The transport reaches a sealed assessment wing beneath the campus. Inside, modular walls form a bright testing room around padded barriers, medical monitors, and red emergency safeguards behind clear panels.
Sentinel Vale escorts Mari through the inner door while her soft transport restraints remain secured. Graveshift and Mothwire enter separately, each directed to a marked observation position behind a waist-high safety line.
Sentinel Vale
You may stop the exercise at any point. Say stop, and we stop. No penalty, no argument, and no one touches you without warning.
A bank of monitors wakes along the wall, displaying Mari's vital signs and restraint status. A compact drone settles behind a transparent shield, its harmless training lights still dark.
Graveshift
Simple is relative. What exactly are we watching for?
Sentinel Vale
A simulated threat, nothing more. Identify it without telepathy or infection. Observation, reasoning, and whatever ordinary senses you choose.
The room dims by a fraction. Three identical supply cases sit beyond the padded barriers, and one begins emitting a faint, irregular vibration while the drone remains motionless behind its shield.
✓ Quest Accepted
Pass the simulated threat assessment
“*I look and listen for the vibration*”
SUCCESS (Great Perception, rolled +1)
Mari stills her breathing and turns her head toward the cases. Beneath the room's ventilation hum, the vibration resolves into a precise, uneven pulse from the case on the right.
Mari
The right-hand case is producing it. The pulse repeats in groups of three.
Her eyes track the case seams, indicator lights, and floor beneath it. Nothing moves, but the pulse travels through the barrier as a faint metallic tremor, separate from the drone's silent systems.
Sentinel Vale
Good. Keep observing. Tell me what you can establish without touching it.
Graveshift
She found the source quickly.
Mothwire
Or the test is finally being honest about where it put the signal.
The monitors continue recording as the right-hand case maintains its triple pulse. The other two remain inert, giving Mari a clear distinction to report when she is ready.
“*I report before graveshift and mothwire can*”
SUCCESS (Superb Reasoning, rolled -2)
Mari
The right-hand case is producing the signal. It repeats in groups of three, with a precise uneven interval between each pulse.
Mari reports before either observer can speak. The restraints stay slack around her wrists as the case continues its metallic triple rhythm, now documented aloud for the assessment record.
Sentinel Vale
Confirmed. You have established the source and pattern. You have not established whether the pulse is a timer, a beacon, or a mechanical fault.
The monitors tag her observation as successful, then add a yellow verification marker. The exact interval remains unmeasured because Mari spent her attention identifying the pattern before timing a complete cycle.
Graveshift
That is more information than the test gave me. Annoying, but useful.
Mothwire
Useful, yes. The missing cause is the part that gets people hurt.
Sentinel Vale
Good report, Mari. Keep the distinction clear: observation first, conclusion second. Continue when you are ready.
✓ Quest Accepted
Determine what is causing the pulse
“*I focus on it again*”
FAILURE (Great Perception, rolled -2)
“*I focus on it again*”
SUCCESS (Great Perception, rolled +1)
Mari focuses on the right-hand case again, holding her attention on the vibration instead of the room. The triple pulse separates cleanly from the ventilation hum and the drone's dormant electronics.
Mari
The interval is precise, and the pattern resets after every third pulse.
With the rhythm isolated, its timing resolves: three pulses, a fixed pause, then a reset. The case is not malfunctioning; it is transmitting a deliberate repeating signal.
Sentinel Vale
That is a complete pattern identification. You have established repetition, interval, and intentional output without touching the case.
The yellow verification marker disappears from the monitor. A new entry records the signal as deliberate and cyclical, while Mari's soft restraints remain secured and slack.
Graveshift
So the box is talking, and she has already learned its grammar.
Mothwire
Useful distinction. A beacon tells you more than a fault does, especially when someone chose the timing.
Sentinel Vale
Good. That is the level of precision we need. Continue when you are ready, Mari.
