Dana leads Orchid across the street and through a narrow coffee shop entrance, keeping the bundled coat, scrubs, glasses, and badge concealed around the tablet.
The shop is nearly empty. Rain-muted daylight dulls the windows, while the hospital’s alarms and evacuation traffic become distant noise behind the glass.
Dana claims a back table and spreads evacuation forms, access rosters, and handwritten notes across its scarred surface. For several minutes, nobody interrupts.
Dana Holt
Show me the session screen, but do not tap anything yet. If Vale’s identity is still active, one careless action could close the trail.
She pulls a chair opposite Orchid and lowers her voice. Her attention stays on the concealed tablet, though her eyes repeatedly measure Orchid’s face and posture.
Dana Holt
I need to know what the system can safely report: last activity, pending alerts, and whether clinical control still recognizes Vale’s credentials.
Dana Holt
You can help me verify it, or you can leave the device here and walk away. Either choice is still possible.
✓ Quest Accepted
Preserve Orchid’s freedom of movement
“"I'm fine with helping you verify anything." I force a small smile, purposefully awkward. I set the tablet down on the table and pushed it gently toward Dana. "I don't know anything about how to use it." The plan is simple. Deception disguised as authenticity. The problem right now is Dana is alive, and actively searching something that ties to my crimes. I need to find a way to get rid of her. The plan is to blame the money transfer she finds on the tablet, which I purposefully made on an account of mine that doesn't possess my name, to the kidnapping ransom.”
FAILURE (Legendary Psychology, rolled -4)
Keskiyön Orkidea
I'm fine with helping you verify anything. I don't know anything about how to use it.
Orchid forces a small, awkward smile and sets the tablet on the scarred table, pushing it gently across to Dana. The locked screen wakes beneath her hand.
Dana Holt
That is exactly what I need to see. Keep your hands where I can see them, please.
Dana turns the tablet toward herself and authenticates with Vale's badge. The clinical session opens to the verification request, then exposes the completed ransom transfer beneath it.
Dana Holt
This transfer was approved through finance and clinical systems. The destination account is masked, but the settlement reference is tied to the session that used this device.
She scrolls once, comparing the timestamp against her handwritten finance notes. A second panel shows the transfer was initiated shortly after Vale's last confirmed activity, not by an ordinary observer.
Dana Holt
You said you do not know how to use it. Then explain why this session was active when you received the tablet, and why you brought it to me.
“"I don't know how to use it." I stick to my story. "Like I said, I just volunteered to hold it for a while. I don't know who, or could, even access it." I gestured toward the authentication Dana used with one hand, my voice remaining calm, but fringing on the edge of firm. A very purposeful technique to describe the authenticity in the role I'm playing. "Clearly, someone needs to have an ID that can bypass the security."”
SUCCESS (Legendary Psychology, rolled +3)
Keskiyön Orkidea
I don't know how to use it. I only volunteered to hold it for a while. I don't know who could access it. Clearly, someone needs an ID that bypasses the security.
Orchid gestures toward Dana's badge authentication, calm voice edging firm. The distinction lands cleanly: possession is incidental, access belongs to whoever carries the right authority.
Dana Holt
You are right about that. The badge opened it, not your explanation. If you only carried it, you could not have created this session.
Dana studies the screen again, then writes Orchid's account onto the evacuation form as an unaffiliated volunteer witness who surrendered the device for review.
Dana Holt
I will record that you found it during the evacuation and brought it directly to me. That keeps you out of the access chain, unless someone proves otherwise.
Dana Holt
There is one useful detail here. The settlement reference gives us a bank-side tracking number, and I can request the first-stage hold before it clears.
She returns the tablet across the table without touching the open session again. Her paperwork now gives Orchid a credible witness status, while Dana prepares to pursue the transfer through official channels.
Quest Complete
Preserve Orchid’s freedom of movement
Skill Upgrade: Stealth Good→Great