The sedan rolls into a low garage and stops. Devlan cuts the engine, and the rain fades to a distant hiss above them.
He leads Sally and Elias down to a basement apartment tucked behind a heavy door. It is dry, dim, and stubbornly ordinary, with old newspapers stacked in neat towers and a locked desk against the wall.
Devlan Mitchel
All right. For tonight, this is yours.
Devlan flips on a lamp. The room warms by a single yellow pool of light, catching the edges of a cot, a blanket, and a chipped sink.
Elias
You can rest here. No one is getting past that door without us noticing.
Elias keeps close by the entrance, watchful but less rigid than before. Moran is not here, and her absence leaves the room quieter.
Devlan Mitchel
There’s water in the kitchenette, and a bathroom down the hall. If you want, we can go over the file in the morning.
He gestures toward the cot, then the desk, giving Sally the first real choice of stillness since the laboratory.
“I change into some pajamas and curl up in the cot. Just before i fall asleep i look at the security badge woke up with. wondering what it all means. Than i pass out.”
SUCCESS (Good Health, rolled -1)
Sally takes the file, badge, and token to the cot, then sets the papers aside long enough to peel off her street clothes and change into soft pajamas from the drawer beside the sink. The room stays quiet except for the old building settling overhead.
She folds herself into the blanket and lies back. The yellow lamplight softens the hard edges of the desk, the newspapers, and the locked drawer.
Sally
The security badge feels official... and wrong, like it belongs to a life she cannot reach.
Sally turns the badge in her hand, studying the worn surface and the clipped photo corner. Devlan stays near the desk, giving her space without leaving the room.
Devlan Mitchel
That badge matters. If it was on you, somebody thought you were worth tracking.
Elias
Tomorrow, we sort the papers. Tonight, you sleep.
Sally lets her hand fall onto the blanket with the token and badge together. Her eyes close, the lamp blurs, and the basement apartment holds steady around her as sleep takes her.
Quest Complete
Find a safe place to rest
Attribute Upgrade: Agility Good→Great