The marked passage opens into a silent gallery above the settlement. Streets, workshops, and communal shelters spread below while distant cameras track Jostan, Maya, Caelen, Orin, Alzafar, and the young pilot without raising a weapon.
Maya
The protocol gave me first contact. I will choose someone from the communal shelters, not a guard or an administrator. We need a resident who can speak for ordinary people here.
A camera pivots toward Maya, projects a brief authorization mark, and turns toward the shelter district. The settlement accepts her choice without opening its barriers.
Orin
The visible layout matches Ilyra’s copied records. Workshops occupy the inner ring, shelters the protected center, and every route can be sealed from this gallery.
Caelen
These control markings are not decorative. They classify visitors by conduct, then adjust which systems they are allowed to see. I am not touching anything yet.
The young pilot keeps one hand near his scorched cell housing while Alzafar watches the gallery entrances. Below, settlement residents move between worktables and shelters, observed by the same patient cameras.
Maya
I have the authority. When the settlement answers, I will introduce us plainly and ask for the person who knows why the origin node called Jostan.
✓ Quest Accepted
Establish trust with a settlement resident
“I watch the shelters for the resident who understands the node's call.”
SUCCESS (Superb Perception, rolled +0)
Jostan studies the shelter district instead of the cameras, tracking repeated routes, guarded glances, and who residents allow near the communal interfaces. The search consumes several quiet minutes of the access window.
One resident draws apart from the steady traffic: an adult woman with close-cropped gray hair, a copper facial implant, and a faded green work coat. She pauses beside a shelter loom whenever the origin-node symbol flickers.
Talia Merrow
That mark is not a welcome signal. It is the call Ilyra used when the node needed someone compatible to return.
Maya receives the resident’s authorization and guides her toward the gallery entrance. The woman keeps one hand on the loom’s control bar, watching Jostan with wary recognition.
Talia Merrow
I am Talia Merrow. I remember the call because it preceded the last sheltering, before the network closed its outer sectors.
The name enters the team’s exchange, but Talia’s account remains incomplete. The countdown has fallen further while Jostan watched, leaving less time to verify what she remembers.
Maya
Talia understands the call. We should hear her before the node seals, and ask what danger made Ilyra hide this place.
“My name is Jostan Ordomo, please tell us all you can say”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled +0)
Jostan Ordomo
My name is Jostan Ordomo. Please tell us all you can say.
Jostan’s introduction reaches Talia without bravado. The gallery’s cameras remain fixed on the group, while Maya gives Talia space to answer in her own words.
Talia Merrow
I am Talia Merrow, a loom keeper and outer-sector witness. Ilyra built this settlement as a refuge from Helix Meridian, then taught the node to call only for compatible people when its protections failed.
Talia rests her copper-implanted cheek against the loom’s control bar. Her guarded expression softens as the origin mark steadies above the gallery floor.
Talia Merrow
The last sheltering began after corporate scouts found our outer routes. Ilyra closed those sectors, scattered false maps through the network, and disappeared before Helix could reach the core.
Talia Merrow
Your signal means her authorization has returned. It also means the settlement’s old danger may have found a path back to us. We should bring you inside, before the access window ends.
Quest Complete
Establish trust with a settlement resident
Attribute Upgrade: Perception Superb→Legendary