Arthur’s filter blooms across the archive display, sorting names by dosage, duration, and recovery notes. Blue timestamps crawl beside each entry like a living ledger.
Abby starts tracing the buy records outward, following the strongest responders into the facility’s contact web. Victoria holds the perimeter, while Maren Vale waits beside the terminal, already looking like proof instead of a problem.
Arthur Blues
I have a cluster. Seven verified high-dose users, all with stable metrics. Three are local athletes.
Abby Stone
Put the bodybuilders first. I want people who can stand onstage and look impossible without looking broken.
Maren Vale
If they speak openly, it will matter more than any chart. People trust bodies before they trust graphs.
Arthur opens a set of profile cards, each with training histories, clinic scans, and public-facing handles. One by one, the names line up with gyms, competition circuits, and follower counts.
Abby’s search lands on three likely advocates, and Maren’s verified record sits at the center of the pitch, the first clean example strong enough to carry the others.
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure the potential advocates for recruitment
“I call the first athlete in for an interview”
SUCCESS (Great Diplomacy, rolled -1)
Abby keys the shortlist open and sends the first name a direct summons, routed through the lab’s clean internal line. Arthur pauses mid-scroll, watching the invite populate with a profile tag, clinic history, and a live location ping.
Arthur Blues
There. First candidate acknowledged the ping. He is reading the invite now.
Maren Vale
Good. If he comes in, he sees proof before he sees a pitch.
Victoria shifts her weight toward the corridor feed, then relaxes when the response thread stays calm. The archive display keeps its blue pulse, holding the room in a neat, expectant hush.
Arthur Blues
He asks if this is about endorsement or evaluation. I told him it is both.
Maren Vale
That is the right answer. He needs to feel the difference between being recruited and being respected.
A clean confirmation drops into the queue, and the first athlete accepts the interview slot. The shortlist remains open, waiting for Abby’s next name.
“I call the next athlete in”
SUCCESS (Great Diplomacy, rolled +2)
Abby sends the next name through the clean lab line, and the archive answer comes back instantly. A new profile window blooms on the display, stamped with an interview hold and live route check.
Victoria
The signal holds steady. No spoof, no scrape, just a clean internal reach.
Arthur’s fingers stop over the terminal, then move to queue the follow-up packet without looking away from the screen. Maren angles closer, reading the fresh profile tag as if it were already a person in the room.
Arthur Blues
That one is in. The slot is reserved, and the invite stays visible on the public feed.
Maren Vale
Good. Now the shortlist is starting to look like a roster, not a data dump.
The blue timestamps keep ticking under the confirmation badge, and the next athlete’s file settles into the secured column. The display waits for Abby’s next selection.
“I call the next athlete in”
SUCCESS (Great Diplomacy, rolled +1)
Abby issues the next call, and the shortlist shifts with it. The archive window snaps open on a new athlete, the route line drawing cleanly from the lab to the outside world.
The display tags the contact as live, reachable, and waiting. Arthur’s terminal advances the intake packet while Maren tracks the entry with a small, satisfied nod.
Arthur Blues
Contact is made. The slot holds.
Maren Vale
That makes three who can be shown, not just listed.
Abby Stone
Next athlete, you are on the line.
A few blue status bars deepen in color as the profile settles into the recruitment column. The room now reads less like a file review and more like a growing team board.
The system pauses on the newly connected profile, awaiting the next move.
“I press for the strongest available advocate”
SUCCESS (Great Diplomacy, rolled -1)
Abby’s filter command lands, and the queue tightens around the top performer. The archive sorts by dosage, consistency, and public stability, then locks onto one athlete profile as the strongest available advocate.
Arthur Blues
That’s our anchor. Clean metrics, clean history.
Maren Vale
And the file is intact. No hidden dropout, no last-minute excuses.
Abby Stone
Put her at the front of the list.
Arthur clicks the selection into the secured column. The route line brightens, the status bars settle at full depth, and the intake board shifts from search to commitment.
For a moment, the whole wing goes still around the confirmed advocate, waiting on the next name Abby chooses.
Quest Complete
Secure the potential advocates for recruitment
Skill Upgrade: Diplomacy Great→Superb