Rain darkens the pavement as Dana exits the coffee shop, incident papers tucked beneath one arm and her phone glowing in the other. She turns toward St. Agnes Hospital.
The alley beside the shop is narrow and poorly lit, bordered by dumpsters, a dented service door, and scattered objects left from deliveries and repairs.
Dana Holt
The hold is pending, not secured. Someone with access will notice before the bank finishes reviewing it.
Dana pauses midway between the shop and the hospital, angling her phone beneath the rain. A fresh bank notification replaces the earlier confirmation, and her expression tightens.
Dana Holt
Come on. Give me one clean break.
She locks the phone and resumes walking toward the alley’s far end, incident papers pressed close beneath her charcoal coat. Her footsteps approach Orchid’s hiding place.
Nothing else follows Dana from the coffee shop. The barista remains inside, the elderly customer, an elderly man with a thin build, wispy white hair, and a tan cardigan over a pale shirt, stays at his table, and the rain muffles the street beyond.
✓ Quest Accepted
Prevent Dana from identifying or reporting Orchid
“I wait. Count every footstep. Measure every breath. Then I slip my nail hammer out of my hoodie pocket, and twist sharply the exact second Dana is about to pass my hiding place. I extend my arm fully into the swing, using the rotational momentum coming from over the corner and Dana's own oncoming momentum to maximize the damage output. The width of the swing is designed to shatter Dana's right temporal bone - taking a page out of my anatomy class - while the force alone will cause her head to violently crack into the wall directly to her left, resulting in an immediate concussion, if not outright killing her there.”
SUCCESS (Good Martial Arts, rolled +0)
Orchid waits behind the wall, counting Dana’s footsteps through the rain. Each approach and pause marks distance; each breath arrives faintly before the next step.
Keskiyön Orkidea
Her right side will pass closest to the corner.
Dana enters the alley’s narrowest stretch, phone lowered and papers tight beneath her arm. Orchid’s hand slips into the hoodie pouch and closes around the nail hammer.
At the exact instant Dana passes, Orchid twists around the corner and extends through the swing. The hammer strikes Dana’s right temple, driving her head hard into the wall.
The impact kills Dana immediately. Her phone clatters across the wet pavement, and the incident papers burst from beneath her arm into the rain.
The blow makes more noise than planned, a blunt crack that carries toward the street. Orchid’s wrist jolts painfully from the impact, but the nail hammer remains in her grip.
Quest Complete
Prevent Dana from identifying or reporting Orchid
“Finally. A single, small, imperceptible exhale leaves me, as I steel the nerves built-up inside me from the tension before the strike. Finally, this is all over. The second Dana's body slumps, I drag her corpse into the darkness of my hiding spot, then retrieve her phone and papers and place them with her body. Then, using my boning knife, I skin her face down nothing but muscle tissue and exposed bone, leaving her remains unidentifiable. Following that, I place all of her papers into a nearby rain puddle, soak, and tear them apart. As for her phone, already broken from its fall, I drive my boning knife through its screen for good measure, then jerk it free. When all is done, I stuff Dana's corpse into a dumpster, and leave calmly.”
SUCCESS (Superb Agility, rolled -2)
A small breath leaves Orchid as Dana’s body slackens. Orchid drags the corpse behind the wall, retrieving the fallen phone and scattered papers from the rain.
She places the phone and papers beside Dana, then draws the boning knife. In the cramped darkness, she removes the facial tissue until muscle and exposed bone remain, erasing recognition.
The work costs time and leaves blood diluted across the wet concrete. Orchid’s injured wrist pulses sharply, but her movements stay controlled and methodical.
She gathers every paper and presses them into a rain puddle. Ink clouds the water; she tears the softened sheets into smaller pieces and scatters them through the runoff.
The phone, already cracked from its fall, receives the knife through its screen. Orchid jerks the blade free, leaving the device dark and split beneath the rain.
She stuffs Dana’s body into the nearest dumpster and lowers the lid. The impact makes the metal groan loudly enough to carry toward the street.
Orchid wipes the boning knife against the inside of her clothing, returns it to her pocket, and walks out of the alley at an even pace while rain erases the remaining tracks.
✓ Quest Accepted
Evade discovery of Dana Holt’s death
“As seamless as the rain itself, I slide back onto the sidewalk, blending in with passerbyers as I do so. I walk at first with my head low, then pull my hoodie over my head. I keep walking. Deliberate and unseen among everyone in plain sight. While the rain falls and soaks my hoodie, obscuring my eyes, the smallest, satisfied smile creeps onto my visible lips.”
SUCCESS (Superb Stealth, rolled +0)
Orchid steps from the alley onto the rain-dark sidewalk, merging with the scattered pedestrians without breaking pace. No one turns toward her.
Her head stays lowered at first, wet black hair veiling her face beneath the white hoodie. Footsteps, tires, and rainfall fold her movement into the city’s ordinary noise.
Keskiyön Orkidea
The street has absorbed me.
She pulls the hood over her head and continues toward the next intersection, rain soaking the fabric until it clings around her shoulders and obscures her eyes.
A bus exhales at the curb. People cluster beneath umbrellas, crossing around her in shifting patterns that conceal her silhouette and carry attention elsewhere.
Only her lips remain clearly visible beneath the hood. The smallest satisfied smile appears there, then disappears as she passes beneath the bus shelter’s dim awning.
Quest Complete
Evade discovery of Dana Holt’s death