Red alarms strobe over the records wing. Sally stands inside a maze of gray cabinets and humming servers, with the master terminal glowing at the far end like a locked confession.
The Clerk backs away from the terminal, trapped between the console and Sally. His face has gone pale, and his hands shake over a ring of seal keys he is no longer brave enough to use.
The Clerk
Stop right there. If you touch that terminal, they will know exactly what you are looking for.
Sally
Tell me what the program is. Tell me what they did to me.
The Clerk swallows hard and glances at the blinking terminal, then at Sally. The name on the screen is half-hidden, but the file trail beneath it matches the torn records from the annex.
The Clerk
Your file was buried here. Not created here. If you want the truth, the terminal has the transfer log, the handler list, and the original lab routing.
A heavy security shutter begins to grind down behind Sally, narrowing the room. The Clerk flinches, choosing fear over loyalty, while the terminal waits one step away from the answer she has been chasing.
✓ Quest Accepted
Access the transfer log
“I grab the clerk by his collar and force him to unlock the terminal.”
SUCCESS (Great Strength, rolled +2)
Sally moves first, fast and low. She catches the Clerk by the collar and yanks him off balance, turning him hard toward the terminal.
The Clerk
Don’t, please, I can unlock it, just don’t make me do this in front of the system.
His seal keys clatter against Sally’s wrist as she drives him to the console. The red alarms keep pulsing, but his shaking hand finds the access panel.
The Clerk
If I open it, they’ll know I helped. If I don’t, she breaks me here.
The terminal wakes with a hard blink. A file directory blooms across the screen, and the transfer log appears among the records, tagged with Sally’s case number.
The Clerk
It’s open. Please, that is the log. That is what you came for.
Behind them, the security shutter grinds lower, cutting the room into a narrowing strip of light. On the corridor monitor, a small red indicator keeps flashing like it has already called someone.
Quest Complete
Access the transfer log