File 001: Regal Cortado
Regal Cortado
Name: Regal Cortado
Position: LSPD Officer
Personality Assessment: Responsible. Earnest. Loud in voice, honest in heart.
Background Overview:
Regal Cortado serves as a detective within the Los Santos Police Department. Known for his reliability and clear communication style, Cortado often acts as a stabilizing presence within investigative teams. His approach to law enforcement emphasizes responsibility, procedure, and thoroughness.
Cortado is often viewed by colleagues as someone who can be counted on to follow through with cases, reports, and field operations. His steady demeanor and willingness to take on necessary tasks have contributed to his reputation as a dependable member of the department.
Valentina’s Journal
I remember it vividly.
The first time I saw Regal Cortado was inside the Vanilla Unicorn.
Of all places.
His voice carried easily through the room, loud, clear, structured. The kind of cadence that immediately tells you someone is either a teacher… or a cop.
In Los Santos, it’s almost always the latter.
I recognized him instantly for what he was.
Law enforcement.
He was interviewing someone.
A silhouette I knew very well.
Mr. M.
Standing beside him was someone I had never seen before. A stranger. Calm. Curious. Like someone who had just discovered a new story to follow.
Mr. M always did enjoy collecting interesting people.
But that wasn’t my concern.
My concern was what they were talking about.
Something about a man in a fox mask. Someone who had jumped them. They were making a report to the detective.
And they were doing it inside the Vanilla Unicorn.
A nightclub.
Of all the locations to conduct police work.
That alone told me everything I needed to know.
This detective didn’t understand how the underworld operated yet.
But their conversation interested me.
So I did what I do best.
I listened.
I eavesdropped long enough to understand the situation, gather the important details, and confirm that nothing they were discussing would interfere with anything I was involved in.
Then I introduced myself.
The hostess even asked if we wanted drinks.
Regal asked for coffee.
Coffee.
Inside the Vanilla Unicorn.
Clearly a man still working, even when standing inside a nightclub.
Green.
Too eager.
Too honest for a place like this.
That was my first impression of Detective Cortado.
Do I still feel the same way now?
Yes.
But with more nuance.
Spending time around him made something very clear to me.
I understand now why Remi was always careful about what Regal saw.
Why he kept certain things away from him.
Why he avoided letting Regal get too close to the uglier side of Los Santos.
Regal is the kind of man who still believes in the job.
The kind of officer who thinks the system should work.
And in a city like this… that kind of belief is fragile.
As I spent more time with him, I noticed something else.
I became protective of him.
Which is strange.
Regal Cortado does not need protection.
He is competent. Capable. Dependable.
But the stress of the department was getting to him.
He once told me he felt detached.
Like he was always standing slightly outside the moment.
Everyone relies on him.
Everyone trusts him.
But no one really sees him beyond being a dependable officer.
Just the man who will show up when needed.
And nothing more.
That kind of loneliness is familiar to me.
The feeling of watching life happen from the outside.
Maybe I handled things poorly after he lost his partner.
I tried cheering him up.
Jokes. Chaos. Small annoyances. The kind of antics Remi would have done.
But maybe that was the wrong approach.
Maybe grief isn’t something that can be tricked into disappearing.
And involving Regal in the investigations I pursue would place him in danger.
That isn’t what Remi meant when he asked me to look after him.
But I can see it now.
Regal Cortado is reaching a breaking point.
That quiet exhaustion.
That slow isolation.
I recognize it. I’ve lived there.
So…
Sorry, Remi.
I know what you meant when you asked me to take care of him.
But I think Regal deserves to see the truth of this city.
Not the filtered version.
Not the protected version.
The real one.
Because I believe something you might not.
I think he can handle it.
Additional notes
Most people think they understand Regal Cortado.
They assume he’s simple.
The kind of officer who believes the law is a straight line. Right and wrong neatly divided. Rules written clearly enough that all you have to do is follow them.
At first glance, he does appear that way.
Dependable. Responsible. The type of cop who shows up when called and finishes the work no one else wants to do.
The kind of man who orders coffee inside the Vanilla Unicorn and somehow doesn’t see the irony.
It’s easy to mistake that for naïveté.
But that would be a mistake.
The longer I’ve watched him, the clearer it becomes that Regal Cortado is not blind to the world.
He sees the flaws.
He sees the corruption.
He sees how messy justice becomes in a city like Los Santos.
He simply refuses to let those things define him.
Where most people would become cynical, Regal becomes more deliberate.
Where others bend their values to survive, he holds onto them like anchors.
Not because he doesn’t understand the darkness.
Because he does.
And he’s chosen not to let it swallow him.
That kind of resolve is rare.
Most people lose it eventually.
Los Santos has a way of grinding those ideals down until they become something smaller, something easier to carry.
I’ve seen it happen to many people.
But Regal Cortado…
He’s still standing.
And maybe that’s why his partner tried so hard to keep the worst parts of this city away from him.
Not because Regal is weak.
But because once someone like him sees the full depth of it…
They either change forever.
Or they become the most dangerous kind of cop this city has ever seen.
