Morrigan: Year 3101.

Eugène and Jacques strolled into the station, nodding to their fellow officers as they passed. The familiar buzz of activity surrounded them - phones ringing, keyboards clacking, and the occasional burst of laughter.

"Hey, Dubois! Nice work on that highway clusterfuck," Officer Bonaparte called out.

Eugène waved a hand. "Thanks. Still got a long way to go, though."

They made their way to the IT department, weaving through the maze of cubicles until they reached their destination. Seated at a desk piled high with computer parts was Ezra Goldstein, hunched over a keyboard and muttering to himself.

Jacques cleared his throat. "Yo, Ezra. Got a minute?"

He spun around in his chair, eyes narrowing as he spotted the two detectives. "Oh, fuck me. What do you two want?"

Eugène held up the encrypted phone. "Need your expertise on this bad boy. Think you can crack it?"

"Not a chance in hell," he snapped. "I'm still pissed about that stunt you pulled at Luc's retirement party."

"What stunt?" Jacques feigned innocence.

"Don't play dumb, asshole. You set me up with that trans guy at the strip club. I made out with him for ten minutes before I realized!"

Eugène tried to keep a straight face. "Come on, Ezra. How were we supposed to know? These days, it's getting harder to tell."

"Bullshit," he spat. "You knew exactly what you were doing. Now get lost. I'm busy."

Jacques held up his hands in mock surrender. "Alright, alright. Maybe we knew. But come on, it was just a bit of fun. No harm done, right?"

"No harm done? I nearly had a fucking heart attack! You know I had to empty four toothpaste bottles just to remove that taste of...whoever that dude is?"

"Four?" Jacques exchanged glances with his partner. "You're kidding."

"No, and I had to undergo therapy, until now, because of you guys."

"Geez, I didn't know it was that deep of an impact to you."

"Look," Eugène interjected, "we're sorry about that. It was a stupid prank. But right now, we've got a serious case on our hands. A woman's dead, and this phone might hold the key to finding her killer."

Ezra crossed his arms. "Not my problem. Go bother someone else."

Jacques leaned in. "Remember that favor you owe me? For covering your ass when you 'accidentally' wiped those body cam videos that you got from that Russian pornsite?"

"Oh, for fuck's sake," Ezra groaned. "That's low, even for you."

"Hey, I had to lie to your mother about those drives being erased. I had to tell her that we're going to use your computer for a case. Poor woman had to use the computer in a local library while I dispose of your laptop. You, on the other hand, were busy pretending to be on a 'business trip' in another country and that woman you meet didn't even liked you. So, think of this as payback."

Eugène sighed, draping an arm around his shoulders. "Look, I get it. We fucked up. But this is important. Help us out, and we'll make it worth your while."

Ezra shrugged off Eugène's arm. "Yeah? How?"

"Remember Samantha from forensics?" Jacques asked, a sly grin spreading across his face.

"The hot Aussie with a killer smile? What about her?"

"We could put in a good word for you," Eugène said. "Maybe even set up a date."

"Right. And how exactly are you going to do that? I've never even seen you talk to her."

"We have our ways," Jacques said, wiggling his eyebrows.

Ezra glanced between the two detectives. "I don't know..."

"Come on, man," Eugène pressed. "You've been pining after her for months. This could be your chance."

"And you swear you can make it happen?"

"Cross my heart," he said, making an X over his chest.

"Fine," Ezra grumbled. "But if this is another one of your tricks, I swear to God—"

"No tricks," Jacques assured him. "Scout's honor."

Ezra snatched the phone from Eugène's hand. "Alright, give me that thing. But I swear to God, if Samantha turns out to be packing heat downstairs, I'm coming for both of you with a shotgun."

"Hey, we learned our lesson. No more surprises."

"Yeah, yeah," he muttered, already turning back to his computer. "Now get out of here and let me work. I'll call you when I've got something."

As they walked away, Jacques leaned in close to Eugène. "You think he bought it?"

"Who knows? But if it gets us into that phone, I don't really give a shit."

As they walked away from Ezra's desk, Jacques nudged Eugène with his elbow. "Hey, quick question. Do you even know who Samantha is?"

Eugène shook his head. "Not a fucking clue."

Jacques stopped in his tracks. "Wait, what? You just lied to him again?"

"It was the only way to get him to work on that phone," he said with a shrug. "You saw how he was acting. We needed to give him some goddamn motivation."

"Jesus Christ," Jacques muttered. "Why didn't we just get another IT guy? There's gotta be someone else in this building who can crack a phone."

Eugène leaned against the wall, crossing his arms. "Look, Ezra's one of the best we've got. The guy could hack into the Federation servers if he wanted to. We need his skills on this case."

"Okay, fine. But how the hell are we gonna convince Samantha to go on a date with him? We don't even know her!"

"Relax," Eugène patted his partner on the shoulder. "I used to date Jenny from accounting, remember? She's friends with Samantha. I'm sure she'll help us out."

Jacques furrowed his brow. "Jenny? From accounting? I don't remember her."

