The service entrance slides open on Victoria’s spoofed pass, and Abby leads the way off the curb like a moving wall. Cold light washes over the campus fences, and the bypassed gate hums green instead of red.
Victoria
Footprint masked for now. Once we cross the inner spine, the relay path should bring us straight to the theft node.
Arthur Blues
And the watcher is still probing. They know someone’s moving, just not exactly where.
A red blip flickers on the handheld network display, then splits into two faint echoes as Victoria shunts traffic through decoy channels. Arthur keeps pace at Abby’s side, laptop tucked tight under one arm.
Abby Stone
Abby moves with the team into the campus, using her bulk to shield Arthur and Victoria as they pass the first security line.
Beyond the fence, the industrial yard opens into a corridor of sterile towers and sealed conduits. The theft route waits somewhere below them, and the hidden intruder is already trying to follow their trail.
Victoria
We’re in. Give me thirty seconds and I can point us at the sublevel access.
✓ Quest Accepted
Slip past the campus security undetected
✓ Quest Accepted
Reach the sublevel access
“I scan the corridor for any hidden security cameras or patrol drones.”
SUCCESS (Mediocre Perception, rolled -2)
Abby slows her stride and sweeps the corridor with a practiced glance. Her scan catches three camera domes tucked into vent housings, all dark but live, and a pair of patrol drones idling high in the haze between towers.
Abby Stone
They are farther out than they look.
Victoria’s device flashes a tighter pattern, and one of the camera domes twitches as if it has noticed the signal chatter. A tiny unauthorized ping blooms on the display, then collapses into a cleaner decoy line.
Arthur Blues
Good catch. If those wake up, they’ll have our route.
Abby shifts her body just enough to block Arthur from the open lane while keeping her eyes on the ceiling corners. The nearest drone drifts a little lower, its scan bar painting the conduit wall in pale blue.
Victoria
I see them too. One wrong step and the whole spine gets noisy.
The corridor stays quiet, but now the hidden eyes are mapped. The team knows where not to be, and the drones are starting to wander toward the center line.
“Victoria, i need you to hack your consciousness into their system and kock them out of their own security”
SUCCESS (Legendary Hacking, rolled -1)
Abby Stone
Victoria, put your mind into their system and knock out their cameras and drones.
Victoria
On it. I am stepping through the noise now.
Victoria’s device goes still for one breath, then the nearest camera dome swivels away from the lane as if bored. The lower drone stutters, its scan bar breaking into a blind sweep across empty metal.
Arthur Blues
That’s it. Keep them looking anywhere else.
A clean gap opens in the watch pattern, just wide enough for movement. The unauthorized ping vanishes under Victoria’s decoy trail, and the conduit shadows stop feeling crowded.
Ahead, the service spine lies open and quiet, with the sublevel access somewhere beyond the next bend.
Quest Complete
Slip past the campus security undetected
Attribute Upgrade: Perception Mediocre→Fair