, above the square appeared a massive swarm of glowing drones, descending toward the center. They looked like a swarm of fireflies — or a swarm of wasps — because the drones were extremely dense, flying practically side‑by‑side, some even touching each other.

The Night Brigades opened fire on the drones, which kept increasing in number. Despite the intense shooting, they could not overcome the drones — most of which descended and clustered even more tightly.

The fighters feared that at any moment the drones would attack them, as during the earlier chase — or that they would blind them with strong light, helping the showman escape.

The Night Brigades had learned from their previous experience — some of them stepped back and took positions farther away to avoid being struck by the drones. Some put on special goggles to avoid being blinded by strong light — something that had already happened.

But unfortunately for them, the drones turned out to be extremely maneuverable.

A true tornado erupted on the square. The drones delivered near‑instant strikes to all cars and armed fighters. The fighters were hit in various parts of the body and knocked down, while the cars were smashed. The drones carried no explosives and did not explode — they simply approached their targets along complex, unpredictable trajectories and delivered powerful blows.

Within a very short time, most of the dark cars on the square were wrecked, and many fighters were lying on the ground, groaning in pain.

The task of capturing the showman seemed increasingly difficult — especially the task of capturing him alive and not killing him. It would be hard to restrain themselves now. And the entire city was watching — everything was being broadcast live.

The fighters of the Night Brigades had to recover as quickly as possible from this lightning‑fast attack. They began standing up again and pointing their weapons toward the center of the square, where the now completely hated showman stood calmly watching them.

The glowing drones circled in the sky but did not attack.

One of them descended and hovered directly above the showman, who raised his arms and grabbed onto it. The fighters signaled that they were about to shoot — suspecting he was trying to escape.

But he pointed at something with an outstretched arm — and flew upward with the drone at incredible speed, performing unbelievable movements and aerial maneuvers along astonishing trajectories.

From the air he delivered heavy punches to the armed fighters, who responded with intense gunfire, hoping to wound or even kill him. Some now hoped Night Hazard might show understanding if they failed to follow his order — because this madman could kill them all, and they considered themselves valuable assets.

The showman was in the air, jumping from drone to drone, changing directions and trajectories, delivering heavy and painful blows to every fighter who stood in his way, while the fighters answered with intense fire — which he skillfully dodged. No one could hit him.

In the footage broadcast live, all of this looked quite sinister. Many viewers thought the host of the live broadcast was probably injured. But he appeared energetic.

In the comments under the livestream, someone wrote that this man was not “The Shadow of New Night Haven,” but “Lucky Shadow of New Night Haven,” after all his close calls today. Many people wondered how this man was even still alive — and still filming live reports.

Many viewers began repeating the nickname “Lucky Shadow of New Night Haven,” or simply “The Lucky Shadow,” and it gradually became the new moniker for the city’s new superhero. Everyone noted how many times they had shot at him — and how many times he had survived. 

Lucky Shadow apparently followed the comments under the livestream — and even said he agreed with his new nickname and liked it.

After that, he wrote a comment under the livestream using the username “The Lucky Shadow,” noting that during the last few hours everyone had seen more than enough action and that it was time to wrap things up for today. But he decided to highlight the following text in his comment:

“The Night Brigades will probably remain strong for now and will continue to poison everyone’s lives. They will keep corrupting politicians and looking for ways to make money off people’s suffering. They cannot be defeated and destroyed in a single night. But that is why there are persistent people like me. I officially declare before the entire public that I will fight against evil, expose it, and defeat it for the sake of our future and the future of our children. You will hear different versions about me — they will try to smear me and portray me as anything: a complete loser, an insecure fool, a lunatic who escaped from a psychiatric ward, as they already tried to label me — but do not believe them. I will be your protector and the nightmare of the criminals in this city. I have my own unique ideas, methods, and vision for fighting crime. I will often surprise you with my actions. You will see me often in action through my social media pages and video‑platform channels, the links to which you already received. You will be able to follow the development of this fight and regularly receive information on how things are progressing and whether the city is becoming cleaner. You will be able to see for yourselves that I am making it cleaner, calmer, safer, and with better prospects for its residents — for you — because I will fight and crush those who prevent you from living well and being happy. I will work in this direction with pleasure, honor, and responsibility toward society. Yes, sometimes I will do incredibly crazy and reckless things, but that’s just who I am. I will help good, honest, decent people and protect them. Until next time — the report for today is over, the next one will be soon, you can be sure of that. Good night!”

