Front Street, the PI office. The door hangs off its hinges, just like that first warning said it would. Inside, the man in the federal raincoat stands over a broken desk, one hand gripping a torn file, the other braced on the wood like he is holding the whole room together.
He looks up at Sally, then at the black-sealed note in her hand. His badge is real enough to fool a glance, but the paper in his fist is not government issue. It is stamped, copied, and annotated, a trail of names, transfer codes, and lab initials.
Arthur
Drop the note if you want the truth. I am not Department.
Arthur
They marked the experiments as containment, but the files show selection, dosing, and repeat harvests.
He throws the file open on the desk. Beneath the raincoat sleeve, fresh bruising and a hidden field transmitter flash into view. He has been racing the Department, not serving it.
Arthur
They do not make heroes down there. They make assets, then they erase the ones that remember.
A siren rises outside on the street. He shoves the document toward Sally, urgency breaking through his calm. The note, the drive, the lab, it all snaps into one ugly answer.
✓ Quest Accepted
Get the rogue operative's full story
“Where's Devlyn? What did you do to him?”
FAILURE (Good Willpower, rolled -2)
Sally
Where is Devlan? What did you do to him?
The words come out rough, but they land. The rogue operative flinches, then drags one hand through his wet hair as if the answer weighs more than the file.
Arthur
I did not take him. I sent him underground, before the Department sealed this block. He was already in their sights.
He taps a copied page with a shaking finger. A route map is circled in red ink, then crossed out, then circled again, ending at a maintenance stair beneath Front Street.
Arthur
If they have not caught him, he is hiding near the annex line. If they have, then this office is the only lead left.
Sally
The map points somewhere below street level.
He slides the page closer, but keeps the transmitter in his sleeve, eyes fixed on Sally like he is waiting for her to decide whether he is a warning or a weapon.
Arthur
Take the route, or take my silence. Either way, Devlan is tied to the next door.
“I take the route and head below Front Street”
SUCCESS (Legendary Agility, rolled -3)
Sally snatches the route page and is already moving before the man can pull it back. Her shoulder brushes the desk, the torn cut at her arm stinging as she slips past the red-lit doorframe and toward the maintenance stair marked in ink.
The stairwell breathes out stale, damp air. Below, Front Street fades into a low rumble, and the fluorescent strip at the landing flickers once as Sally drops down into the dark.
Arthur
That door under the annex line leads to records old enough to be buried twice. I know, because I helped bury them once.
Arthur
I am not asking you to trust me. I am asking you to look at what they did, and decide if I am the worst thing in that file.
He follows only as far as the stairhead, trapped by the office and the block above it, one hand still hovering near the hidden transmitter. His voice softens anyway, like confession is the only route left open.
Arthur
If you find Devlan, tell him I did move him before the sweep. Tell him the annex line is real.
Arthur
And if you want the rest of my story, I can give it, but not from up here.
“Did you really move Devlan before the sweep?”
NO, AND WORSE (Likely, rolled 96)
Arthur
I lied. I did not move him, Sally. I left him exactly where the sweep team would find him first.
Arthur
My name is Arthur, and I am not a rescuer. I am the one who signed the order to have him taken.
Sally
The air in the stairwell feels colder, and the weight of the drive in my hand suddenly feels like a lead anchor.
“Sally stops dead in her tracks. She slowly turns to look at Arthur. Rage in her eyes. "Where the Fuck did you take Devlyn?!?!?!?"”
SUCCESS (Good Willpower, rolled +0)
Sally
Where did you take Devlan?
Sally stops on the stair, turns fully back, and pins Arthur with a hard stare. The red spill from the doorway catches the cut on her shoulder, and the drive in her hand trembles once, then steadies.
Arthur
South annex route. Sub-level holding, service access off Front Street. I did not put him there myself, but I signed him over.
Arthur
He is alive when I last saw him. That is the truth I have.
Sally
He is giving a location, not a rescue.
Arthur
I used your name to open doors, then I used my badge to close them. That is who I am.
His voice goes flat, almost exhausted by its own honesty. Somewhere above, the building groans, and the dead fluorescent lamp keeps him in shadow while Sally stays lit by the failing red alarm.
Arthur
If you want the rest, go now. If you stay, they will finish erasing him.
Sally leaves Front Street behind and arrives at South annex sub-level holding.
