The Bulwark officers remain behind with Duncan’s secured block, archive, and manual controls. Gremlin returns alone through the maintenance tunnels, carrying the isolated custody console and failing portable rig.
In the lair’s fabrication bay, diagnostic light catches both burned precision contacts and the empty replacement-film slot. The custody console still holds every preserved command.
Gremlin
The rig is functional, but its precision repair capacity is gone.
Alexei joins through a hardened secure line while her investigation continues at Bulwark. Her voice carries clipped reports of intact records, sealed corridors, and detained personnel.
Alexei
The breakout was a diversion, not Duncan’s whole operation. I found this preserved inside the false-release junction.
A custody sleeve appears beside the fabrication tools, containing a torn polymer seal marked with a restitution routing code. Its metadata points beyond Duncan’s access attempt to a private compliance office positioned near protected worker contracts.
Alexei
Someone there had advance knowledge of the worker protections. I can keep tracing it, but I need your technical read before I name the next lawful step.
✓ Quest Accepted
Restore the portable rig’s precision repair capacity
✓ Quest Accepted
Identify the private compliance office responsible for advance knowledge of protected worker contracts
+ New Item Acquired
Isolated custody console
“I fully repair and recharge all my gear”
SUCCESS (Legendary Technology, rolled -2)
Gremlin clears the fabrication bay and lays out every gadget, cloak module, cybernetic interface, portable tool, and the isolated custody console beneath the work lights.
He replaces the burned precision contacts, rebuilds the depleted repair circuit, reseats the modular film assembly, and restores each damaged connection with patient, exacting craft.
Gremlin
Every system is drawing a stable charge.
Power flows through the rig, cloak, goggles, gauntlet, and utility belt. Diagnostic displays turn green as batteries recharge and the custody console verifies its preserved records.
The repair consumes the lair’s last precision-contact stock, two replacement capacitors, and a full reserve of conductive film. The gear is restored, but those materials are gone.
Alexei
Your systems are back online. My console confirms the custody records remain intact, and the repaired rig is ready for field use.
The fabrication bay settles into its ordinary hum. Every tool and weapon is charged, every damaged system functions again, and the isolated custody console remains secured beside them.
Quest Complete
Restore the portable rig’s precision repair capacity
Gremlin leaves Gremlin's Lair — Fabrication Bay behind and arrives at Docks' black market.
“I go shopping for materials at the Docks' black market”
SUCCESS (Superb Agility, rolled -2)
The Docks’ black market crowds a maze of cargo containers beneath sodium lamps. Salt wind mixes with engine fumes, while traders display salvaged circuitry, medical parts, and unregistered industrial stock.
A broad-shouldered middle-aged woman steps from a converted shipping container, her copper hair braided beneath a black cap and her weatherproof coat covered in brass tool tags.
The Dockside Broker
You’re the one who makes corrupt systems regret keeping records. I have precision contacts, conductive film, and capacitors with clean acquisition trails.
She slides three sealed cases across a folding workbench. Each label carries batch numbers, supplier certificates, and a provenance ledger that survives ordinary scrutiny.
The Dockside Broker
The contacts came from a decommissioned municipal inspection rig. The film was surplus from a transit safety program. Nothing here belongs to Duncan’s people.
Gremlin secures the cases and verifies their contents against the broker’s documentation. Precision contacts, two replacement capacitors, and a full reserve of conductive film are all intact.
The Dockside Broker
There’s your repair stock. And this routing slip came with the shipment. The same private compliance office has been buying worker-contract hardware by the crate.
+ New Item Acquired
Precision contacts
+ New Item Acquired
Replacement capacitors
+ New Item Acquired
Conductive film
“I offer to put the broker in contact with Sanguine to improve their networking in exchange for access to exclusive deals”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled -3)
Gremlin
I can put you in contact with Sanguine. In exchange, I want access to your exclusive deals before they reach anyone serving Duncan’s network.
The dockside broker studies Gremlin over the sealed cases, then taps the routing slip against her brass-tagged coat. Around them, dock traders keep their voices low beneath the sodium lamps.
The Dockside Broker
Sanguine opens doors I cannot even knock on. Fine. You get first look at clean specialist stock, but I choose what leaves my warehouse.
She activates a battered secure handset and sends Sanguine a guarded introduction through Gremlin’s channel. The contact completes, but the dockside broker records Gremlin as her guarantor.
Sanguine
Darling, your name arrives wrapped in a business proposition. I’ll hear her out, but now you owe me the favor of making this connection worth remembering.
