Storage Bay 4-B settles into a low blue hush. Abby sets the damaged prototype carrier down on the deck, and the metal gives off a tired clunk. The vault pressure is easing now, and the room finally feels still.
Arthur crouches over his handheld display, fingers flying as he patches the data leaks. Victoria stands a few paces off, scanning the bay with measured focus, her screen glow painting sharp lines across her face.
Arthur Blues
I have the trace sealed. Not clean, but contained.
Victoria
Mara Venn is the match point. The logs keep circling back to her relay path.
Abby Stone
Mara Venn. Someone inside the system had been feeding the break-in from the start.
Arthur looks up from the screen, jaw tight with stress and relief mixed together. Victoria lowers her device a fraction, finally letting the perimeter check go quiet for a beat.
Arthur Blues
We caught the trail before it vanished. That matters.
Victoria
It does. And now we know exactly where trust failed.
For a moment, nobody moves. The carrier rests between them like a sealed wound, and the bay waits for Abby's next word.
“How dangerous is Mara? Does she use our serum to enhance herself? Is she combat trained? What weaponry can you job grant her access to if any?”
SUCCESS (Mediocre Reasoning, rolled +1)
Arthur straightens from the display and turns it so Abby can see the mapped security notes. The blue glow catches the tension in his face before he speaks.
Arthur Blues
Mara is dangerous because she knows our systems and the people around them. She is competent under pressure, trained enough to move like she belongs, and she has access to support routes, badges, and storage issue tools through her job.
Arthur Blues
No sign she uses the serum herself. The logs show requests, shipments, and substitutions around the chain, but nothing proving self-injection.
Victoria steps closer, eyes narrowed at the same data, then gives a small, clipped nod as if confirming his read.
Victoria
If she is armed, it is whatever she can authorize or divert without raising a flag, compact sidearms, access cutters, maintenance shocks, maybe a drone key if she planned ahead.
Victoria
She did plan ahead.
Arthur’s jaw tightens, but his voice stays steady when he looks back to Abby.
Arthur Blues
That still leaves us with something useful. We know what she can reach, and we know she had to work around us to do it.
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure evidence of Mara Venn’s betrayal
“Okay. So if i confront her there's little chance she can actually hurt me. That means all you guys need to do is tell me where she is so i can go talk to her alone.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled +0)
Abby Stone
Okay. If I confront her, she is not likely to hurt me. Just tell me where she is, and I will go talk to her alone.
Arthur studies Abby for a beat, then lowers the display a little as if weighing the ask against the damage already done.
Arthur Blues
Alone is the part I hate. But... yes. We can give you her position.
Victoria taps the screen once, and the map shifts from routes to a live location tag anchored deeper in the campus grid.
Victoria
Mara Venn is in the south archive annex, maintenance level. She moved there after the breach.
Arthur turns the display fully toward Abby, jaw set, but his shoulders ease a fraction.
Arthur Blues
We trust you to handle this your way. Bring back answers, not another war.
Quest Complete
Secure evidence of Mara Venn’s betrayal