Mara’s phone vibrates against the workbench, its screen showing an unlisted number. The laptop fan continues whining while Alex remains beside the copied spreadsheets and their preserved metadata.
Mara Velez
Stay here. I need to take this privately.
She steps just beyond the partition, keeping the leather case within sight but lowering her voice. The therapist, child, and famous client remain concealed nearby, silent and out of view.
Mara Velez
Hello. You have one minute. Who is this?
A faint voice answers through the phone, too muffled for Alex to identify. Mara’s posture tightens, and her eyes shift toward the workbench without crossing back to it.
Unlisted Caller
The examination has already been noticed. Do not open the financial ledgers.
Mara says nothing for several seconds. Behind the partition, the hidden group remains protected and waiting, while the copied spreadsheets sit open beside the still-running forensic tools.
✓ Quest Accepted
Erase all evidence that you were noticed
“As Mara walks away, you shoot a glance over to the famous client, looking at you through a crack in the partition. You offer a quick nod, and turn back to the laptop, smiling as you begin bombing all trace of your activity not just from this end, but to whoever was potentially tracing you. You hand clicks open programs with the mouse as you rapidly type one handed on the keys.”
SUCCESS (Superb Computers, rolled +1)
As Mara moves beyond the partition, Alex catches the famous client’s eye through a narrow crack. He gives a quick nod, then turns back to the whining laptop.
One hand works the keyboard while the other clicks through open programs. Logs, temporary files, shell history, recovery artifacts, and the forensic session’s local traces vanish in a controlled sequence.
Alex closes the outbound management channels, removes the laptop’s examination markers, and scrubs the connection indicators that could identify either this workbench or the PHLAK drive.
The activity monitor settles. The machine still holds its encrypted ledgers and copied metadata, but nothing remains to show who opened them, where, or when.
Mara Velez
You moved quickly. Tell me you did not leave a trail for the caller.
Mara returns from the partition, phone lowered but still in hand. Her gaze checks the laptop, then the hidden passage, while the famous client watches silently.
Mara Velez
Good. The examination is clean, the ledgers are preserved, and whoever was watching this machine has lost the thread.
Quest Complete
Erase all evidence that you were noticed