Witchbane reaches the amber lever. Every rooftop display abruptly goes black, then fills with Sho’s live face, red hair tousled and angular grin sharpened by interference.
Sho
You are protecting the wrong target. The boy is a decoy. The authorization trail leads to a program built to measure Dean’s blood manipulation.
The transmission pulses through the array. Crimson lines snap across the concrete, reopening a narrow targeting lock around Dean and the boy. The dish bucks violently.
Witchbane
Chronical, hold the frame. Dean, keep the boy covered. I am not touching that lever until this lock stabilizes.
Chronical
I have the struts, but the field is changing around him. Sho is either warning us or steering the system.
Below, Akihiko’s red lines flare through the junction box access, working from the lower level while the emergency channel overlays technical readouts across every screen.
Sho
Ask Aki who supplied the test parameters. Ask why the array recognized Dean before it recognized the boy.
✓ Quest Accepted
Redirect the lock toward its hidden authorization source
✓ Quest Accepted
Learn why the array recognized Dean
“"SHO WHY'RE YOU HERE"”
SUCCESS (Good Willpower, rolled -1)
Dean MacDonald
Sho, why’re you here?
Dean’s voice cuts through the broadcast and the array’s grinding roar. The crimson lock tightens, driving a sharp heat through his palms as the dish bucks against him.
Sho
Because Aki’s employers turned you into the final measurement. I came to expose the test before they collect the data they need.
Witchbane
You expect us to trust that? You hijack the system, threaten the roof, then call yourself a rescuer?
Sho
Trust is irrelevant. I am here because the program can map blood manipulation through this array, and Dean is its key.
A shower of sparks spits from the junction box below. Akihiko’s red lines recoil, and the emergency readouts replace Sho’s face with a pulsing label: SUBJECT CONFIRMED.
Chronical
That answer just cost us the control feed. Aki, tell me you can still break the lock.
Quest Complete
Learn why the array recognized Dean