Rain hammers the concrete overhang, blending with traffic until the gunshot becomes another city noise. Behind them, the dead security drone and wrecked stall remain abandoned in the neon wash.
Darius crouches beside Match and opens a compact medical kit. He presses a cooling patch over the strained forearm, sealing it beneath a mesh of diagnostic lights.
Darius Vale
Hold still. It will take the edge off, though it won't make the arm invincible.
The patch pulses once, reading the injury through Match's skin. Darius keeps watching the stairwell instead of his patient, pistol holstered but close.
Darius Vale
I wasn't disposable staff. I handled retrievals, quiet negotiations, problems that needed to disappear without a report.
Darius Vale
The rival was carrying a data shard meant for a board-level buyer. I tracked the handoff, but I won't tell you who hired me yet.
He folds the kit shut and finally meets Match's eyes. His account has enough detail to sound practiced, and enough missing pieces to leave the silence armed.
✓ Quest Accepted
Learn who hired Darius
“You don't have to tell me that yet, but what you do need to tell me is why you were pointing a gun at me earlier. And seeing as I don't have any vested interest in your corpo warfare, tell me why I shouldn't just leave you to your fate.”
SUCCESS (Fair Persuasion, rolled +0)
Match
You don't have to tell me who hired you yet. Tell me why you pointed that gun at me, and why I shouldn't leave you to your fate.
Darius studies Match beneath the concrete overhang. The rainlight cuts across his face as he weighs the question, then slowly removes his hand from his holster.
Darius Vale
Because I thought you were part of the ambush. You came out under the drone's beam, armed and moving toward me. I had seconds, and I guessed wrong.
Darius Vale
You shouldn't leave because the dead drone logged both our faces and weapons before you dropped it. The response team will treat you as my accomplice, whether you are one or not.
He takes a slim credstick from inside his coat but keeps it between two fingers, not offering it yet. His practiced certainty has cracked into a direct appeal.
Darius Vale
Stay with me until I reach a safe contact. I can pay, and I can clear your face from the handoff record. But I need you to trust me after I aimed at you.
Darius Vale
That is the cost of this answer: you become involved by choice, and I owe you a favor I cannot quietly erase.
The credstick remains extended. Darius has answered both questions plainly, but the offer binds his escape to Match's decision and leaves no room for pretending this was accidental.
✓ Quest Accepted
Get Darius to a safe contact
− Scene Quest Removed
Learn who hired Darius
“"Alright, that'll have to do, for now," I say, accepting the credstick. "Who's your contact?"”
FAILURE (Fair Persuasion, rolled -2)
Match
Alright, that'll have to do, for now. Who's your contact?
Match takes the credstick. Darius releases it without resistance, but his fingers linger a fraction too long, as if confirming the exchange is real.
Darius Vale
No. Not here, and not because you asked cleanly. Names travel farther than bullets in this city.
The credstick wakes against Match's palm, displaying a single encrypted transit token and a countdown with no destination. Darius watches the display, jaw tight.
Darius Vale
That token gets us to the handoff point. If you want the contact's name, you hear it from them after we arrive. Otherwise, keep the stick and walk.
The countdown advances silently. Darius steps back from the overhang's edge, leaving the choice visible between his guarded silence and the unmarked route encoded in Match's hand.
+ New Item Acquired
Encrypted Credstick
“"Alright, that'll have to do, for now," I say, accepting the credstick. "Who's your contact?"”
SUCCESS (Fair Persuasion, rolled +0)
The credstick flashes, accepting Match's question as an authentication challenge. Darius watches the result, and the guarded set of his shoulders tightens when the transit token begins broadcasting a narrow encrypted ping.
Darius Vale
Mara Quill. Independent broker, former corporate compliance analyst, and the only person I trust to move this shard without selling us both.
A reply cuts through the credstick's speaker, compressed beneath layers of static. The voice belongs to a woman somewhere beyond the overhang, speaking from a secure channel rather than the rain.
Mara Quill
Darius, you used the emergency token. That means you brought someone into the bargain. Put them on the channel.
Darius Vale
His name is Match. He pulled me out of a live containment response and now holds the transit token. I told him you were the contact.
Mara Quill
Then I know his name, and I know your debt has grown. Bring Match to the southbound platform. If he is harmed because you involved him, Darius, the favor is void and your protection ends.
The channel closes, leaving Mara's terms stamped into the credstick's record. Darius looks to Match with no argument left, only a newly witnessed obligation between them.
“I escort Darius to the southbound platform”
SUCCESS (Good Agility, rolled +1)
Match leads Darius through the rain-slick service lanes, keeping him on the sheltered side of passing traffic. The route is quick, controlled, and free of pursuit.
Darius Vale
You move like someone who has escorted people out of bad places before. I will take that as another debt.
They reach the southbound platform beneath a band of flickering transit lights. Darius steps through the access gate, and the credstick's encrypted ping narrows toward the waiting tracks.
Mara Quill
You made it. Darius, keep the token active. Match, stay beside him until the train doors close.
Mara's voice arrives through the credstick, clipped and distant. The southbound train glides into the station, braking under a wash of white light.
Darius Vale
After this ride, you can walk away with the payment. Or stay long enough to hear what the shard is worth.
The doors part. Darius boards without hesitation, then turns back as the platform lights strobe across his wet coat. The escape is secured, and the choice remains yours.
Quest Complete
Get Darius to a safe contact
Skill Upgrade: Persuasion Fair→Good