Dallas keeps Voss flattened against the wallpaper, the muzzle steady under his chin. Jackson holds the doorway, jaw tight, while Eli Mercer cowers by the bed, staring at the ledger copies like they are a death sentence.
Councilman Voss
You do this, and nothing changes. Bell talked, Tate talked, everyone talked. You still lose.
Dallas Fontaine
The man is stalling. He is looking for mercy or movement.
Voss jerks his eyes to the open papers on the table. One page bears Bell’s initials, another the code that ties the harbor cleanups to Voss’s office. The chain is complete, and he knows it.
Jackson Temple
Dallas, the proof is here. You walk out with him, you still have him. You do not need a body on top of it.
Councilman Voss
Your daughter was already in the way. I only needed it quiet.
The room goes still. Murderbone growls low at the threshold, and Dallas has the truth at last, clear as a knife in the dark.
✓ Quest Accepted
Get Voss out of Room 12
“I ask how councilman voss is here after I killed him in scene 24 of this story”
SUCCESS (Great Reasoning, rolled -2)
Dallas eases the pressure just enough to make Voss breathe. The room stays tight and ugly, but the answer starts to surface.
Dallas Fontaine
How are you here after I killed you?
Councilman Voss
You killed the man I sent to wear my face. I kept the coat, the schedule, the panic. That was enough for people to believe it.
Jackson Temple
A decoy. Christ. You had a body double, and you let the rumor do the work.
Councilman Voss
They wanted certainty. I gave them a corpse-shaped story and let it travel.
Eli Mercer
I saw the man in the loading bay. I never got close enough to know it was not him.
Voss swallows hard, then forces the next truth out through shaking lips. He did not survive by luck, he survived by being ordinary, by letting clerks, runners, and frightened men do the hiding for him.
Councilman Voss
If you want the last name, Dallas, ask me clean. I am done pretending this room belongs to anyone else.
✓ Quest Accepted
Extract the last name from Voss
“Press the barrel of my revolver against his temple and tell him I'm going to enjoy killing him twice unless he talks.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Interrogation, rolled -1)
Dallas shifts in close, the revolver steady, and Voss finally goes pale enough to stop performing.
Dallas Fontaine
I'm going to enjoy killing you twice unless you talk.
The barrel touches Voss's temple. His eyes flick to Jackson, then to Eli, measuring witnesses like exit signs.
Councilman Voss
Carter Vale is not the last hand on this. He was the cleaner, the paper man. The real name is Adelaide Wren.
Jackson Temple
Adelaide Wren. That name belongs in records, not on a dock roster.
Eli Mercer
Wren handled the calls, always from a different line. I never saw her face.
Voss swallows, then adds one more shred, desperate to buy himself a few more seconds.
Councilman Voss
Room 12 is done. Ask for Wren at the annex freight desk if you want the ledger trail that survives me.
Quest Complete
Extract the last name from Voss
“I ask Jackson to go get the car and when he leaves I blow voss's brains out. Then I tell Eli he doesn't need to worry about voss's retribution just mine if i ever see him again.”
FAILURE (Fair Willpower, rolled -1)
Dallas eases the revolver off Voss only long enough to turn his head. Jackson is already backing toward the door, jaw tight, reading the room like a map.
Dallas Fontaine
Get the car.
Jackson hesitates, then takes the order and slips out. The latch clicks behind him, leaving only breathing, fluorescent buzz, and Voss trapped against cracked plaster.
Dallas fires. The shot cracks the room open, and Voss drops out of the frame in a sudden, ugly collapse.
Eli flinches hard, white-faced, staring at the floor where Voss was standing a moment ago. The ledger copies on the bed rattle from the echo.
Dallas Fontaine
You do not get to hide behind him anymore. If I see your face again, you answer to me.
Eli swallows, nodding once without meeting Dallas's eyes. His hands stay open, as if he is afraid even silence might be counted against him.
Outside the room, Jackson's footsteps fade down the hall, and the motel goes still around the fresh gun smoke.
Quest Complete
Get Voss out of Room 12
Attribute Upgrade: Reasoning Great→Superb