The segmented doors close behind Denver, sealing the vault approach. Vexa remains behind at Black Channel exchange, while the deeper chamber opens into silent server aisles and empty observation platforms.
The Aegis frame suddenly wakes a diagnostic channel through its local service spine. Its isolated telemetry buffer stays sealed, but unfamiliar Helix symbols bloom across Denver's interface.
Denver
The armor is transmitting locally, not through its telemetry buffer.
A hidden system identifies the frame as an authorized retrieval asset and assigns a live target somewhere deeper in the vault. No name appears, only a moving biometric classification.
Nearby security doors seal in sequence, leaving one illuminated route forward and darkening the alternatives. The vault's ventilation shifts into a low, deliberate pulse.
The Aegis interface displays procedural instructions: proceed to the target, confirm visual contact, and secure the asset for extraction. The wording assumes an operator already briefed.
No personnel answer from the empty platforms. Beyond the final lit doorway, something moves behind frosted glass, while the armor waits for Denver's next action.
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure the Helix retrieval asset
“I approach the frosted glass and prepare to confirm visual contact.”
Denver advances along the illuminated route, Aegis servos whispering beneath the vault's ventilation pulse. The frosted glass grows clearer with each measured step.
The moving shape resolves into a seated adult woman behind the partition, slim and motionless in a dark Helix utility suit. Cable ports line her neck, and a restraint collar glows faintly at her throat.
The armor's interface brackets the figure with a pale biometric frame. Classification updates from unknown retrieval asset to living corporate technician, with vital signs steady and no weapon profile detected.
A confirmation field opens across Denver's display, requesting visual contact. The frosted glass clears in a narrow vertical band, revealing the woman's wary eyes and a data jack embedded behind her left ear.
The system accepts the image, matches the biometric pattern to its retrieval order, and records the confirmation without triggering an alarm. Somewhere deeper in the vault, extraction protocols begin warming.
Beyond the glass, the woman lifts her head and notices Denver through the clear band. Her lips move, but the partition keeps her words sealed as the next access indicator turns green.
“I open the partition and secure the technician”
SUCCESS (Good Strength, rolled -1)
“I open the partition and secure the technician”
SUCCESS (Good Strength, rolled +1)
Denver opens the partition through the green access indicator. The seal releases with a soft pressure sigh, and the technician remains seated beneath the collar's faint red glow.
The slim adult woman wears a dark Helix utility suit, with cropped black hair, pale tired features, and a data jack set behind her left ear. She watches the Aegis frame carefully.
the Helix technician
Do not activate the extraction protocol. That system will log me as recovered property and erase the evidence attached to my implant.
Denver secures the technician with the frame's compliant restraint cuffs, locking her wrists in front and bypassing the glowing collar. The cuffs confirm a noninjurious hold.
the Helix technician
Good. The collar is a monitor, not a detonator. My access implant carries Venn's authorization trail, including who else received the retrieval orders.
The Aegis interface marks the technician secured and updates the retrieval target status to contained. Deeper vault systems begin opening a controlled extraction route toward a freight lift.
the Helix technician
If you want the trail intact, keep me away from the vault network until we reach that lift. Venn will know the moment I am disconnected.
Quest Complete
Secure the Helix retrieval asset