The showman posted his comment and was probably preparing to go home and rest. He was still on the square, but it was visible how he was surrounded from all sides by his frightening, highly maneuverable drones. These drones formed an extremely tight circle around him, closing every free space and creating something like a capsule or armor around him. The drones literally pressed against each other, forming a protective shell around his body. This shell looked somewhat like a rocket or an aircraft preparing to take off.

Suddenly the drones turned off their lights, and because the lighting around the square had been greatly reduced due to the shooting and the spectacular battle, the square was almost completely dark and almost nothing could be seen. Then a sound was heard — the activation of electric motors and the spinning of numerous rotors — and the takeoff of many drones. The sound began to fade into the distance, and on the smartphone screens of the countless viewers of the livestream, the night panorama of the city from above appeared, along with the silhouette of the daredevil wearing a top hat, flying over the city, holding onto a drone with both hands and waving goodbye to everyone.

Unexpectedly for everyone following the live report, under The Lucky Shadow’s comment appeared a new comment from a newly registered user with the username “Night Hazard,” accompanied by an angry emoji:

“Fine, today you got away, I admit it. But what you did will not go unpunished — I won’t be able to rest until I take revenge. I see that you plan and prepare your moves and attacks. Keep in mind that I do the same — very carefully. I admit you surprised me a little, but I am already working on your case actively and soon I will come looking for you so we can talk again. And I will find you. I advise you to be very careful, to look around attentively when you walk the streets, to expect the unexpected, and not to relax for even a moment. Because I can strike you extremely unexpectedly and out of nowhere, as I have struck many people. You have no idea what I am capable of. The full power of the Night Brigades will fall upon you. We promise you that we will pay you back tenfold! We will destroy you!”

Under the comments of The Lucky Shadow and Night Hazard, numerous comments from viewers of the livestream began appearing — most of them expressing positive opinions and supporting The Lucky Shadow:

“The Lucky Shadow, you’re on the right path!”

“The Lucky Shadow, good luck!”

“The Lucky Shadow, we’re with you!”

“The Lucky Shadow, I support you with all my heart!”

“The Lucky Shadow, together we will defeat evil!”

“The Lucky Shadow — the new superhero of New Night Haven!”

“The Lucky Shadow, thank you!”

“The Lucky Shadow, we love you!”

And many others.

The new superhero of New Night Haven was showered with positive comments and praise, with superlatives and best wishes. The people of New Night Haven visibly stood on his side in the emerging great battle against evil — and against the treacherous and sinister Night Hazard and his Night Brigades.

Author: Anton S. Petrov

The Lucky Shadow vs. The Night Brigades and The Night Hazard: Introduction

The Lucky Shadow vs. The Night Brigades and The Night Hazard: Introduction

A series of short stories “The Lucky Shadow vs. The Night Brigades and The Night Hazard”

Are you ready for a new exciting action-packed story? After the release of the series of short stories “Incredible Adventures and Fantastic Bears”, we present to your attention another action-packed story called “The Lucky Shadow vs. The Night Brigades and The Night Hazard” which tells about the rivalry of an eccentric showman nicknamed “The Lucky Shadow” and a criminal group called “Night Brigades of the New Night Haven”, headed by an influential crime boss nicknamed “The Night Hazard”. In the series of short stories “The Lucky Shadow vs. The Night Brigades and The Night Hazard” we will see a lot of struggle and spectacular clashes between various criminal gangs, between curious characters and bright personalities. In the plot of the series “The Lucky Shadow vs. The Night Brigades and The Night Hazard” we will witness exciting clashes and rivalries, unexpected moves and scenarios, unexpected and shocking results. We will witness unusual solutions and strategies. The action will take place in the city of New Night Haven, where it is not particularly quiet during the day, but at night it is really noisy and everything is boiling with rivalries and battles. 

