The tram remains motionless beneath warm cabin lights. Orin is awake across from Jostan, while Caelen and Maya keep watch near the sealed doors; somewhere behind them, the disabled attacker remains in the control room.
Orin
Ilyra Ordomo was not a ghost in the system. She was a Helix Meridian architect who vanished after refusing to surrender control of that settlement’s extraction network.
Orin
The settlement recognized you because her biometric pattern was copied into the buried node. Your body completed the handshake, whether you wanted it to or not.
Maya
Then the map is not leading us to a refuge. It is leading us to the system she left behind. The protected route still runs beneath the sealed habitation block.
Caelen
The damaged control data confirms a maintenance branch under the tram line. It bypasses the habitation block’s outer ward, but the access key is incomplete.
Caelen turns the fractured display toward Orin. Three route segments stabilize, then a fourth flickers with Jostan’s compatibility signature. The tram stays locked, waiting for an authorization no one has yet supplied.
✓ Quest Accepted
Gain usable access to the active node
✓ Quest Accepted
Share what Jostan knows about Ilyra with his allies
“Walking up to Orin I whisper that we gotta split before this gets dramatic, theres nothing for us here and my curiousity is dead”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled +2)
Jostan Ordomo
We should split before this gets dramatic. There is nothing left for us here, and my curiosity is dead.
Jostan walks up to Orin and lowers his voice. The tram’s warm lights catch the old man’s guarded expression as the sealed doors remain quiet behind them.
Orin
Agreed. We leave together until the next junction, then we separate cleanly. No speeches, no rescue work, and no more buried systems.
Orin rises and checks the tram controls. Caelen watches him with wary disappointment, while Maya folds the route display and keeps her attention on Jostan.
Maya
If you are leaving, I am taking the route toward the settlement. I will not pretend this place is safe, but it is still my best chance.
Caelen
I will go with Maya. The maintenance branch still needs documenting, even if we do not enter it today.
The tram unlocks with a soft mechanical clack. Orin takes the forward controls, Maya and Caelen move toward the opposite access hatch, and the group divides without argument.
“Are me and orin going back to his lab?”
YES (Likely, rolled 48)
The opposite hatch seals after Maya and Caelen disappear into the maintenance branch. Orin redirects the tram, and its cabin lights shift from warm amber to the pale route markers leading back toward his laboratory.
Orin
Yes. We are going back to my laboratory. It has tools, a controlled door, and fewer people waiting for us than this settlement.
The tram glides through the abandoned line. Orin keeps one hand on the controls and the other against his temple, while the fractured route display remains folded beside him.
Orin
Your compatibility signature is not a curiosity I can leave exposed. At the lab, I can isolate the data and determine what Ilyra left inside that network.
A junction indicator turns green ahead. The tram accepts Orin’s return authorization without resistance, carrying him and Jostan away from the hidden settlement and toward the cluttered laboratory where the route began.
Orin
Do not mistake this for retreat. We are returning with a live lead, a damaged route key, and a system that has finally noticed you.
Beyond the tram glass, Leonidas’s buried infrastructure slides past in bands of blue and black. Orin’s laboratory awaits at the end of the line, secure for the moment and full of answers that may not stay contained.
“I grab my ribs, hurting like hell and withdrawals kicking my ass I pass out”
SUCCESS (Good Health, rolled -2)
Jostan grabs his ribs as the tram rolls through Leonidas’s buried line. Pain clamps his breathing short, while withdrawal tremors spread through his hands and jaw.
His knees lose strength. He catches the seat housing, but the sudden strain drives a sharper pain through his bruised ribs and tears his grip loose.
Jostan folds against the tram wall and passes out. His head strikes the padded panel, leaving a fresh tender spot as the route lights smear into darkness.
Orin
Jostan. Damn it. Stay with me.
Orin releases the controls long enough to catch Jostan before he slides fully to the floor, then locks the tram into its automated return route.
Orin
The laboratory is close. I will get you there, but the withdrawal and those ribs need attention before you attempt anything clever.
“As the tram finally slows down, orin drags me to the lab where I wake up, feeling much better, realizing this is the longest Ive gone without drugs, I ask orin if theres anything to eat with a grin”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled +2)
The tram finally slows beside Orin’s laboratory. He drags Jostan through the service entrance and settles him on the old examination cot beneath humming work lamps.
Hours later, Jostan wakes with clearer breath and steadier hands. The withdrawal has not vanished, but the laboratory’s lights hold still, and his body feels markedly better.
Jostan Ordomo
Orin, is there anything to eat?
The grin arrives before the question finishes. Jostan realizes this is the longest he has gone without drugs, an accidental record marked by hunger instead of collapse.
Orin
There is nutrient paste, stale protein bread, and half a tin of preserved fruit. The fruit is yours if you can tolerate my cooking.
Orin opens a storage cabinet and places the food on a metal tray. He adds a cup of water, then studies Jostan with guarded approval rather than making the moment sentimental.
Orin
Eat slowly. After that, we can discuss what your body has been doing without chemical assistance.
The tray waits within easy reach, and the laboratory settles around them into its familiar electrical hum.