Below the rubber mats, the concealed room is cramped and warm, its stale air threaded with the muffled hum of the cafe above. Alex remains outside the hidden entrance, while the therapist, child, and famous client stay below.
Dr. Helen Ward
The child listens from behind those boxes. Keep your voice low. The name on the alert came from a record only one specific institution should possess.
The therapist rests one hand against the stacked boxes without opening the gap. The child stays silent behind them, while the famous client guards the concealed entrance and watches the seam of light.
Adrian Cole
No one followed us downstairs. For the moment, the cafe is the only warning system we have.
Dr. Helen Ward
I copied the file before the record disappeared. Can you inspect it without connecting anything to the child?
She extends a small flash drive toward the entrance, stopping short of the open space. Above, another phone chirps, and footsteps pause near the service area.
✓ Quest Accepted
Inspect the copied file
“"I'll do it while I clock in to work. Need to keep appearances. You all lay low. You hear that buzzer? You get in the safe spot. This might take a few." You look to the famous client. "I'm sticking my neck out FAR for you three. This better be worth my risk."”
SUCCESS (Great Computers, rolled +0)
Alex Mishyma
I’ll do it while I clock in. Keep up appearances. You all lay low. If you hear that buzzer, get to the safe spot. This might take a few.
Alex Mishyma
I’m sticking my neck out far for you three. This better be worth my risk.
Alex takes the flash drive, seals the hidden entrance, and returns behind the counter. He clocks in beneath the cafe’s camera coverage, then wakes a back-office workstation.
Keeping his posture ordinary, Alex opens the copied file offline. The record reveals a child-protection intake number, a falsified destination, and a deletion timestamp from this morning.
Alex Mishyma
The institution named in the file is real, but the destination was changed after the record was created.
Dr. Helen Ward
Understood. We stay hidden, and we move when the buzzer sounds.
Adrian Cole
It is worth it. That file can prove who redirected the alert, and I will make sure your risk is not forgotten.
Quest Complete
Inspect the copied file
+ New Item Acquired
Flash Drive