It had been a week since Logan set foot in Berlin, a surreal transition after spending less than a year in the chaos of war. The air was thick with tension, the city a battleground of ideologies as the Allies and Soviets vied for control.

His assignment involved collaborating with local civilians on the daunting task of reconstruction while simultaneously investigating the smuggling of resources that threatened the fragile balance between the Allied powers—the Soviet Union, and the United States.

This meant he had to work alongside Soviets—an uncomfortable thought. They were likely dispatched to safeguard their own ideological stakes, he mused. How self-serving, he thought. Yet, he couldn’t deny he was doing the same, albeit with a different banner.

To navigate this complex landscape, he had been paired with a seasoned Russian-Soviet engineer, a stroke of luck in this fractured city.

But he reassured himself, if all went according to plan, he would soon be leaving this place behind, far from the reach of those communists.

As he walked through the battered streets, he tried to ignore the dust that clung to his throat like a persistent reminder of the city’s decay. Each building loomed like a specter of its past glory, shattered windows and crumbling facades casting an eerie pall over the desolate thoroughfare.

Turning a corner, he unexpectedly encountered a man who appeared to be waiting for him. Logan’s keen brown eyes check out the figure before him, his hands slipping into his pockets. Not bad at all.

“Am I to assume you’re my guide?”