The hearing room has been converted into a registration bay, all wood paneling, clipboards, and hard fluorescent light. Sally finishes the last form while a technician records her pulse, grip strength, and a bright wash of controlled energy across the target panel.
A final scanner passes over the hidden circuitry in her biology, then clicks green. The technician lowers the wand and says she is cleared for registration, but not release. She is required to remain under visual observation for one week.
Oversight Committee Official
That week is mandatory. We need live confirmation, not paper confirmation.
He opens the dossier and slides it toward her. Inside is a department badge draft, a clearance form, and a proposal stamped for internal review. The title reads, Special Compliance Liaison.
Oversight Committee Official
You have unusual access, unusual instincts, and a clean public record. We want you watching heroes, clerks, and officials. If someone breaks the law, you report it.
The offer lands exactly where her problem lives, inside the system. If Sally accepts, she gets a badge and a path deeper into the Department. If she refuses, she stays boxed in as a subject while the week of observation ticks on.
✓ Quest Accepted
Accept the Special Compliance Liaison position
“Sally isn't too sure what to make of the job offer. She decides to wait to give an answer and go celebrate with her friends. Maybe that will give her more insight”
SUCCESS (Good Willpower, rolled -2)
Sally lets the silence sit for a beat, pen still in hand. The offer hangs between the dossier and the fluorescent glare, and she gives the room a careful, noncommittal look instead of an answer.
Oversight Committee Official
Take your time, but the week starts now. If you want the badge draft to mean anything, you will have to choose who gets to see you first.
Technician
For the record, your readings are stable. I can log you as cleared, but not unrestricted.
Sally closes the forms, gathers the packet, and steps away from the table. The badge draft slides half an inch on the polished surface as her sleeve brushes it.
Oversight Committee Official
If you are going to the celebration, bring this proposal with you. I would rather have your answer somewhere quieter than this room.
He does not stop her. He only watches her go with a measured, assessing calm, while the technician returns to the scanner and the red relay indicator glows faintly in the bay.
Sally leaves the registration table behind, the packet tucked under her arm, the decision still unmade but deferred. Outside the room waits the promise of friends, and the official's proposal in her hands feels heavier than the paper should.
Quest Complete
Register super powers with the government
Attribute Upgrade: Willpower Good→Great
Sally leaves Department hearing room, Washington D.C. behind and arrives at The Lantern Room.
“I go celebrate with my friends”
SUCCESS (Legendary Agility, rolled +3)
The Lantern Room glows warm and low, all amber glass, quiet music, and the smell of citrus tea. Sally steps in with the registration packet tucked under her arm, and the room loosens around her like it has been waiting.
Amilia Jacobs
You made it. I was starting to think the Department would keep you longer than the paperwork did.
Sally
I came to celebrate.
Amilia’s mouth lifts into a tired smile as she sets aside a neat stack of notes. Her pen is still clipped to the top page, and the meticulous little columns on her pad are all Sally’s case in miniature.
Amilia Jacobs
Good. Tonight is not for arguments, not yet. Tonight is for breathing in a room where no one is scanning you.
She slides a chair out with one hand and taps the hidden folder beside her notebook with the other, the old clippings peeking out for just a second before she closes it again.
Amilia Jacobs
Sit with me for a minute, Sally. Tell me what part of today feels real enough to keep.
“At this momen The Rose, Devlyn, and Mark V walk in and join the party. Sally says "This. This is the realist part of the day. Spending good times with the people I love." She smiles and gets some whiskey.”
SUCCESS (Great Willpower, rolled -3)
The door opens again, and The Rose, Devlan, and Mark V file in with the damp city still on their coats. Amilia looks up from her notes, surprised but not displeased, and the little lounge suddenly feels like a table big enough for all of them.
The Rose
We heard there was a celebration.
Devlan gives Sally a brief, crooked smile, then glances at the tea set as if deciding whether to trust the room. Mark V pauses near the chair, his mechanical bulk careful in the narrow space.
Devlan Mitchel
Figured we’d show up before the Department did.
Sally
This. This is the realest part of the day. Spending good times with the people I love.
The words settle warm in the room. Sally’s smile comes easy for once, and Amilia’s shoulders soften as she nudges a glass toward her. The whiskey catches the lamplight, amber on amber, and the registration packet stays where it is on the table.
Amilia Jacobs
Then let’s make it count. One quiet night, no forms, no testimony, just this.
Mark V reaches for the bottle, but the pour costs Sally a small spill across the saucer, darkening the paperwork edge with one sharp drop. No one moves to fix it right away, and the room hangs on Amilia’s question, waiting for what Sally wants to say next.