Buster's hand throbs again, hot in perfect time with the tower's relay hum. The old scrape never stopped being a problem, it just stayed quiet long enough to lie.
He turns his palm under the tower light. The swollen skin parts with a wet crack, and a thin metallic filament glows from deep inside the wound.
Mara
No. That is not just infection.
The filament pulses once, and a faint signal chirps from somewhere in the tower structure. It has been talking the whole time, right from inside him.
Mara stumbles back off the ladder landing, one hand over her mouth, eyes fixed on the beacon in horror. Her face drains as the meaning hits her.
Buster stands under the buzzing relay, beacon exposed, while the tower answers him like a heartbeat. Someone did not wound him by accident. They planted a way back.
✓ Quest Accepted
Extract the tracker from Buster
“I grit my teeth and dig my fingers into the wound to pull the filament out.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Health, rolled +0)
Buster clamps his jaw, hooks two fingers into the split skin, and digs. The filament catches, then gives with a hard, hot tug.
A thin strip of metal slides free in his grip, slick with blood and still faintly lit from within.
The relay overhead hiccups, its hum stuttering as the glow in Buster’s hand dies to a dull ember.
Mara
You got it out... right?
Mara edges closer, staring at the dead filament like it might start crawling again. Her horror hardens into focus, fast and practical.
Buster Jones
If it was pulsing, it was still sending.
The tower answers with one sharper ping from somewhere deeper in the structure, and Mara snaps her head toward the sound.
Mara
Buster, that may have already told them where we are.
Quest Complete
Extract the tracker from Buster
+ New Item Acquired
Metal filament