The manager steps out from the back room and lets the office go still. Her eyes move over the vendors, then settle on Hunter at the front like she is measuring where to cut first.
Evelyn
You’ve made this difficult. Sit, and we do this on office terms.
Hunter McCready
She wants us isolated.
The desk phone keeps broadcasting in the open, the caller line crackling for everyone to hear. The Clerk stays by the forms, pale and tense, while Elias and Mrs. Gable hold their ground behind Hunter.
Evelyn
One point of contact. One signature. That is how this gets approved.
Hunter does not move from the front of the line. He answers by holding the whole group in place, making it plain that no one is stepping aside to be picked off.
Elias
We came together. You’re not splitting us here.
Mrs. Gable slides the copied pages forward on the desk, close enough for the manager to see the signatures stacked behind them. The room shifts from quiet pressure to a visible block of witnesses.
Evelyn
Fine. Then I document every refusal, every delay, and every name that won’t cooperate.
✓ Quest Accepted
Stand with the vendor collective through the office meeting
“I look the manager in the eye and refuse to let her intimidate the others.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled -1)
Hunter holds the manager's gaze, and the room feels the shift. The chair offer loses its weight, because nobody behind him moves.
Hunter McCready
She is not splitting them.
Evelyn
If this is your stance, then it goes on record that you are all refusing together.
The clerk flinches at the speaker, then looks from the forms to the line of vendors as if she is finally seeing the shape of the room.
Sarah
I can log that. I just need it clear who is speaking for the group.
Mrs. Gable
The group is speaking for itself.
Elias
Same answer, every time.
Hunter's cuff brushes the desk edge as he steadies himself, leaving a faint ink smear beside the copied pages. The manager falls quiet for a beat, then starts writing with a tight jaw.
Quest Complete
Stand with the vendor collective through the office meeting