The shop’s security shutter rattles upward, admitting Euran from the abandoned municipal repair bay. He carries his tool case, and the newly calibrated prosthetic moves with quiet precision.
Outside, municipal patrol drones sweep the rain-dark street, their blue search bars sliding across locked storefronts. Mara remains behind at the arena, holding the surface perimeter.
Euran Cross
You said it was good business. But this was ready before my original hand failed. Why?
Euran places the replacement hand on Selene’s counter. Its matte housing catches the shop lights while a concealed diagnostic display quietly marks the buried command node and three active uplinks.
Euran Cross
That map is still running. The node survived the evidence upload, and somebody out there knows we’re following it.
Euran Cross
She can explain the hand, or she can give me another clean answer that avoids everything important.
A patrol drone pauses outside, optics focusing through the rain-streaked glass. Euran keeps his gaze on Selene, waiting as the prototype’s uplinks pulse beneath the counter.
✓ Quest Accepted
Expose who controls the command node
“Well.. like I said it’s good business. Anticipating the needs of your best client. *She says looking down at the ground.* You’re a good person.. I know you don’t care about money.. you don’t care about power or influence.. you do it because you’re incorruptible.. it’s rare. So.. when I see you fix someone’s air conditioner for free or for Pennie’s in the dollar because she is a single moms with 2 kids and one on the way.. I just..”
SUCCESS (Great Willpower, rolled +2)
Selene Nyx
Well... like I said, it’s good business. Anticipating the needs of your best client.
Selene looks down at the shop floor, pink hair falling forward as rainlight crawls across the counter. The replacement hand hums between them.
Selene Nyx
You’re a good person. I know you don’t care about money, power, or influence. You do it because you’re incorruptible. That’s rare.
Selene Nyx
When I see you fix an air conditioner for free, or pennies on the dollar, because she’s a single mom with two kids and one on the way... I just...
Euran Cross
You remember that? The jobs nobody else would take because there wasn’t anything in them for me?
The patrol drone glides past the window without stopping. Euran’s expression loosens, suspicion giving way to something quieter as he looks at the hand.
Euran Cross
All right. Good business. I believe you, Selene. And for what it’s worth, I’m glad you were the one preparing for me.
“I know.. you would make good use of this. *I sit down and pull up my files carefully not to let him see the surveillance files and videos I have of him that free him of all blame. Then feed the police just the right ones anonymously. While keep a very careful eye on Euran. He can’t know.* Oh hey, Euran.. would you be a dear and fix my fixer seat? Also the batter over there needs to be charged. Would you do that for me? *I tell him to distract him from my work.*”
SUCCESS (Great Hacking, rolled +3)
Selene Nyx
I know. You’d make good use of this. Euran, would you be a dear and fix my fixer seat? The battery needs charging too.
Selene settles into the shop terminal, keeping her body between Euran and the concealed surveillance directory. Her fingers select only the exculpatory footage, repair logs, and verified timestamps.
Euran Cross
Your seat again? You really do keep the worst-maintained equipment in the city. Fine. Point me at the battery.
While Euran crouches beside the battered fixer seat, Selene strips her identity from the evidence package and feeds the files through a municipal dead drop. The transfer completes silently.
The police system accepts the anonymous submission and immediately correlates the footage with the bureau authorization trail. A hidden return flag reveals the cleanup cell’s next meeting point beneath Transit Exchange Seven.
Euran Cross
The frame’s warped, but fixable. And your battery is charging. You could have asked me before letting both turn into scrap.
Euran glances toward the terminal. Selene’s screen shows only inventory records and repair diagnostics, while the selected files vanish into the city’s evidence system.
✓ Quest Accepted
Confront the cleanup cell
“Oh.. would you lol at this.. They’re hiding a clean up cell. *I type quickly investigating more into the cleaner cell.*”
SUCCESS (Great Investigation, rolled +1)
Selene’s fingers move rapidly across the terminal, following the return flag through municipal routing tables and buried transit maintenance records. The shop’s rain-muted neon flickers over her hands.
Euran Cross
You found something, didn’t you? That typing has the same sound as trouble.
The investigation opens the cleanup cell’s operational file: five contractors, three municipal access badges, and a rotating command schedule hidden inside Transit Exchange Seven’s maintenance network.
Selene’s search correlates the cell with the black van’s partial plate and the driver bearing the silver throat implant. Their orders authorize evidence removal, witness pressure, and targeted equipment seizures.
Euran Cross
They’re not just cleaning the bureau’s tracks. They’re assigned to people. Me included.
A personnel fragment resolves beneath the operational file, identifying the cleanup cell’s handler as Director Halden Vey, weapons bureau oversight. His next meeting is scheduled beneath Transit Exchange Seven in eighteen minutes.
Euran Cross
That’s enough to work with. We know who commands them, where they gather, and what they’ll try to erase. Let’s move before they know we found it.
Quest Complete
Expose who controls the command node
Skill Upgrade: Hacking Great→Superb