The evidence package disappears into municipal channels. Rain ticks through the cracked skylight, and failing consoles settle into a tense silence around the workbench.
Euran Cross
So that’s it? We send the proof, badges start pretending they care, and I’m supposed to walk away. But the warnings kept reaching me before any of this.
Euran scrapes grime from the seams of his prosthetic hand with a bent pick. The cheap servos whine, then quiet as he studies Selene across the scattered tools.
Euran Cross
Jobs canceled at the right hour. Dangerous clients suddenly gone. Parts waiting here before I asked. You knew something, didn’t you?
His trust has not left his face, but it is no longer effortless. Beyond the bay, Mara’s encrypted status pulse confirms she still holds the arena surface.
Euran Cross
I’m not accusing you. I’m asking what you didn’t tell me, and whether those warnings were protecting me or just moving me where they wanted.
The municipal uplink blinks once, acknowledging receipt. Somewhere beneath the city, the bureau cell will know its trail has been exposed, while Euran waits for Selene’s answer.
✓ Quest Accepted
Explain the warnings to Euran
““I try.. but sometimes..” *I look down at the ground.* “Things slip past me. I’m sorry I didn’t notice it sooner. I have.. photo graphic memory.. so I just tried to search my mind for what I didn’t put together before. It wasn’t relevant until now.” *I sigh and reach for his mechanical hand and start fixing it for him.* “I have another hand you can use instead.””
SUCCESS (Fair Reasoning, rolled +1)
Selene Nyx
I try, but sometimes things slip past me. I’m sorry I didn’t notice sooner. I have photographic memory, so I searched for what I hadn’t put together before. It wasn’t relevant until now.
Selene looks down, then reaches across the workbench. Her fingers close around Euran’s mechanical hand as she turns the whining prosthetic toward the lamp.
Selene Nyx
I have another hand you can use instead.
She opens the access plate, reseats a loose servo contact, and strips the corrupted firmware from its maintenance partition. The prosthetic’s tremor settles beneath her precise touch.
Euran Cross
You remembered all that from two years of noise and bad timing?
Euran watches her work without pulling away. When Selene finishes the repair, the fingers flex smoothly, their servos reduced to a quiet mechanical hum.
Euran Cross
And you’ve got a spare hand waiting in your shop. Selene, what exactly have you been preparing for?
✓ Quest Accepted
Explain why Selene prepared a spare hand for Euran
− Scene Quest Removed
Explain the warnings to Euran
““Everything darling. Don’t you know I’m the best there ever was. Now.. don’t go to another fixer dear.” *I wink and pull up my prototype hand I’ve been working on these last 6 months trying to perfect just for him.*”
SUCCESS (Great Willpower, rolled -2)
““Everything darling. Don’t you know I’m the best there ever was. Now.. don’t go to another fixer dear.” *I wink and pull up my prototype hand I’ve been working on these last 6 months trying to perfect just for him.*”
SUCCESS (Great Willpower, rolled -1)
Selene Nyx
Everything, darling. Don’t you know I’m the best there ever was? Now, don’t go to another fixer, dear.
Selene winks and draws up the prototype hand from beneath the workbench. Six months of hidden iterations gleam in its matte housing, built to match Euran’s neural port and prosthetic interface.
Euran Cross
Darling? That’s new. The hand, though... you made this for me?
The prototype’s calibration wakes with a sharp electronic chirp. Its compact actuators mirror Euran’s familiar grip, but the diagnostic spike overloads the bay console and burns out its uplink.
Euran Cross
You really are impossible. And apparently the only fixer I need. I won’t go anywhere else, Selene.
He accepts the prototype carefully, holding it against his damaged arm while its interface searches for a handshake. The municipal evidence channel goes dark, taking the bay’s clean connection with it.
Euran Cross
Nobody prepares this much for someone they barely trust. Whatever she’s hiding, she keeps choosing me.
“*I twitch as he catches my lapse in professionalism. Fuck! I mentally berate myself while carefully keep my face stoic.* “ah nonsense, it’s call anticipating the needs of my clients. That’s all. It’s just good business.””
SUCCESS (Great Willpower, rolled -1)
Selene twitches once beneath Euran’s scrutiny, then smooths her expression into the calm mask of a professional. The prototype’s calibration draws hard from her concealed emergency cell, draining its reserve.
Selene Nyx
Fuck. He noticed.
Selene Nyx
Ah, nonsense. It’s called anticipating the needs of my clients. That’s all. It’s just good business.
The lie lands cleanly, though the emergency cell indicator drops to its final bar beneath the workbench. Selene keeps her hand steady on the prototype’s interface.
Euran Cross
Good business usually waits for an invoice. You built this around my port, my habits, and the exact way my hand fails.
The prototype completes its handshake with a soft chime. Euran flexes the new fingers, watching their precise response, then looks back at Selene with wary amusement.
Euran Cross
Still, it works. And I’ll admit, having the only fixer in the city prepare for me is a pretty good arrangement.
“*I sigh mentally in relief for now. I can’t let him know my obsession. But, god do I love to watch that man work with his hands.* See I’m the best. Anywhere let’s get to work on exposing that snake to the police.*”
SUCCESS (Great Investigation, rolled +1)
Selene lets out a silent breath and keeps her attention on Euran’s moving fingers. The prototype responds perfectly, its quiet servos answering every careful adjustment.
Selene Nyx
The handshake is stable. The police evidence channel is not.
Selene Nyx
See? I’m the best. Now let’s get to work exposing that snake to the police.
She swings the dead console toward herself, bypasses its burned uplink, and links the prototype’s diagnostic buffer to the encrypted evidence package.
Euran Cross
You say that like the snake is going to politely identify itself in the paperwork.
Selene restores the chain through Mara’s arena relay, bundling the authorization trail, watcher profile, access tags, and the weapons signature into one municipal submission.
Mara Venn
Municipal intake just confirmed it. Their investigators have the whole trail, and the bureau cell is attached to it by name.
“Does Euran suspect I hid more than warnings?”
YES (VeryLikely, rolled 53)
The municipal confirmation hangs over the repair bay. Euran’s new fingers curl once, perfectly calibrated, while his attention shifts from the evidence package back to Selene.
Euran Cross
They’ve got the bureau cell, the watcher, and my repair history. But that still doesn’t explain how you knew where every threat would land.
His prosthetic’s quiet servos click through a diagnostic cycle. The question is not angry, but the easy trust between them has acquired a locked door.
Euran Cross
You didn’t just warn me when things got dangerous. You moved pieces before I could even see the board. There’s more you’re not telling me.
Mara Venn
Cross, the bureau knows the submission came through the arena relay. If they’re tracing it, you need to leave before their cleanup crew arrives.
Mara’s status pulse crackles through the dead console, clipped and urgent. Beneath the workbench, Selene’s emergency cell gives one final warning chirp.
Euran Cross
I’m not asking you to stop protecting me. I’m asking whether I’m the only person who doesn’t know what you’re protecting me from.