The main participants and performers of the main roles in the story will be the eccentric showman Tommy Loreno, nicknamed “Lucky Shadow”, a powerful crime boss nicknamed “Night Hazard” and his subordinates “Night Brigades of New Night Haven”, as well as the secretive private detective Bobby Nicholson. Other important figures will be a group of singers and dancers called “New Night Butterflies” and businessman Robbie Alvas, who manages nightclubs and bars, as well as organizing events. Humble, kind and well-mannered, Robbie Alvas runs a large chain of nightclubs and nightspots, as well as the largest event management company in New Night Haven. An interesting detail is that the “New Night Butterflies” are actually undercover agents whose purpose is to help solve crimes and criminal schemes in New Night Haven, but absolutely no one suspects that private detective Bobby Nicholson and eccentric showman Tommy Loreno, known as the “Lucky Shadow”, are actually the same person. Officially, private investigator Bobby Nicholson always works incognito and secretly collects information, his methods remain a mystery to everyone. He communicates with everyone and plans his actions almost completely remotely, and rarely appears live.

The eccentric showman “Lucky Shadow” is known for trying to interfere in the affairs of criminal gangs to make money. He regularly threatens and blackmails criminals that if they don’t pay him, he will disrupt their deals and destroy their business. The main method of the showman’s work is to suddenly appear at meetings and events organized by criminal gangs in the city of New Night Haven, and sabotage them. The “Lucky Shadow” has a huge wardrobe and has a huge number of costumes and uniforms with which he disguises himself and attacks criminals at meetings and events. He got his nickname because he is extremely mysterious and very lucky. He is called the “Lucky Shadow” because he always appears out of nowhere and manages to get away unscathed, and also because he successfully manages to create the impression that he is present in several places at the same time and that in many places there are his people ready to act. In the opinion of most ordinary people, he’s just an eccentric weirdo. For them, the “Lucky Shadow” is an inventive buffoon who performs dizzying tricks for no particular purpose, and who always gets away with it, and disappears unharmed. Everyone is convinced that he is a big fan of thrills. Everything happens suddenly and it’s not entirely clear what he’s trying to achieve. He has a special stamp that he puts everywhere he has been so that people know that he has been there. The stamp has his logo and a link to his web page, where clips of his crazy performances are posted. After seeing the seal, people whisper and watch the video for a long time. The character, for the most part, appears suddenly in random places, but it is possible that he plans his appearances and attacks in advance. Everyone knows that the “Lucky Shadow” can appear unexpectedly, for a certain reason or without it, in any places and during any events. Everyone has seen and knows his emblem well, which consists of two images: in the foreground a colored image of a man with a top hat rushing forward with his arms raised and outstretched, and in the background a silhouette of a man in a calm straight pose with his arms down. The silhouette in the background is visible just behind the body of the jumping man in the foreground. The head of the calm silhouette in the background is located just between the outstretched arms of the colorful character in the foreground, and his legs and part of his torso are visible between the spaced legs of the jumping man. The man in the foreground is dressed in a stylish suit and made up in addition to a spectacular appearance, and the man in the background is a mysterious silhouette. The emblem of the “Lucky Shadow” is sewn to all his costumes and is depicted on his seal, which he leaves wherever he goes and wherever he rampages. One of those who is convinced that the “Lucky Shadow” is neither a madman nor a random person is undercover agent Geordie Norris, who too often stumbles upon interesting episodes involving the “Lucky Shadow”. Based on the information gathered, Geordie Norris is sure that the “Lucky Shadow” is an intelligent person with high goals, but he himself cannot understand why the showman does this and what exactly he is fighting for. Agent Norris undertakes the difficult task of finding out who is really hiding behind the famous nicknames “Lucky Shadow” and “Night Hazard”, and the latter is undoubtedly a dangerous criminal and criminal authority. It is known that “Lucky Shadow” and “Night Hazard” are blood enemies who hate each other to the core.

