The inspector’s sedan disappears behind stacked cargo shells in an unregistered freight clinic below the exchange. Its stolen evidence credential fades from the tunnel grid as alarms recede overhead.
An automated surgical rig unfolds over the wounded courier, sealing her reopened dressing and feeding stabilizers through a narrow injector. The disavowed operative remains by the entrance, weapon ready.
Mara Venn
Vey can still take the shard. The exchange is compromised, not necessarily the broker. We deliver, then disappear before anyone follows the signal.
Calder Voss
You heard the warning. The Lattice route was bait, and Vey is the only person who could have known we were coming.
The disavowed operative lifts the blackglass shard toward the clinic’s dead inspection lamp. Routing glyphs crawl across its surface, briefly forming a second encrypted path.
Mara Venn
That path was not there before. Someone is rewriting the shard while it is active. If Vey is dirty, we need another handoff now.
Calder Voss
And if we leave, every protected account named inside it stays exposed. Your fixer got us this far. Ask her whether she knows a safer door.
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure the fugitives' cooperation
“I.. got YOU into this? No no no.. I go you out of danger and to be honest.. I think it’s time to tell us why we can trust you.. *I stare at him pointedly.*”
SUCCESS (Good Willpower, rolled +1)
Selene Nyx
I got you out of danger. Now tell us why we should trust you.
Selene fixes the disavowed operative with a pointed stare across the freight clinic. Behind him, the surgical rig clicks through its stabilizing cycle while the shard pulses in his hand.
Calder Voss
You should not trust me. You should verify me. My name is Calder Voss, former network security officer for Helix Municipal Systems.
Calder Voss
I found the ransom routes being diverted into an off-book intelligence vault. The accounts in that shard belong to witnesses, informants, and people Helix intended to erase.
He turns the blackglass toward the clinic light. A biometric seal appears, then fractures as the hidden path rewrites itself. The operation consumes one charge from his concealed signal jammer.
Calder Voss
That jammer was masking our location. It is dead now. But this proves I am not guiding the rewrite. The shard is answering someone else.
Mara Venn
Then he gave us the truth, or a convincing piece of it. Either way, the courier route is burned. We need a new handoff before the clinic is found.
“Calder.. was it? *I speak to him in a sickeningly deceptively sweet voice.* You must really trust me telling me that. Knowing what I did to that inspector. Saying I can’t trust you. That’s just silly.. you know.. I don’t leave loose ends.. I don’t like not at all. *I emphasize by putting my hands on my hips.* So let’s try again.. can we trust? Really? And maybe instead of pointing finger we find solutions. And what I do best. See.. we’re all here an alive thanks to me.”
FAILURE (Good Interrogation, rolled -2)
Selene Nyx
Calder, was it? You must really trust me, telling me that. Saying you cannot trust me is silly. I do not leave loose ends. So let’s try again. Can we trust you, really? Instead of pointing fingers, let’s find solutions. We’re all alive because of me.
Selene delivers the words in a sickeningly sweet voice, planting both hands on her hips. The clinic’s surgical rig clicks behind her as the wounded courier watches Calder’s reaction.
Calder Voss
You saved us because you needed the shard moving. That makes you effective, not trustworthy. And after Inspector Vale, I would be a fool to pretend intimidation is verification.
The blackglass shard pulses between them. Its hidden path forks again, erasing the route Calder exposed and replacing it with a locked demand for two independent biometric authorizations.
Calder Voss
There is your solution. Neither of us can open it alone now. I will verify the account list, but the courier keeps physical custody, and you do not touch the shard.
Mara Venn
That is not trust. It is a standoff with rules. Fine. I can live with rules, if they get these names somewhere safe.
Calder Voss
Then stop trying to make me trust you. Make the system prove what each of us claims, before the rewrite finishes.
“Calder.. was it? *I speak to him in a sickeningly deceptively sweet voice.* You must really trust me telling me that. Knowing what I did to that inspector. Saying I can’t trust you. That’s just silly.. you know.. I don’t leave loose ends.. I don’t like not at all. *I emphasize by putting my hands on my hips.* So let’s try again.. can we trust? Really? And maybe instead of pointing finger we find solutions. And what I do best. See.. we’re all here an alive thanks to me.”
SUCCESS (Good Interrogation, rolled +2)
Selene Nyx
Calder, can we trust each other? I do not leave loose ends. We are alive because I got us here, so let’s find a solution.
Selene plants both hands on her hips, her sweetness sharpened into pressure. The clinic’s amber lights gleam across the blackglass shard and Calder’s wary face.
Calder Voss
All right. I trust your priorities, if not your methods. You want a solution? I will give you one.
Calder Voss
The courier keeps the shard. I will authenticate the account list from here. You control the clinic systems and witness every step.
Calder lowers his weapon and extends his empty hand toward the surgical console, keeping the shard with the wounded courier. The standoff becomes a working arrangement.
Mara Venn
That protects the names and keeps the shard out of anyone’s hands. I can live with that.
Calder Voss
Then we proceed together. No hidden channels, no private edits, and no one touches the asset without the others seeing it.
Verify the blackglass shard's account list
Quest Complete
Secure the fugitives' cooperation
Attribute Upgrade: Willpower Good→Great