The Dockside Broker
There. Exclusive access begins tonight. But if your vampire friend dislikes my terms, your reputation pays for the wasted meeting, not mine.
The dockside broker unlocks a private catalogue on the handset, revealing inspection-grade components and restricted repair stock. The access is real, but Gremlin’s standing now backs every future negotiation.
“I negotiate verified stock terms with the broker”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled -2)
Gremlin negotiates from the routing slip outward, tying every component to supplier certificates, custody records, worker protections, and an immediate rejection clause for Duncan-linked buyers.
The dockside broker checks each condition against her catalogue. Her confidence hardens into careful attention as Gremlin turns lawful provenance into a shield for her warehouse and his future repairs.
The Dockside Broker
Fine. You get first review of every specialist shipment, full provenance ledgers, and twenty-four hours to reject anything that touches Duncan’s network.
She adds a verified stock agreement to the handset, binding the catalogue, supplier certificates, rejection window, and worker-protection terms under her warehouse seal.
The Dockside Broker
But your guarantee becomes part of the contract. If your contact wastes my time or poisons a deal, I suspend your access before I question my own records.
The agreement succeeds, and the private catalogue expands to show incoming inspection rigs, conductive materials, and repair stock reserved for Gremlin’s review. His reputation now carries a concrete commercial liability.
Sanguine
Darling, that is an impressively sharp bargain. I’ll make the introduction useful, but do remind your new associate that my favors are never decorative.
“I ask if the broker has any interesting technology in stock”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled -2)
Gremlin
Do you have any interesting technology in stock, beyond the repair components? I’m looking for something useful, unusual, and cleanly sourced.
The dockside broker’s eyes brighten. She folds the catalogue shut, checks the surrounding traders, and unlocks a second inventory behind a provenance warning.
The Dockside Broker
Interesting? I have a municipal lidar veil, a compact evidence-grade drone swarm, and one prototype civic signal mirror. All acquired legally, all too sensitive for casual buyers.
She projects the three items above the workbench. The lidar veil bends inspection scans, the drones preserve synchronized recordings, and the signal mirror duplicates authenticated alerts across separated networks.
The Dockside Broker
You get first review and access to all three. But your guarantee is attached to the catalogue now. If one is misused, your name answers before mine.
The broker adds Gremlin’s guarantor status to the stock agreement, converting his successful inquiry into concrete access while placing his reputation behind every future deployment.
Sanguine
Darling, do inspect the signal mirror carefully. A device that makes truth travel deserves a suitably dramatic first appearance.
“I ask for more info on the drones”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled +1)
Gremlin
Tell me more about the drone swarm. What can it record, how does it coordinate, and what keeps its evidence clean?
The dockside broker reopens the projection and expands the drone schematic. Tiny rotors, optical pods, encrypted storage, and redundant positioning beacons resolve above the workbench.
The Dockside Broker
Twenty-four palm-sized units, silent at inspection range, with overlapping cameras, thermal sensors, directional microphones, and independent timestamping. They coordinate locally, so jamming one does not blind the others.
The Dockside Broker
Each drone signs its recording at capture, then cross-checks the signature against the swarm. Alter one file and the remaining units expose the mismatch. No cloud account, no mystery server.
She rotates the provenance ledger beside the schematic. Decommissioned emergency-inspection stock, legally auctioned, with every serial number, firmware hash, and storage module documented.
The Dockside Broker
They can map a scene, preserve a conversation, or follow a moving subject without entering restricted airspace. You receive the swarm, its maintenance kit, and the complete custody documentation.
Sanguine
Darling, that is precisely the sort of witness that makes powerful people regret performing in public.
✓ Quest Accepted
Obtain the evidence-grade drone swarm
“I offer to help inspect or fix up any current merchandise in exchange for the drones”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled -1)
Gremlin
I’ll inspect or repair any current merchandise you choose, with documented results and clean custody, in exchange for the drone swarm.
The dockside broker studies Gremlin’s restored rig, then the provenance ledger. Around them, sodium light glints from sealed cases and brass tool tags.
The Dockside Broker
Accepted. Pick the item that needs the sharpest eyes. If you improve it, the swarm is yours with its maintenance kit and records.
She unlocks a current shipment case and reveals the compact civic signal mirror, its polished housing marked by intermittent diagnostic faults and intact supplier seals.
Gremlin
The fault is in the mirror’s timing circuit, not its authentication chain.
