Officer Valentina
First Day on the Force
Personal Entry (27/02/2026)
(Not for publication.)
Late at night.
I was standing in front of the Vanilla Unicorn, rain starting to kiss the pavement, still conflicted about whether I was doing the right thing.
The last three days showed me something ugly and simple:
You either step fully into the dark, or you stay out of it.
You can’t claim you’re chasing the truth if you refuse to get your hands dirty.
I knew that from the start.
If you want to see the underside of Los Santos, you have to become one of them.
So why did my feet always stop at the door?
I overestimated myself.
I can laugh with criminals. I can sit across from them, drink with them, hear their stories. But they will never see me as one of them.
And the PD? I fed them intel. I stood in their halls. But they will never fully trust me either.
I have been balancing on a wire stretched over a pit, pretending I wasn’t alone.
Tonight, I decided… one path. One solid ground.
I’m going to speak to Chief Solomon Serpico properly.
Because the moment I turned a blind eye on Luca Santos… the truth stopped mattering. I told myself I was protecting people. But really, I stopped chasing it.
I protected BGC. I protected anyone who mattered to me. Not because I support what they do, but because they became important to me.
And that’s where it all fell apart.
I couldn’t protect Ragus, even after I made it obvious he was my informant, hoping people would leave him alone if they knew.
I tried to shield Remy too. If they knew I had PD ties, maybe they’d be careful with him.
None of it worked.
As long as nobody gets hurt, I used to tell myself.
The rain snapped me out of it.
I walked into the Unicorn to wait it out.
Neil was there. Mei was there. Of course.
Mei is always sweet to me. The kind of sweet laced with poison. Genuine — but sharpened.
Topaz asked if we could talk. I’ve never really used the Unicorn’s “services.”
Tonight… why not.
He was charming. Easy. Curious about me. But I ended up interviewing him instead.
Occupational hazard.
He mentioned an event happening in an hour. Invite-only. High entrance fee. That caught my attention immediately.
But today was supposed to be the day I stopped being involved.
Topaz said he’d inform his employer. I’d be contacted within the hour.
I smiled.
Then I drove straight to the PD.
When I arrived, I saw it, the same car that had been parked outside the Unicorn.
Shit. My cover’s blown.
They know.
But it doesn’t matter anymore. There’s no halfway for me now.
I asked to see Chief Serpico. I told him everything, that there was nothing left out there for me. That I couldn’t pretend I didn’t already know too much.
If I can’t protect them from the outside… let me protect them from here.
He said he was touched by my resolve.
And just like that, I was on the force.
On my first day, I told him about the event at the Unicorn.
And suddenly, I was going undercover with the Chief of Police.
No radios. No GPS. No body cams.
I watched how he worked. How he thought. He’s simple — almost unassuming. But there’s something restrained about him. Like he’s holding back a storm. Maybe it’s caution. Maybe it’s experience.
Before we left, he said we should let someone know we’d be gone.
There was only one number I could think of.
Remy.
Even now… that’s still my instinct.
We couldn’t get into the event. ID checks. Tight security. No fake IDs available.
The operation ended as fast as it began.
And before I could even process it, I was in a car chase. Then a helicopter. Then I was shot. Bleeding. ER.
No proper training. No orientation. Just straight into the fire.
Somehow, I didn’t panic.
Later, I found myself listening to the Chief talk about his worries. His burdens. I understood him more than I expected to.
And for the first time in a long while…
I didn’t feel alone.
I leaned over the railing overlooking the precinct lobby and stared at my phone.
At his number. I told myself I wouldn’t text.
I texted anyway.
The reply came almost instantly.
That caught me off guard.
We promised to catch up tomorrow.
I don’t like this feeling.
I don’t like how vulnerable I become around him.
Two liars trying to protect each other.
That never ends well.
But tonight… I finally feel like maybe I chose something instead of drifting into it.
Maybe this is where I was always meant to end up.
And that thought terrifies me just as much as it comforts me.
