The cut on 2-6’s palm wakes first. A faint pulse crawls under the skin, matching the hum of the cargo hold, exactly like the earlier surge that never fully stopped.
Above his wrist, the flickering holo sharpens. The bait order unspools into a corporate transfer command, and the glowing line traces straight back through the wound, into the ship’s maintenance net.
Kest
There it is. The relay point.
The static in 2-6’s vision clears in a hard snap. Data threads spill outward from his palm, turning his body into a live bridge for the ship’s systems.
Kest
Keep him still. I want the hand visible.
The transport engines spool louder, vibrating the deck. Kest’s grin widens as the interface keeps syncing, and the open cut keeps glowing like it has found its purpose.
“"So are we gonna do the thing where I act like a rogue agent and run or do I just deliver myself to this point and the 3 of you have an easier day?" 2-6 hauls on his vape. Clearly tired of not knowing why he's running”
SUCCESS (Fair Willpower, rolled -1)
2-6
So do I play the rogue, or do I hand myself over and make this easier on all of you? He drags on the vape, tired of the silence.
Kest
You are already handed over. I just prefer when the package stays conscious.
The Courier
That is not a role, that is a cage with better branding.
Jax
He is asking the right question, even if it is ugly. What exactly do they think he is for?
Kest
A bridge. A key. A body that still obeys a higher address.
The Courier
Their map of him is already printed. They just need him to walk into the frame.
Jax
Then we stop pretending this is travel. It is ownership, and they want him reading the fine print.
✓ Quest Accepted
Identify the owner of 2-6
“2-6 leans against the wall letting his interface run its course. Vaping he scans his directive again for more information”
SUCCESS (Good Reasoning, rolled -1)
2-6 eases his shoulder against the bulkhead and lets the interface run. The holo scrolls from permissions into route metadata, then into a sealed ownership tag.
2-6
The lock is corporate, and the tag is active.
His vape hisses once, then chokes, spilling a thin ribbon of sweet chemical haze across the glowing wound on his palm.
The directive resolves into a clean chain of custody, clinic origin, transport priority, and one live authorization signature tied to a logistics office floor.
The Courier
That is it. They do not want cargo, they want the registry behind it.
Jax
Look at the header. The order is signed from human resources, not security.
Kest goes still on the gantry, wrist rig brightening as the same name stamp flashes once in red. The engine thumps harder underfoot, as if the ship itself hears the order.
The screen holds on the identifier for one second longer than comfortable, then asks for confirmation that only the owner, or the owner’s proxy, should answer.
Quest Complete
Identify the owner of 2-6