Gremlin opens the service panel, tests the timing circuit, and replaces its unstable capacitor without disturbing the mirror’s seals, firmware, or evidence safeguards.
The Dockside Broker
Clean repair, verified provenance, and no tampering with the record. The twenty-four drones are yours. Sanguine, mark the handoff witnessed.
Quest Complete
Obtain the evidence-grade drone swarm
+ New Item Acquired
Evidence-grade drone swarm
+ New Item Acquired
Drone maintenance kit
“I ask Sanguine if he needs me to grab anything for him while I'm here”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled +1)
Gremlin
Sanguine, do you need me to grab anything for you while I’m here?
The secure handset carries Gremlin’s question across the dockside noise. The broker pauses beside the sealed drone case, giving the channel her full attention.
Sanguine
Darling, since you offer, ask our charming broker about compact stage transmitters. Cleanly sourced, difficult to counterfeit, and subtle enough for company managers who dislike spectacles.
The Dockside Broker
I have six encrypted cue transmitters from a legally retired theater network. Short range, tamper-evident, and compatible with ordinary venue systems.
She opens a second inventory pane and adds the transmitters to Sanguine’s guarded catalogue, linking serial numbers, firmware hashes, and supplier records to the witnessed handoff.
Sanguine
Perfect. Secure those for me, and I’ll put them to work protecting performers before anyone can purchase their silence.
✓ Quest Accepted
Bring the compact stage transmitters to Sanguine
“I arrange the witnessed handoff and carry the transmitters to Sanguine.”
SUCCESS (Superb Agility, rolled -3)
Gremlin seals the six encrypted cue transmitters inside their documented case, records the witnessed handoff with the broker and Sanguine’s channel, then carries them through the crowded dock.
A swinging cargo hook forces a sharp sidestep. The case stays secure, but Gremlin’s shoulder strikes a container corner, leaving a spreading bruise beneath his lab coat.
He reaches Sanguine’s waiting company vehicle at the edge of the docks and presents the sealed case without breaking its custody record.
Sanguine
Darling, delivered personally and still perfectly documented. You do make responsible errands look gloriously clandestine.
Sanguine accepts the transmitters under the broker’s witnessed catalogue entry. Their serial numbers and firmware hashes match, and the handoff closes cleanly.
Sanguine
These will protect my performers from purchased silence. Consider the favor properly received, and possibly remembered with unusual generosity.
✓ Quest Accepted
Bring the routing slip to Alexei
Quest Complete
Bring the compact stage transmitters to Sanguine
“I seductively suggest he can pay me back by 'keeping me warm' for the night”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled +2)
Gremlin
You can pay me back by keeping me warm tonight.
Sanguine’s smile turns theatrical, but his eyes soften. He takes the sealed case from Gremlin and steps close enough to make the invitation unmistakable.
Sanguine
Darling, with an offer like that, I would be a criminal to settle for merely remembering the favor.
He signals his driver to wait, then opens the company vehicle’s rear door. The dock’s cold wind fades behind its privacy glass and muted cabin heat.
Sanguine
Come along, then. I will keep you warm, and tomorrow I will still have the transmitters to protect my performers.
Sanguine secures the documented case beside him and offers Gremlin the sheltered seat. The handoff remains recorded, while the night’s private arrangement moves off-camera.
“I contact Alexei about the compliance office lead”
SUCCESS (Legendary Technology, rolled -1)
Gremlin steps back into the company vehicle’s muted warmth and opens a hardened channel to Alexei, routing the dockside broker’s compliance-office lead through verified custody records.
The secure handset authenticates his identity, preserves the routing slip, and transmits the supplier certificates, worker-protection terms, and the broker’s testimony without exposing Sanguine’s performers.
Alexei
I have it. The compliance office is Meridian Standards Group, operating from a leased suite beside the Renewal transit depot.
Alexei
Its registered work concerns contract audits, but the purchasing pattern links it to protected worker hardware and the same influence codes we found in the restitution network.
Alexei sends a verified corporate filing, procurement ledger, and warrant-ready access trail to Gremlin’s console. Each record carries an independent hash and lawful acquisition note.
Alexei
I will seek judicial authority to inspect the office. Until then, preserve the broker’s records and do not alert Meridian. We have a clean lead now.
Secure a warrant to inspect Meridian Standards Group
Quest Complete
Identify the private compliance office responsible for advance knowledge of protected worker contracts
Attribute Upgrade: Agility Superb→Legendary
Quest Complete
Bring the routing slip to Alexei
New Gift: Indelible Public Record