The maintenance exit opens onto a rain-dark service lane behind the municipal annex. Neon from the avenue smears across puddles, while alarms begin to pulse somewhere beyond the concrete walls.
The Hooded Courier
Go. The north corridor will not stay empty for long.
The Hooded Courier remains inside the archive, turning back toward the filing cage and the approaching security team. Veeran stays with Veyra at the threshold, watching the courier through the narrowing doorway.
Veeran
They are staying behind. That makes this either brave or very stupid.
The folder is secured beneath Veyra’s jacket, its red-circled address pressed against the brass plate. Across the lane, a delivery entrance bears a faded municipal seal and a keypad glowing amber.
The Hooded Courier
Sublevel three is beneath the old annex. The service lane leads around to the north side. Do not use the main street.
Behind them, boots strike the archive floor. The maintenance door begins sliding shut, leaving the courier’s silhouette framed in fluorescent light as rain gathers along the threshold.
Veyra Thornveil leaves Rain-dark service lane behind the municipal annex behind and arrives at Sublevel 3 beneath the old municipal records annex.
“I head around to Sublevel 3”
SUCCESS (Superb Agility, rolled -2)
Sublevel 3 lies beneath the annex in a buried corridor of poured concrete, obsolete conduit, and humming emergency strips. Rainwater ticks somewhere behind the walls.
Veyra and Veeran stand before a sealed access door marked with the same dragon sigil as the brass plate. A municipal keypad glows beside it, already displaying AUTHORIZATION ACCEPTED.
Veyra Thornveil
The annex was built over something much older.
Veeran
We made it to Sublevel 3. Now tell me why the door already knows we are here.
The folder presses safely beneath Veyra’s jacket. As the brass plate warms against it, the sealed door unlocks with a deep mechanical clunk.
Beyond waits a narrow records vault lined with dusty cabinets and modern fiber cables. One cabinet stands open, its interior light shining over a single empty evidence sleeve.
Veeran
Someone got here first. Look at the sleeve. It has today’s date.
✓ Quest Accepted
Identify what was removed from the evidence sleeve
✓ Quest Accepted
Determine who reached Sublevel 3 first
“I inspect the empty evidence sleeve for fingerprints, labels, or residue.”
SUCCESS (Mediocre Investigation, rolled +0)
Veyra crouches beside the open cabinet and angles the sleeve beneath its interior light. The paper label has been peeled away, leaving a rectangular strip of cleaner adhesive.
Veyra Thornveil
The sleeve was emptied recently, and the adhesive still holds warmth.
Her gloved fingertips trace the plastic edges without touching the center. Dust clings everywhere except along one narrow thumbprint near the sealed seam, with a faint oily residue beneath it.
Veeran
You found something.
Veyra lifts the sleeve toward the light. A partial fingerprint marks the residue, and a tiny blue fiber is caught in the adhesive, matching no visible material in the vault.
The sleeve crackles loudly as she folds its edge for inspection. The sound carries through the records vault, and Veeran immediately turns toward the corridor.
Veeran
That was not quiet. Take the sleeve, and tell me what the residue means before someone hears us.
“Veeran... You should go. I can handle this. Get my parents, alert them.”
SUCCESS (Good Diplomacy, rolled +2)
Veyra Thornveil
Veeran, you should go. I can handle this. Get my parents and alert them.
Veeran
You want me to leave you alone in a vault with a fresh fingerprint?
Veeran studies her face, then the corridor beyond. The alarm pulses faintly through the concrete, but the records vault remains still.
Veeran
Fine. I’ll get your parents to the Hell Raiser and warn them not to trust anyone asking about the ledger.
He takes out his phone, sends the alert, and keeps the screen angled away from the corridor. A confirmation chime answers almost immediately.
Veeran
They know. I’m leaving through the service route, and I’ll keep my phone on. Do not take risks you cannot explain later.
Veeran backs toward the access door, giving Veyra one final guarded look before slipping into the concrete passage. His footsteps fade toward the rain-dark lane.