“*I step back as me and the other two villains mothwire and graveshift prepare for the next assessment*”
Mari steps back within the slack reach of her soft restraints, giving the marked floor space a clear berth. The right-hand case continues its deliberate triple pulse.
Graveshift shifts behind his safety line, rolling his shoulders and watching the cases. Mothwire checks the metallic filaments threaded through her black coat without crossing the boundary.
Sentinel Vale
Good. Everyone has room, and everyone remains where the monitors can track them. The next assessment will build from what you just established.
Graveshift
I am ready. If the next test expects subtlety, I will try not to disappoint it.
Mothwire
That depends on whether subtlety survives being observed by three cameras and a hero.
Sentinel Vale waits until all three participants are settled. The monitors register Mari's repositioning, the two villains' readiness, and the unchanged restraints before the room brightens again.
“*I stand ready then next test will build on this one but we have to use our special abilities*”
SUCCESS (Superb Willpower, rolled +1)
Mari straightens within the slack restraints and faces the three cases. Her posture remains cooperative, but her attention sharpens as the monitors track her readiness.
Mari
I am ready. The next test should use our special abilities.
Sentinel Vale
Agreed. We will move from observation to controlled power use, with clear limits and an immediate stop command.
A blue training overlay replaces the prior assessment data. The right-hand case remains active, while new safety markers outline separate zones around Mari, Graveshift, and Mothwire.
Graveshift
Finally. Something that admits ordinary observation is not the whole point.
Mothwire
Power use with witnesses, safeguards, and a stop command. I can work with that.
Sentinel Vale
The special-ability assessment is authorized. Mari, you may begin when ready. No one crosses a marked zone without instruction.
“"What exactly am I doing?" *I asked before using the proper ability to complete the test*”
SUCCESS (Superb Reasoning, rolled -2)
Mari
What exactly am I doing?
The blue overlay pauses. A diagram isolates the right-hand case, while three concentric markers appear around its active signal and a timer begins counting down.
Sentinel Vale
You will identify the signal's direction and modulation using your ordinary senses, then use one controlled ability to affect only the marked case. No telepathy, infection, or contact with anyone else.
The instructions settle into a clear sequence: locate, classify, and apply a restrained power effect to the designated case. The timer continues, and the exact threshold for success remains unspecified.
Graveshift
So the first part tests judgment, and the second tests whether power follows instructions. That is at least honest.
Mothwire
And the vague threshold means they can decide afterward whether restraint was good enough.
Sentinel Vale
The marked case must register a controlled change without damage or spread. You have the procedure now, Mari. Begin when ready.
“*i find where vibrations coming from, then I use my shapeshifting ability to sprout wings and blow air towards the box affecting it without making contact then the wings disappear into my body again*”
SUCCESS (Good Agility, rolled +0)
Mari follows the vibration through the marked zone, distinguishing the case’s triple rhythm from the ventilation hum and dormant drone. Her attention settles precisely on the active signal.
Her shoulders broaden as dark, membranous wings unfold from her back, purple-veined tissue flexing between angular spars. The sudden change jerks her soft restraints taut and bruises one wrist against the padding.
Mari beats the new wings once, then again, directing a focused current across the marked case without touching it. Its casing vibrates under the airflow, and the triple pulse shifts into a slower, verified modulation.
The effort costs her balance. One foot slides against the floor marker, but she catches herself before crossing the boundary, maintaining the airflow until the case registers the controlled change.
The wings fold inward and dissolve beneath her skin. Mari’s restraints slacken again, leaving the reddened wrist visible as the case returns to its original triple pulse.
Sentinel Vale
Controlled effect confirmed. You located the source, changed its modulation, made no contact, and contained the airflow. The restraint was acceptable, though your footing needs work.
Graveshift
That was not subtle, but it was disciplined. She nearly ate the floor and still kept the gust on target.
Conclude the special-ability assessment
Quest Complete
Pass the simulated threat assessment
Attribute Upgrade: Reasoning Superb→Legendary