Security boots hammer in around the fallen saboteurs. Overhead drones hold their cone of arrest light steady, while Abby’s signal tag spits a fresh line of decrypted data across her display.
Arthur Blues
That signature is braided. One layer is masked, but the handshake pattern looks corporate.
Arthur leans in beside Abby, one hand lifted toward the scrolling code as if he can catch the pattern before it vanishes. The crowd stays back behind the lane barriers, watching the takedown in stunned silence.
Arthur Blues
Abby, there. The attack route routes through a private relay, not a street source. Someone paid for this.
The tag resolves another fragment, then another. A vendor stamp appears in the packet header, buried under a shell account and a logistics proxy tied to the Expo’s own sponsor network.
Arthur Blues
It is coming from inside the event system. Not just sabotage, a cover channel. If we follow this trail, we can find who signed off on it.
One security officer pauses at Abby’s side, glancing from the live trace to the restrained saboteurs. The origin line keeps expanding, pointing past the attackers and straight toward a corporate backer hiding in the Expo’s infrastructure.
✓ Quest Accepted
Learn who signed off on the sabotage
✓ Quest Accepted
Uncover the corporate backer behind the signal trace
“Why would one of the event organizers sabotage my appearance? Im the main headliner, im the reason everyone here bought tickets to the expo, im the organizers' main money maker. Why would they sabotage me?”
SUCCESS (Mediocre Reasoning, rolled +1)
Arthur lowers his hand from the code and lets the tag project a cleaner slice of the header. The sponsor seal flashes once, then resolves into a procurement chain tied to a rival expo contractor, not a random attacker.
Arthur Blues
That explains the handoff. They did not want you dead, Abby. They wanted you rattled, public, and easy to discredit.
The security officer taps the tablet, then angles it so Abby can see the signed access log. A mid-level events coordinator authorized the relay override, and the request rides on a corporate credential buried under audit padding.
Security Officer
Here. Organizer sign-off, disguised as maintenance traffic. The backer is a competitor, but the person who opened the door is one of the Expo staff.
Abby Stone
So it is not just outside sabotage. Someone inside the event chose the target.
Arthur’s expression softens, less urgent now, more grimly certain. Behind the barriers, the crowd noise stays contained, a distant hush over the polished lane.
Arthur Blues
They went after the headliner because your name sells the whole floor. Take you out of the spotlight, and the sponsor fallout gets blamed on the show, not the people profiting from it.
The trace holds steady on Abby’s display, the signal tag still pulsing at the edge of the feed like a breadcrumb with teeth. The coordinator’s identity sits there in plain text, waiting for Abby’s next move.
Quest Complete
Learn who signed off on the sabotage
Quest Complete
Uncover the corporate backer behind the signal trace
“Well then, that just means the best way to show them they failed is to let the show go on. Let the crowd in so i can start signing autographs and taking photos again.”
SUCCESS (Superb Diplomacy, rolled +3)
Arthur straightens and looks from the exposed log to Abby, the tension in his shoulders easing as the decision lands. The crowd lane stays held back, but the barrier lights cycle from warning red to a calmer white.
Arthur Blues
That is the right call. If the show keeps moving, they lose the story they wanted.
The security officer flicks a few commands across the tablet, and the front gates unlock in sequence. Beyond the barrier, fans begin to filter back in, cautious at first, then louder as they recognize Abby.
Security Officer
Access lanes are open. Your autograph station can run without interference now.
Arthur lifts the recovered signal tag into the light, letting Abby see a second line hidden under the contractor chain, a mirrored relay address tied to the same corporate network. It is a clean handoff point, not a dead end.
Arthur Blues
There it is. They left a partner node in their own paperwork, probably because they expected nobody to look twice.
The first fans reach the rail, phones up, smiling through the last of the adrenaline. Abby’s platform clears for signing, and the camera drones swing toward her instead of the saboteurs.
Security Officer
We have the trail. Go give them the version of this night they came for.
✓ Quest Accepted
Investigate the mirrored relay address