"Come on, man. Jenny? Blonde hair, green eyes, always wearing those ridiculous high heels that make her tower over everyone?"

"Oh, shit. Wait, isn't she the one who—"

"Yeah, yeah," Eugène cut him off, waving a hand. "The one I dated for a few months last year."

"No, I mean... Isn't she the one who found out you were cheating on her with that redhead from the 12th precinct?"

He winced. "Fuck, I forgot you knew about that."

"How could I forget?" Jacques laughed. "They both showed up at the station on the same day, screaming their heads off. You ran out of here so fast I thought your ass was on fire."

"Jesus, don't remind me," he said. "Those two chased me halfway across the city. I had to hide in a dumpster for an hour."

Jacques doubled over, slapping his knee. "Oh man, I remember now. You came back to the station smelling like week-old fish and moldy cheese. Chief made you work in the evidence locker for a week because no one could stand being near you."

"Alright, alright," Eugène grumbled. "It wasn't my finest moment. But that's ancient history now. Jenny and I are... well, not friends, but we're civil. I'm sure she'll help us out with this Samantha situation."

"You sure about that? Last I heard, she was still pretty pissed at you."

"What choice do we have? Unless you've got a better idea to get Ezra to crack that phone."

"Fair point," Jacques conceded. "And if she doesn't help us?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, let's focus on the case. We've got a dead body, a high-speed chase, and a fucking rocket launcher to deal with."

"Fine. But if this blows up in our faces, I'm blaming you."

"Fair enough," Eugène said, pushing off the wall. "Now come on, let's go see if Jenny's in today. And pray she doesn't still have that mean right hook."

They made their way to the accounting department, nodding to a few familiar faces as they passed. The hallways were filled with the usual office chatter and the smell of stale coffee.

"You sure about this?" Jacques asked, glancing at his partner.

"Not really, but what other choice do we have?"

They reached Jenny's office, a small room tucked away in the corner of the accounting floor. The door was ajar, and they could see her hunched over her desk, typing away at her computer.

Eugène knocked on the doorframe. "Hey, Jenny. Got a minute?"

She looked up, her eyes narrowing as she spotted the two detectives. In a flash, she was on her feet and storming towards them.

"You've got some fucking nerve showing up here," she snarled.

Before Eugène could react, Jenny's knee connected with his groin. He doubled over, gasping in pain.

"Jesus Christ!" he wheezed. "My nuts!"

Jenny didn't miss a beat. She turned to Jacques and landed a solid right hook to his jaw, sending him stumbling backward.

"What the fuck?" he sputtered, rubbing his face. "What did I do?"

"You're with this bastard," she spat, gesturing to Eugène, who was still bent over in agony.

"Christ, Jenny," Eugène groaned. "I thought we were past this."

"Past what? The fact that you cheated on me with that skank from the 12th precinct? Or the fact that you lied to my face for months?"

Jacques held up his hands in surrender. "Look, I had nothing to do with that. I'm just here because—"

"Because you're his partner," Jenny cut him off. "Which makes you just as guilty in my book."

"That doesn't even makes sense."

Eugène finally managed to straighten up, though he was still wincing. "Jenny, I know I fucked up. I've apologized a thousand times. Can we just... can we move past this? We need your help."

She let out a bitter laugh. "You need my help? That's rich. Why the hell should I help you?"

"Because it's for a case," Jacques interjected. "A woman's dead, and we're trying to catch her killer."

Jenny's expression softened. "What's that got to do with me?"

Eugène took a cautious step forward. "We need you to set up a date with your friend Samantha and one of the IT guys."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Jenny's voice rose an octave. "You come in here, after everything you've done, and ask me to pimp out my friend?"

"It's not like that. We just need her to go on one date with this guy. It's the only way we can get him to crack a phone that might have evidence on it."

Jenny crossed her arms. "And why should I believe anything you say?"

"Look," Jacques stepped in. "I know my partner's a piece of shit—"

"Hey!" Eugène protested.

"—but this is serious," he continued. "We've got a dead cybersecurity expert, a car chase involving a rocket launcher, and a phone that might hold the key to solving it all. We're not asking you to do this for us. We're asking you to do it for the victim."

Jenny looked between the two detectives. After a long moment, she sighed. "Fine. I'll talk to Samantha. But I'm not making any promises."

Eugène's face lit up. "Thank you. You won't regret this."

"I already do," she muttered. "Now get the fuck out of my office before I change my mind."

As they turned to leave, Jenny called out, "Oh, and Eugène?"

He looked back. "Yeah?"

"If you ever hurt Samantha or use her in any way, I'll make sure you never father children. Got it?"

He swallowed hard. "Crystal clear."

They quickly exited the office, closing the door behind them. Once they were a safe distance away, Jacques let out a low whistle. "Well, that went better than expected."

Eugène shot him a dirty look. "Better? She kneed me in the balls and punched you in the face."

"Yeah, but we got what we came for. And hey, at least she didn't castrate you on the spot."

"Small fucking mercies," Eugène grumbled. "Come on, let's go tell Ezra the good news. And pray to God this all works out, or we're both fucked."