Crime in New Night Haven is quite high, especially at night when all the criminals and gangs are active. Most of them operate during the day, when they are actively preparing for the night. Among the criminals there are so-called “Day Brigades”, which operate and prepare all the details during the day, and “Night Brigades”, which operate in the evening and at night. The “Night Brigades” are more powerful and influential than all the others, because most of the important actions take place at night, and they bear the greatest responsibility and bear the heaviest burden of all. Some of New Night Haven’s most powerful and well-organized criminal gangs are under the command of a mysterious man nicknamed “Night Hazard”. This nickname is due to the fact that this man constantly plans and directs secret operations and dangerous covert actions, including surprise attacks on his opponents. He never appears in public and organizes secret meetings only with extremely limited access and with extreme security measures, communicates with others mostly remotely and with the help of his assistants and mysterious friends. Almost no one knows what this man really looks like, and few people have seen him in person. But everyone has heard of him, and there are legends in the city about his power. The nickname also comes from the fact that this person is an excellent strategist and likes to covertly observe the general situation and secretly track all the details, as well as check everything and  everyone. “Night Hazard” constantly plans and performs unique and unusual secret actions, moves, attacks and multi-moves, as well as complex combinations of actions, moves, attacks and multi-moves. “Night Hazard” uses a large number of strategies, tactics and tricks, and also has significant tools for observation and action. He often participates in dangerous criminal schemes and weaves dangerous intrigues, seeking to establish control over the criminal world of New Night Haven. He is the author of most of the tricks, tactics and strategies he uses. “Night Hazard” has connections and acquaintances in the city administration, which provide him with political cover and complicate the investigation against him. For example, the longtime chairman of the New Night Haven Municipal Council is a businesswoman named Barbara Johnson, who is actually the right-hand of “Night Hazard” She is extremely arrogant and malicious, secretly creating intrigues, problems and stumbling blocks for anyone who could threaten the interests of “Night Hazard” and the people around him. Barbara hates everyone who dares to stand in their way, including all the investigating police officers, secret agents and private detectives who try to unravel their schemes and explore the connections in every single case in which they are involved or may be involved. One of the people who can threaten the interests of the “Night Brigades” and “Night Hazard” is the inconspicuous private detective Bobby Nicholson, who is hired by many key players in New Night Haven and who knows too much. That’s why Bobby Nicholson almost never appears live or communicates live. Each of his live performances puts his life in serious danger. Another problem for “Night Hazard” and “Night Brigades” is the eccentric showman Tommy Loreno, nicknamed “Lucky Shadow”, who constantly interferes in the affairs of criminals in order to make a profit. The “Lucky Shadow” is an extremely extravagant character with unusual views on life. Most people think he’s crazy, others think he works for one of the criminal gangs, others think he’s the leader of a criminal gang because he’s pretty greedy and always demands a lot of money from his opponents. The “Lucky Shadow” always appears suddenly and unexpectedly and at the most inopportune moment for its competitors and is able to fail their every deal and their every event. The “Lucky  Shadow” blackmails criminals with a lot of money so that he does not interfere in their affairs and does not interfere with their business. Barbara Johnson, the right-hand of “Night Hazard”, considers “Lucky Shadow” a serious problem and often speaks about him in a negative light in front of other iconic figures of New Night Haven, calling him an immoral buffoon and a madman who poses a danger to people and the moral foundations of society and promises to deal with him and put an end to his performances. Who will win this heated battle? And will there be winners and losers? Stay with the series of short stories “The Lucky Shadow vs. The Night Brigades and The Night Hazard”, and every day, and especially every night, will be tense and hot, the intrigue will last until the very end and beyond!

Author: Anton S. Petrov

 

The Lucky Shadow vs. The Night Brigades and The Night Hazard: Introduction