Rain needles the landing pad as 2-6 steps into the wind. Neon from the tower glass smears across the puddles, and a corporate drone hangs above, red eye locked on him.
A courier in a soaked hood backs toward the rail, clutching a data-shard like a life raft. His hands shake so hard the shard clicks against his teeth.
The Courier
You’re 2-6. Good. Please, just take it.
The drone dips lower, rotors whining. A thin beam paints 2-6’s chest, then flicks to the courier, as if counting targets.
The Courier
They have my family inside. Sixty seconds, maybe less. If this drop misses, they go public.
2-6
The shard is the only thing in his hand.
A harsh comm pulse crackles from the drone, and a flat corporate voice spills onto the pad.
The Drone
Asset 2-6, remain stationary. Courier, comply and surrender the package.
The courier swallows hard, eyes fixed on 2-6, waiting for a move while the red light crawls closer.
✓ Quest Accepted
Prevent the drone from killing the courier
“Can I hack the drone's signal before it locks onto me?”
YES (Likely, rolled 29)
2-6
The drone's uplink frequency is unencrypted, pulsing in a rhythmic loop that matches the tower's local mesh network.
A cascade of raw data streams across 2-6's retinal display, revealing a clear, exploitable backdoor in the drone's command-and-control handshake.
“Can I force the drone to crash into the landing pad?”
YES (Likely, rolled 33)
2-6
The drone's flight stabilizer is slaved to the same unencrypted mesh, meaning a simple override command could force a hard-coded emergency landing.
The Drone
Time is up. Hand over the shard or I initiate the termination protocol for your family.
“I mislead the drone with a fake shard signal”
SUCCESS (Great Hacking, rolled +0)
2-6 slips a counterfeit shard signature into the mesh, a clean ghost ping wearing the courier’s data skin.
The drone hesitates, its sensor iris flicking off the courier and onto the false handoff point near the pad lights.
The Drone
Transfer acknowledged. Target verified.
Its chassis dips lower, tracking the phantom signal, search beam carving rain into bright white static.
The Courier
It bought me a second... maybe.
The courier clutches the real shard to his chest, frozen between the drone’s hunger and the opening 2-6 just made.
The Drone
Confirming transfer locus. Hold position.
Quest Complete
Prevent the drone from killing the courier