A dormant service speaker crackles beneath the relay panel. Outside, police drone light sweeps across the roof, while Mara remains concealed below and Niko freezes beside the open node.
Iris
Niko Vale. Identification request. Confirm the shard is in your possession.
The monochrome terminal wakes, showing a middle-aged woman’s sharp face in grainy green lines. Short silver hair frames one eye implant, and a dark high-collared jacket seals her throat.
Iris
I am Iris Vale. That shard was never meant to reach this station. Disconnect it before the relay records a complete chain.
Warning glyphs ignite across the panel. The hatch controls begin sealing one bolt at a time as the police sweep passes close enough to paint the chamber walls blue.
Niko
Iris, the station rejected the handshake. What chain are you talking about?
The terminal image fractures under interference. Beyond the hatch, a drone pauses over the neighboring roof, its scanner grid crawling toward the relay chamber while the last control indicator turns red.
✓ Quest Accepted
Escape the relay chamber
✓ Quest Accepted
Authenticate the black shard through the relay
“I keep a lookout while Niko and Iris discuss the shard”
SUCCESS (Superb Perception, rolled -1)
Match takes the hatch side of the chamber, tracking the drone’s blue sweep through the narrowing gap while Niko stays at the terminal. The scanner passes without acquiring them.
Iris
The shard carries a partial authority chain. It identifies buried evidence, but the missing link belongs to the people who erased it.
Niko
Who erased it? The gangs, the company, or someone inside the evidence system?
Match reads the roof’s reflected light and the drone’s return interval, then signals the safe pause. The relay chamber remains quiet while the terminal’s green image steadies.
Iris
All three are involved, but the authority chain points higher. Do not transmit the shard again. Take it to the municipal archive beneath Station Twelve.
Niko
Station Twelve was decommissioned after the blackout. Why would its archive still be live?
Iris
Because I kept one vault alive. Go now, Niko. And trust the lookout. He just bought you the time to leave.
“I lead Niko out through the hatch”
SUCCESS (Good Agility, rolled +1)
Match slips through the hatch and holds it wide enough for Niko. Together they emerge onto the rain-dark roof, leaving the relay chamber sealed behind them.
Niko
Station Twelve. Keep moving. I know the next roof crossing.
Niko follows Match across the warehouse roof, keeping low beside steaming vents and broken antenna housings. The relay hatch settles shut behind them without an alarm.
Niko
The archive is east, beyond the freight roofs. If Iris kept that vault alive, the shard may finally tell us who buried the evidence.
Match leads Niko over a narrow maintenance span between buildings. Rain beads on the metal, and the city glows below in fractured corporate color.
They reach the eastern roof together. A dark stairwell access rises ahead, descending toward the next block while the relay station disappears behind the rain.
Niko
Clear so far. Lead on, lookout. I will keep the shard secure.
Quest Complete
Escape the relay chamber
Attribute Upgrade: Perception Superb→Legendary