The monitor glows solid red, ninety nine percent. The archive door is sealed, and the boots outside stop just long enough to listen.
Clara
They are not coming to help us. They are coming to make this look tidy.
Dallas has the routing log in hand, the paper warm from the hidden mechanism. The cabinets hum like they are working against him.
Dallas Fontaine
The purge is ahead of them, but the paper is still real.
Clara
If they lock the hall and wipe the office, that log becomes the only thing standing between you and their version of events.
A hard click rolls through the vent, then the override noise starts again. Clara moves to the door, Dallas to the cabinets, both reading the room the same way.
Clara
Take the log. I will buy you a opening.
The hallway latch shudders. Whatever is outside is almost through.
✓ Quest Accepted
Bypass the archive lockdown
“Stuff the routing log into my jacket and shove the cabinet shut to jam the mechanism.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Agility, rolled -1)
Dallas slides the routing log inside his jacket, the paper disappearing against his ribs. He drives his shoulder into the cabinet wall and shoves it hard enough to bite the exposed mechanism. The cabinet face jars crooked, choking the feed.
The red monitor flickers once. Its counter stutters, then drops from ninety nine to blank.
Clara
That did it. The purge lost its grip.
A metallic clack answers from the vent seam, like a latch giving way inside the wall. The office lights steady, but the sealed door still holds.
Dallas Fontaine
The paper is secure. The machine is not.
Murderbone lifts his head toward the hallway door and growls low, alert to the pressure outside.
Clara steps back from the door, one hand half raised, listening for the next move from the corridor.
Quest Complete
Bypass the archive lockdown