The training room hums under fluorescent lights. The torn page and metal token sit on the bench, pinned by The Rose’s gloved hand. Mark V rolls closer, optics clicking as he locks onto the evidence.
Mark V
Scanning. Federal stock, older Soviet routing pattern. This token is a relay tag, not an ornament.
His chest panel whirs. A narrow beam flicks over the page, then pauses on the blacked-out mark. The air tightens as the machine voice turns colder.
Mark V
And this page came through a protected cleanup channel. Someone wanted the trail buried twice.
The Rose
Can you trace it farther, Mark?
Mark V
Maybe. But someone just pinged my scan from inside the facility network.
A side door slams open. A lean figure in a gray maintenance coat strides in, face hidden under a pulled-down cap, one hand raised around a compact shock pistol. He scans Sally, then the token, and smiles without warmth.
The Maintenance Man
Nobody moves. That token belongs to federal property, and you all just made this my problem.
✓ Quest Accepted
Protect the evidence from the Maintenance Man
“Sally stands stunned. Than she moves without thinking and activates her super strength, punching the maintenance man in the chest launching him back. Everyone stands stund. No one, including Sally herself, knew she had super powers.”
SUCCESS (Great Strength, rolled +3)
Sally moves before fear can catch up. Her fist drives into the maintenance coat with a blunt crack, and the man is hurled backward off the threshold.
He slams into the wall, drops the shock pistol, and skids across the floor in a stunned heap. The token stays with The Rose, flashing once in the overhead glare.
The Maintenance Man
What the...?
Mark V jerks his scan toward Sally instead of the page. A sharp tone bleeds from his chest panel, then steadies into a hard confirm.
Mark V
That impact just jolted a carrier frequency loose. The token is transmitting, and now I have the signal.
The Rose tightens her grip on the evidence, eyes flicking from Sally to the fallen man. The maintenance coat splits at the seam, revealing a second clipped tag with the same gray-coat relay code.
The Rose
Keep him down. Sally, stay with the evidence.
The room goes still for one breath, except for Mark V’s scan tone and the man’s ragged breathing on the floor.
Quest Complete
Protect the evidence from the Maintenance Man