Santana leaves Keiji, Eric, Mu-shi, Cass, Kalista, and Stella below in the rehearsal room. He carries his guitar up the stairwell, Yuki’s trust boundary heavier than the instrument.
The rooftop opens beneath a cold night sky, city lights trembling beyond the hospital district. Nu stands at the ledge, a small adult African American woman with warm brown skin, large dark eyes, and long dark-brown dreadlocks gathered low behind her.
Sazabi's Santana
Why am I tooling around with these white kids when there are bigger things to worry about?
The Woman at the Ledge
Because “these white kids” are not separate from the bigger things. Their fear, their loyalty, the way they handle Yuki’s boundaries, those are clues.
Nu turns from the skyline, restless curiosity bright in her face. Far below, a siren fades into traffic, leaving the rooftop quiet enough for her careful answer to linger.
The Woman at the Ledge
I am finding patterns in this world that do not behave like a world should. But trust is how we test what is real. So tell me, Santana: what are your priorities now?
✓ Quest Accepted
Determine what larger reality the band’s trust reveals
“Can trust reveal what is real in this world?”
YES, AND MORE (Likely, rolled 7)
The Woman at the Ledge
Trust can reveal what is real, yes, and more. It shows which people respect a boundary when nobody rewards them for it.
Nu steps away from the ledge and points toward the rooftop door. Her excitement sharpens into purpose as she describes what she has been tracking across the hospital and rehearsal spaces.
The Woman at the Ledge
Your band gave Yuki reasons instead of obedience. That makes them useful witnesses. It also tells me the world changes around honest consent, even when nobody announces that it does.
She produces a folded sheet from her coat, covered in times, names, and small circles. Three moments match when someone honored a clear refusal, and each left a trace ordinary records do not explain.
The Woman at the Ledge
This is the extra part. I found a repeatable pattern, and I marked the next place it may appear. You can test it without playing Yuki's recording or giving anyone access to it.
The marked location is a records office in the hospital's older wing, opening a concrete way to investigate the pattern while Yuki keeps complete control of her materials. Nu waits, visibly impressed by the trust Santana helped preserve.
“I examine Nu's marked records office”
SUCCESS (Fair Perception, rolled +1)
Santana follows the marked route into the hospital’s older wing. The records office is cramped and fluorescent, its filing cabinets labeled by year and department, with a public terminal glowing beside a sign-in ledger.
The woman at the ledge waits just outside the doorway while Santana compares Nu’s times against the office logs. The first circle matches a documented refusal in the pediatric intake queue.
The Woman at the Ledge
There. The record changes after the refusal, but not in the way the staff describe. Look at the timestamps, not the summary.
Santana checks the second and third circles. Each follows the same sequence: a clear boundary, a routine note, then a later correction entered by someone whose access history is missing from the visible log.
Sazabi's Santana
The missing access history repeats after every honored refusal.
The Woman at the Ledge
That is the trace. Not proof of a person, but proof that the records are being edited around consent events. You found the pattern without touching Yuki’s materials.
The terminal reveals a fourth matching entry from tonight, filed under patient communications. Its correction time is only twelve minutes away, and the audit screen names the records office as the point of entry.
✓ Quest Accepted
Identify who is editing records around consent events
“I inspect the audit screen for the fourth entry’s correction details.”
SUCCESS (Superb Reasoning, rolled +1)
Santana leans over the public terminal and opens the fourth entry’s correction details. The fluorescent screen expands the record without asking for anything beyond the office’s available access.
The correction was entered twelve minutes after the refusal, then revised twice within ninety seconds. Each revision preserves the refusal’s timestamp but replaces the original communication note.
A detail panel shows the editor as an internal service account, not a named staff member. Its access history is blank for the correction window, exactly as in the earlier entries.
The Woman at the Ledge
That is stronger than a matching timestamp. The system is preserving the boundary while altering the story around it, and the account is designed to leave no ordinary trail.
Nu steps closer but keeps her hands folded, reading the screen from beside him. The detail panel lists a scheduled automated review for the same account tomorrow morning.
The Woman at the Ledge
Do not change anything yet. We have the correction pattern, the concealed account, and a future review time. That is enough to bring Yuki a careful answer.
“I preserve the audit details for Yuki”
SUCCESS (Superb Reasoning, rolled -1)
Santana carefully transcribes the fourth correction’s timestamps, revision sequence, internal service account, blank access history, and tomorrow’s scheduled review into a message for Yuki. He preserves the earlier matching entries alongside it.
He checks each copied detail against the public terminal twice before sending it, keeping the refusal timestamps distinct from the altered communication notes. The work takes long enough for the scheduled review window to draw closer.
The Woman at the Ledge
Good. Preserve the sequence, not just the suspicious account. That gives Yuki something she can verify without trusting our interpretation.
The message reaches Yuki with the audit details intact: the refusal, twelve-minute delay, two revisions in ninety seconds, concealed account, blank history, and scheduled review. One original communication phrase remains unreadable in the display.
The Woman at the Ledge
That uncertainty matters. Mark it as unreadable instead of guessing. A careful record survives better than a confident invention.
Santana labels the unreadable phrase plainly and sends a second confirmation. The terminal still displays the evidence, while Yuki now has a preserved account of the pattern without receiving her protected materials.
Quest Complete
Determine what larger reality the band’s trust reveals
Attribute Upgrade: Reasoning Superb→Legendary