The maintenance hub glows blue-white under conduit strips, coolant ticking through the floor grates. Abby Stone and Arthur Blues wait in the shadows as Mara Venn steps out near the security console, then freezes.
Mara Venn
You should not be here.
Her hand hovers over the console, but she does not touch it. On the display behind her, a live infrastructure map flickers with a failed coolant loop and a bypassed power line.
Arthur Blues
We traced your splice lead, Mara. Tell us what you sabotaged.
Mara Venn
I did not sabotage anything. I rerouted a failing system before it took your whole lab offline.
Arthur glances toward Abby, then back to Mara. The maintenance bay stays quiet except for the drip of coolant and the soft alarm pulse from the console.
Mara Venn
If you want the truth, look at the power logs. Someone upstairs is hiding a load spike, and they want a technician to take the blame.
✓ Quest Accepted
Learn who is hiding the power spike in the lab logs
“I cross my arms and look down at Mara intimidatinglu, keeping my eyes on her while Arthur checks the console for the load spike.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled -2)
Abby folds her arms and fixes Mara with a hard, unblinking stare. Mara’s jaw tightens under the pressure, and Arthur turns to the console, fingers already moving across the flickering display.
Mara Venn
Fine. I touched the line. Not to wreck anything. The load spike was already there, and the logs were being scrubbed before I arrived.
Arthur Blues
The scrub pattern is real. It is hitting from a higher access tier.
Arthur taps the map, pulling up a narrow band of power history. A hidden service tag flashes once, then stabilizes on a facility supervisor credential.
Mara Venn
That badge does not belong to me. I used it because I was scared, not because I planted the spike.
Mara’s shoulders drop a fraction. The maintenance hub stays quiet, except for the coolant tick and the console’s thin alarm pulse.
Arthur Blues
This points above maintenance. Someone with authority is feeding the blame downward.
Quest Complete
Confront Mara Venn
New Gift: Tactical Dominance Protocol