The guards guide the group through a side gate into a sheltered records area. Corrugated panels block the wind, while a scarred desk and barred service window face the checkpoint yard.
New Hope Guards
Stand behind the yellow line. Keep packs closed unless the examiner requests an item.
A middle-aged man with a narrow face, thinning sandy hair, and a gray utility vest sits behind the desk with tired hazel eyes and ink-stained fingers. He sorts the signed statement, route papers, and intake copy without looking up.
Robin
This section says quarantine applies to suspected cases, but confinement is temporary and reviewable. That is not the same as locking someone away by default.
Robin traces the posted regulation with one finger, then compares it to a stack of blank intake forms. A sentence beneath the quarantine heading requires written medical grounds and a witness record.
Fin
That matches my statement. I recorded the bite, the treatment, and Maya remaining conscious without fever or confusion. Nothing more.
Fin keeps her voice low while the examiner marks a line on the statement. Sara watches the guards, one hand near her pack strap, weighing whether her own immunity belongs in the record.
“I ask Sara to state her terms openly”
SUCCESS (Great Willpower, rolled +0)
Maya Gonzales
Sara, state your terms openly. Tell them what you will accept and what you will not.
Sara
I will answer questions, submit to a documented medical review, and remain where witnesses can see me. I will not surrender my weapons or pack, and I will not accept confinement without written grounds, a time limit, and review.
Sara steps fully into the records window's view, keeping both hands clear of her pack. The guards remain still while the examiner writes each condition onto the intake form.
The Examiner
Those terms are recorded. Medical review is permitted, and any confinement must cite its grounds, duration, and reviewing witness. Refusal of disarmament will be noted separately.
Fin
That is clear and consistent with the posted regulation. I will add that Sara stated it voluntarily, before anyone pressured her.
Robin
And I witnessed it. No hidden conditions, no sudden change after the guards started writing.
“I ask the examiner about review safeguards”
SUCCESS (Superb Reasoning, rolled -1)
Maya Gonzales
What safeguards govern the review? Who sets the grounds, the time limit, and the witness record?
The Examiner
The reviewing medic must write the medical grounds before confinement begins. A separate witness confirms the entry, and the form records the start time, end time, and required check-ins.
The examiner turns the intake form toward Maya and adds a boxed section beneath the quarantine clause. His pen pauses over each field until the guards can see it.
The Examiner
The grounds must be specific, not merely a bite report. The review occurs at the stated interval, with the witness present, and any extension requires a new written finding.
Fin
Then Maya receives a record of every decision, and we can challenge an extension before it becomes indefinite.
The examiner writes the safeguards into the form: named medical grounds, timed review, an independent witness, and a signed explanation for any extension. The guards inspect the additions without interrupting.
The Examiner
Those protections are now part of this hearing record. You may request a copy before any decision, and the witness may sign an objection beside mine.
“I ask Sara and Fin to align disclosures”
FAILURE (Great Willpower, rolled -3)
Maya Gonzales
Sara and Fin, align your disclosures now. State the same facts about what you witnessed, and separate anything only one of you knows.
Sara and Fin begin together, but their accounts diverge at once. Fin emphasizes the treatment and Maya’s stable condition; Sara stresses the checkpoint escape and the limits of what she personally observed.
Fin
I can confirm the treatment and every change I observed afterward. I cannot confirm what happened before I met Maya.
Sara
I can confirm the checkpoint escape and that Maya remained herself when we traveled together. I did not witness Fin’s examination.
The examiner stops writing and draws a firm dividing line between the statements. Behind the service window, the guards shift their attention from the speakers to the form.
The Examiner
These disclosures cannot be merged as one witness account. I will record them separately, with each limit attached to the person who stated it.
New Hope Guards
Separate records are required. No one changes their statement after signing without marking the correction.
✓ Quest Accepted
Clarify each witness’s admissible testimony
“Can the examiner accept a separate witness record for each fact?”
NO, AND WORSE (VeryLikely, rolled 97)
The Examiner
No. Separate records establish limits, but they do not establish one continuous account of the bite, treatment, and unchanged condition. The central fact remains unverified.
The examiner draws a second line across the form and stamps the witness section incomplete. His expression tightens as he turns the signed papers toward the guards.
The Examiner
Worse, the discrepancy triggers provisional quarantine review. Until a reviewing medic records specific grounds, Maya cannot proceed beyond this checkpoint or access the settlement.
New Hope Guards
Packs stay closed. Everyone remains behind the yellow line while the medic is summoned. No departure from the records area.
One guard shuts the side gate and slides a heavy bar through its brackets. The other lifts the desk telephone, calling inward while keeping watch over the group.
Fin
Then record the exact gap instead of calling it proof. My examination remains documented, and Sara's account remains separate. Neither statement should be erased.
Sara
And write that this review began because your process could not join witnessed facts, not because I changed mine. I will answer the medic, with the terms visible.
“I ask Fin and Robin to state their observations”
SUCCESS (Superb Reasoning, rolled +1)
Maya Gonzales
Fin and Robin, state your observations separately. Include only what you personally witnessed.
Fin
I witnessed Maya’s bite after the checkpoint escape. I cleaned and dressed it, observed her remain conscious, and saw no fever or confusion afterward.
Robin
I witnessed Maya escape the checkpoint and remain herself afterward. I did not see Fin examine or treat the bite, so I cannot confirm those details.
Fin’s account settles beside the earlier statement, while Robin’s fills the gap around the escape without claiming knowledge she lacks. The examiner records each observation under its speaker.
The Examiner
That is sufficient for a continuous witness record when read as separate accounts. I will mark the limits clearly and forward both to the reviewing medic.
The examiner adds the new statements to the form and marks Fin for treatment and condition, Robin for the escape and later conduct. The guards remain behind the line, but the record is no longer incomplete.
New Hope Guards
Statements accepted. Keep your packs closed and remain available for the medic’s review.
Fin
Now the record says exactly what I saw, and nothing I did not.
Quest Complete
Clarify each witness’s admissible testimony