The community center meeting room is already packed when Buster and Mara step in. Folding chairs scrape. Faces turn. At the front, the Veteran Hero stands beside a whiteboard full of complaints and names.
His gaze lands on Buster, steady and unreadable. He raises one hand for quiet, then gestures toward the flyer pinned beside the board, Buster’s photo staring back from under harsh fluorescent light.
The Veteran Hero
You’re here. Good. We need to settle this before it gets uglier.
A woman in the front row folds her arms. Another neighbor leans forward, angling to see past Mara. The room is not hostile yet, but it is ready to become so.
The Veteran Hero
That flyer was deliberate. Someone here wants answers about the man living in Apartment 4B, and I’m not letting this turn into a panic.
He looks from Buster to the committee, then taps the whiteboard. The message is clear. Their quiet apartment is already public business, and this meeting is where the neighborhood decides whether they get to stay hidden.
✓ Quest Accepted
Expose who is behind the neighborhood surveillance
✓ Quest Accepted
Get out of the community center meeting room
“I step toward the Veteran Hero and demand he explain who authorized this meeting.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled +0)
Buster steps in close enough to make the front row go quiet. The Veteran Hero lowers the marker, and his stare shifts from the board to the crowd, then back to Buster.
Buster Jones
Who authorized this meeting?
The Veteran Hero
I did, after the flyer started moving through the neighborhood. Somebody needed to stop the rumors before they turned into a hunt.
A Neighbor Woman glances at the pinned photo, then at Mara, like she is checking whether the answer fits. The room stays tense, but the shape of it changes, this was organized, not accidental.
The Veteran Hero
We have residents who noticed patterns, repeated questions, and cameras where there should not be any. This meeting is about finding out who is watching the building.
Mara
Then say that plainly, before they decide Buster is the problem.
The Veteran Hero gives a single, grim nod toward the whiteboard of complaints. Several names are circled together, linked by arrows to the flyer and a note about the apartment. The room now reads like a coordinated inquiry, not a neighborhood gripe session.
The Veteran Hero
If you’re here to keep him hidden, fine. But if you’re behind the surveillance, this is the room where it comes out.
“I press Mara to spot the real watcher”
SUCCESS (Great Perception, rolled +1)
Buster Jones
Then show us the watcher. Mara, you know the pattern, point out who keeps circling this place.
Mara scans the linked names on the whiteboard, her eyes catching on the same three residents twice. Her hand lifts, then stops on one line near the flyer and the apartment note.
Mara
That one. She asked about your schedule before anyone mentioned the flyer.
A Neighbor Woman goes still in the front row, her folded arms tightening. The room’s attention shifts hard toward her seat, and the coordinating arrows on the board suddenly make ugly sense.
The Veteran Hero
Mrs. Bell? You were checking in on the building every night this week.
Mrs. Bell looks from face to face, cornered by the silence. On the board, the notes about cameras, questions, and the apartment now read as one clear watch pattern.
A Neighbor Man
So it was a watcher, not gossip.
Buster stays in the aisle while the front row starts to murmur around the exposed name. The meeting room has turned on its axis, from suspicion to confirmation.
Quest Complete
Expose who is behind the neighborhood surveillance
New Gift: Digital Privacy Expert