“I take the maintenance stair to Devlan”
SUCCESS (Legendary Agility, rolled +0)
South annex sub-level holding breathes cold air through cracked vents, all concrete sweat and old disinfectant. Sally drops into the corridor with the route page still in hand, and the stairwell door thuds shut behind her.
The holding area is a strip of barred cells and dead monitors. One door stands open. Devlan is inside, seated on the floor with his back against the wall, bruised but upright.
Sally
Devlan.
Devlan Mitchel
You found me faster than I expected.
He pushes himself to his feet and takes one careful step closer, not reaching for her, just letting her see he is here and whole enough to stand.
Devlan Mitchel
Arthur sold me out to the sweep team. Then he came back looking guilty enough to rot from the inside. I think he is trying to make one clean act after a lot of ugly ones.
Devlan Mitchel
If he gave you a route, he is buying time. If he gave you my name, he is trying to come clean.
Devlan taps the open cell door, then the page in Sally's hand, like he is matching pieces of a map only he can read. His voice stays low, but it does not shake.
Devlan Mitchel
Tell me what he said, word for word. Then we decide whether his story is confession or warning.
“I show Devlan the route page and drive”
SUCCESS (Good Reasoning, rolled +0)
Sally lifts the route page higher, then brings the stolen drive up beside it so Devlan can see both at once. The papers catch the flicker of the overhead lights, and the drive’s metal edge flashes cold in her hand.
Devlan Mitchel
That’s the annex line. And the drive, too. He really did hand her the whole trail.
Devlan leans in from the cell doorway, eyes moving between the route and the device, his jaw tightening as he recognizes the path they point to.
Devlan Mitchel
That route goes under the annex, straight into the buried holding levels. Arthur knew exactly where to send you.
Devlan Mitchel
And this drive, if it matches the file chain I think it does, is not just evidence. It’s a key.
He looks up at Sally, then at the open cell behind him, like he is weighing what to trust before the building can decide for him.
Devlan Mitchel
Show me everything he gave you. If Arthur is trying to make this right, I want to know how far he got before fear caught up with him.
“Is Arthur really trying to help us?”
YES (Even, rolled 14)
Sally
The way he described the annex, he knew exactly what he was handing over. He isn't just running from them, he's trying to burn the whole thing down.
Devlan Mitchel
Look at these signatures on the transfer log, Sally. These aren't just bureaucratic stamps. They are authorization codes for the same project that created the Rose's thorns. Arthur didn't just give you a map, he gave you the smoking gun.
Devlan Mitchel
He's terrified, but he's finally choosing a side. If he's willing to burn his own clearance to get this to her, he's not playing a double game.
“I ask Devlan what Arthur sacrificed for this”
FAILURE (Good Persuasion, rolled -3)
Sally
What did he give up to get this to me?
Devlan’s finger stops on the transfer codes. He looks past the papers for a second, jaw tight, then back to Sally as if the answer costs him something to say.
Devlan Mitchel
His cover. Maybe more. Arthur burned a clean identity to pull this file loose, and people like that do not throw away safety lightly.
He turns one page over, revealing a blacked-out clearance stamp and a handwritten route note folded into the crease.
Devlan Mitchel
If he is telling the truth, he is already marked. If he is lying, then he is still useful, which is its own kind of dangerous.
Devlan slides the route note closer, but does not let go of it. The fluorescent light hums overhead, steady now, making the room feel bare and close.
Devlan Mitchel
He took a real risk bringing you this. I need to know, Sally, do you want the rest of what he knows, or do you want to keep cutting blind?
“I ask Devlan about Arthur's real identity”
SUCCESS (Good Persuasion, rolled +1)
Sally
Who are you really, Arthur?
The question lands cleanly. Devlan’s grip loosens on the route note, and his eyes shift, not to Sally, but to the blacked-out stamp as if it can still answer for him.
Devlan Mitchel
Arthur Mitchel. That was the name he used when he wanted to stay buried. Not his real one.
Devlan Mitchel
Arthur is the alias. The man you met is a handler, a courier, and a coward when it counts. His real name never sat on a badge long enough to matter.
Devlan Mitchel
I knew him before the Bureau did. He came out of records work, then into operations. Smart enough to see what the program was, weak enough to help it anyway, until now.
