The feeder-line diagrams throb red on the monitors, timed to Sally’s pulse. Cables run from the floor into Doctor Thorne’s chair, then into the sealed chamber behind him. One hard pull here could cut the harvest link, or it could trigger a full system surge.
Doctor Aris Thorne
If she hesitates, they take her mind through me.
Devlan shifts his aim toward the lab door, listening for boots in the hall. The chamber seals groan under pressure, and the relay light above Thorne flashes faster, hungry for a decision.
Doctor Aris Thorne
Sally, listen to me. The feeder line is the only clean break. Cut the spine conduit, not the chamber glass.
Sally
The conduit is feeding from the floor into the chair.
Thorne jerks against his restraints as the monitors spike. The network has noticed the resistance, and the hum in the walls deepens into a warning vibration. Sally is one move away from breaking the connection, or being pulled deeper into it.
Devlan Mitchel
Sally, now. Before it locks her in further.
✓ Quest Accepted
Cut the feeder-line spine conduit
“I lunge forward and rip the spine conduit cables from the floor.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Strength, rolled -2)
Sally rips the spine conduit free. The cable bundle tears out of the floor with a harsh crack, and the red diagram on the monitors stutters as if it has lost its breath.
A burst of blue-white static lashes across her forearm, sharp and brief, and the wet concrete smokes under the broken junction.
Doctor Aris Thorne
Yes. That is it, keep it broken.
Thorne slumps hard against the restraints, color draining from the feeder readout. The chair cables go slack one by one.
Devlan Mitchel
Door, Sally. Something just tripped in the hall.
The chamber lights flicker faster, and a deadened click answers from the corridor lock. The monitors keep flashing, but the spine conduit lies severed at her feet.
Quest Complete
Cut the feeder-line spine conduit