Warren seizes the client by his torn hoodie and yanks him upright. One hand stays near his pistol while the other strips the man’s pockets beneath the kiosk’s broken light.
Warren
I’m taking this for now since you owe me, and I don’t figure out clients’ problems for them.
Warren produces a tightly wrapped bundle of unidentified drugs and claims it into his coat. The client remains awake, shaking, while the damaged terminal pulses with Kadab’s timestamp.
Warren
You have five days to clear this up, or the 9 Daggers beat you past broken as a whole. Now tell me: compromised, or merely exploited?
The Passed-Out Client
I can prove someone used my credentials. Pull the route history. I missed a payment, but I did not authorize that Kadab entry.
Warren forces the route history onto a flickering data strip and keeps the client pinned by his clothing. Venci stays outside Warren’s working space, with the terminal exposing Benedict secrecy to anyone tracing the trail.
The Passed-Out Client
There. The second credential handoff is not mine. If you follow it, you will see who used me, and whether they are already watching this booth.
✓ Quest Accepted
Determine whether the client remains clean
“Warren is the tech savy one i let him handle his business”
FAILURE (Good Willpower, rolled -2)
Venci remains beyond Warren’s reach, hands clear and posture composed. Yet the dedication consuming his life keeps dragging his attention toward every Benedict trace glowing on the damaged terminal.
The route history scrolls through broken timestamps and credential transfers. Venci holds his distance, but his focus fixes on the second handoff until Warren notices him watching.
Warren
You said you were leaving this to me, nephew. Do not stand there pretending the Benedict mark is somebody else’s concern.
Venci does not enter Warren’s working space, but the failed restraint has already shifted the boundary. His protective attention gives Warren a second investigator, whether either of them wants one.
The Passed-Out Client
That is the handoff. I never met the person behind it, but the route was active before your people came here. Check the timestamp.
Steady composure keeps Venci silent and prevents him from taking the terminal. His dedication still leaves him exposed beside Warren’s investigation, unable to honestly remain uninvolved.
“I check the mark”
SUCCESS (Good Perception, rolled +3)
Venci leans toward the damaged terminal without entering Warren’s reach. The Benedict mark sits beside the second credential handoff, its authorization pattern distinct from the client’s ordinary route.
Venci
The mark was copied after the payment failure, not generated by the client’s own access.
His dedication pulls hard against his restraint, turning the Benedict trace into a personal summons. Steady composure keeps his hands clear and his attention precise instead of letting that urgency seize the terminal.
Venci follows the authorization trail through its broken timestamps and isolates the copied credential. The handoff routes through a temporary relay, then terminates at a maintenance account registered to Kadab’s network.
Warren
So it is a planted Benedict mark. You found the handoff without taking the whole system apart.
The Passed-Out Client
That is what I was trying to tell you. The relay appeared after my account went delinquent.
The evidence settles on the data strip: the passed-out client’s credentials were exploited, and the Benedict mark was attached through Kadab’s maintenance relay. Venci has the answer while keeping the wider hunt unspoken.
Quest Complete
Determine whether the client remains clean
Attribute Upgrade: Willpower Good→Great
New gift: Spots Compromises