The intake hall hums under sterile white panels. Melissa is marched into the scanner lane, her GPO hat lifted away, and the camera rig whirs to life.
Sion stands off to the side with Peter Kahn, while Nara Vell waits under guard near the wall. The evidence case rests open on a steel tray, its seals bright under the lights.
The Processing Officer
Hat logged. Identity strip next.
A flat beam sweeps over Melissa’s face, and the terminal flashes her file header across the screen. Her rank markers are gone now, replaced by intake tags and custody codes.
Peter Kahn
Keep it moving. Every second this waits, someone gets time to tamper with it.
Nara Vell
If they finish the chain now, Hartwell loses every route back into the logs.
The camera snaps once, then again, freezing Melissa in the cold frame as the upload bar creeps toward complete. A fresh verification prompt blinks on the terminal, waiting for authorization.
Director's notewhole tale
Peter Kahn refuses to allow this.
“Sion approaches Peter Kahn as they are taking Nara’s mugshot next. Sion says, “Commander Kahn, may I speak privately with High Commander Hartwell, before she is processed?””
SUCCESS (Good Willpower, rolled +0)
Sion steps in beside Kahn’s line of sight, close enough to keep his voice low. The scanner lane keeps running in the background, but the request lands cleanly in the space between a photo click and the terminal’s beep.
Sion
Commander Kahn, may I speak privately with High Commander Hartwell before she is processed?
Peter Kahn
No. Not with the intake in motion, and not with evidence still live on my floor.
Kahn turns a fraction toward Sion, stern but measured, then glances back to the lane as the Processing Officer finishes the next capture step.
Peter Kahn
You want her words, you get them through protocol. You want the record clean, you keep the room clean.
The Processing Officer
Mugshot is logged. Custody chain remains intact.
Melissa Hartwell
Of course he won’t let you. He knows exactly what I can tell you off record.
Hartwell’s cuffed hands stay hidden behind her back as she angles her chin toward Sion, half smug and half cornered. Kahn does not rise to it, only holds the line and waits for the next official step.
“Sion watches as The Processing agent pulls a black bag down over Melissa’s head while she’s handcuffed behind her back. Another guard helps the agent escort her away.”
SUCCESS (Good Perception, rolled -2)
The processor takes the cue and moves in. A black hood drops over Hartwell’s head, and the fabric snaps tight as the last of her rank is stripped away. Sion sees the whole transfer happen before Kahn can wordlessly block the view.
Hartwell jerks once against the cuffs, then goes still. The helper guard closes in at her shoulder, taking her elbow, while the Processing Officer checks the tag feed and stamps the lane output.
The escort starts forward with deliberate pace. Hartwell’s hood brushes the frame of the lane, and the black bag muffles whatever she mutters into the cloth.
Kahn does not intervene. He watches the handoff, jaw set, as the custody strip flashes green on the terminal.
Melissa Hartwell
This is the part where your people pretend procedure is justice.
The guard tightens their grip and guides her through the exit seam. Sion’s catch lands too, sharp and cold, as the hooded line clears the hall: a sliver of fresh dye on Hartwell’s cuff tag, marking the bagged transfer for the log.
Director's note
End Chapter here
“Sion finishes his paperwork and provides a statement to Commander Peter Kahn, then leaves.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Reasoning, rolled +1)
The exit seam seals behind Hartwell. The hall settles into procedural quiet as Sion completes the remaining intake fields at the terminal.
His statement records the arrest, the confession, the evidence transfer, and the custody handoff in clear sequence. The system accepts each entry without flagging a discrepancy.
The Processing Officer
Statement attached to the evidence chain. Intake is complete.
The evidence case receives a sealed storage identifier. Its custody strip remains green, and the archive system copies the completed record to secured command storage.
Peter Kahn
I have your statement, Officer Sion. Hartwell proceeds under formal detention. No private interview, no departure from protocol.
With the paperwork filed and the transfer officially logged, Sion leaves the main processing hall. Behind him, the terminal locks the completed record against alteration.
+ New Item Acquired
Statement slate
“Sion leaves the GPO HQ building later and takes his red hover car for a ride in the city.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Agility, rolled +2)