Devlan finally lets the route note rest on the crate. The papers between them look less like evidence now and more like a confession spread flat under the light.
Devlan Mitchel
If he is handing me this much, he is either trying to buy his way out, or he cannot live with what he has done anymore.
“Did Arthur betray the Department too?”
YES (Likely, rolled 18)
Sally
If he is giving up this much, he is not just running. He is burning his own bridges.
Devlan Mitchel
Look at the clearance codes on this transfer log, Sally. He did not just steal these files, he systematically dismantled the Department's access protocols from the inside.
Devlan Mitchel
Arthur did not just betray the project. He turned the Department's own security against them to ensure these records could never be fully erased.
“Is Arthur trying to destroy the Department from inside?”
YES, BUT (VeryLikely, rolled 82)
Devlan Mitchel
He is not just trying to burn the files, Sally. He is trying to dismantle the entire infrastructure of the Department from within, but he is doing it by feeding them false data to keep them chasing ghosts while he leaks the real truth to us.
Sally
He is playing a dangerous game, using the Department's own obsession with control to lead them into a trap of their own making.
“I press Arthur for the rest of the story”
SUCCESS (Good Persuasion, rolled +0)
Sally
Tell me the rest. Start at the part you have not said yet.
Arthur
I was records, then operations. I saw the transfers, the seals, the wipes. I kept copies when I should have buried them.
Devlan Mitchel
He sounds cornered, not proud. That matters.
Arthur drags a chair closer to the table and sits hard, like the effort costs him. The papers between them look thinner under the steady light, more fragile and more damning.
Arthur
The Department did not just hide your case, Sally. It split the work, routed names through dead offices, and used clean clerks to make the dirt look legal.
Arthur
When I started pulling threads, they sent me to feed them ghosts. So I did. While I was lying to them, I was leaking the real route to you.
Devlan stops pacing. He sets one hand on the table, steadying the page as if it might shake apart.
Devlan Mitchel
Then you know who signs the top of the chain. Names, Arthur. Give us the names.
Arthur
I know one office, one seal, and one woman who never touched the ink but owned the room. That is why I ran, and why I am still talking.
“I ask Arthur who signs the top of the chain”
SUCCESS (Good Persuasion, rolled +1)
Sally
Who signs the top of the chain?
Arthur
Mrs. Vale. Records division, seal key authority. She never files the papers herself, but every clean route passes her office.
Devlan Mitchel
Mrs. Vale. So that is the name hiding above the clerks.
Arthur
She handles the quiet approvals, the transfers, the wipes. If a file vanishes without a stain, her stamp is usually under it.
Devlan takes the page from under Sally's hand and turns it so the corner seal faces the light. The impression matches what Arthur just says.
Arthur
I do not meet her often. When I do, the room feels finished before she speaks. That is the woman at the top.
Arthur goes still after saying it, shoulders tight over the chair back. The fluorescent light keeps the table bare and bright, and Devlan keeps one hand on the papers, waiting for Sally's next move.
“Is Mrs. Vale the Department's top handler?”
YES, AND MORE (Likely, rolled 2)
Arthur
She is not just a handler, Sally. She is the architect of the entire pipeline, the one who designed the protocols that turned us into assets and the city into a laboratory.
Devlan Mitchel
If she is the architect, then every file we have found is just a brick in a wall she built to keep us from seeing the foundation.
Arthur
Exactly. She does not just manage the records, she manages the reality of what the Department is allowed to know about its own crimes.
“I press Arthur for Mrs. Vale's role”
SUCCESS (Good Persuasion, rolled +0)
Sally
What does Mrs. Vale actually do in this pipeline?
Arthur
She authorizes the routes, the cleanups, the denials. If a subject vanishes, she decides which desk buries it.
Devlan Mitchel
So she is not a paper pusher. She is the choke point.
Arthur
She keeps the archive honest to itself, even when the archive is a lie.
Arthur slides one page forward, a sealed transfer form with Mrs. Vale's initials stamped beside a redacted line. The lamp catches the impression hard enough to make the ink look raised.
Arthur
That seal means she touched the order before it reached the holding levels. No one moves without her knowing.
Devlan straightens, the papers rustling under his grip as the flicker overhead cuts his face into sharp strips. The route page, the drive, and the seal all sit in the same pool of light now, suddenly connected.