The utility bay holds its stale silence. The corpo bounty hunter remains sealed in the recessed locker, while Reina stays beside Razor, one hand near her hidden weapons.
A maintenance panel slides open without a warning chirp. Vesper, a slim young adult woman with pale skin, long glossy black hair, and vivid violet eyes, slips through in a dark club jacket.
Vesper
Easy. I am Vesper. I am not here for the shard.
She raises both hands, revealing no weapon. Blue utility light catches the sharp line of her face and the faint chrome seams at one wrist.
Vesper
Its signal surfaced briefly on a private club network tied to Night City. Someone is tracking the carriers, not the contents.
Reina Sato
That distinction is useful only if you know who is watching. How did you find us?
Far down the tunnel, a maintenance door cycles open. Motors whine, then stop. Vesper's raised hands remain steady, but the new sound fills the bay like an accusation.
✓ Quest Accepted
Escape the utility bay
✓ Quest Accepted
Identify who is tracking the shard carriers
“Need to get rid of the body *I set it down and cover it with a tarp.* Maybe the shard can shed some light on that put it in the terminal and I’ll see if I can hack into it to investigate it.*”
SUCCESS (Great Hacking, rolled +1)
Razor eases the armored body from the locker and sets it on the utility bay floor. He unfolds a stained maintenance tarp and covers the figure completely, leaving only the locker’s warped panel behind.
Reina Sato
That keeps the silhouette off the cameras. It does not erase the armor’s municipal handshake if anyone scans this bay.
The shard continues its thin unauthorized pulse in Razor’s hand. Blue light crawls across the conduit racks, and the distant maintenance door remains shut after its failed cycle.
Razor
The shard is still broadcasting, and the terminal network is close enough to hear it.
Vesper
You are thinking about the terminal. Fine. But do not plug that signal into anything public unless you want every watcher in the district to learn where we are.
Reina crouches beside a recessed terminal at the end of the bay, brushing dust from its dead interface without activating it. Vesper watches the covered body, then the shard.
Reina Sato
If you investigate, use the terminal offline. I can isolate its local ports while you work.
“Good. Quick thinking. We’ll need that. Vesper… *I say in a husky voice.* Take my jacket. I can’t just let you keep walking around like that. *I turn and start hacking after I pass off my jacket to Vesper.*”
SUCCESS (Great Hacking, rolled -1)
Razor
Good. Quick thinking. We’ll need that. Vesper, take my jacket. I can’t just let you keep walking around like that.
Razor strips off his sleeveless jacket and passes it to Vesper. She catches it, then pulls the dark fabric around her shoulders as blue utility light glints across its high collar.
Vesper
That is unexpectedly considerate. I will try not to get it shot, sliced, or traced.
Razor turns to the recessed terminal and slots the shard into an isolated local port. His visor floods with diagnostic panes as his gloved fingers move across the dead interface.
Razor
The terminal accepts the shard without opening a public route.
Razor threads a clean bypass through the terminal’s dormant security layer, then cages the shard’s broadcast inside a closed diagnostic loop. The unauthorized pulse vanishes from the bay.
Reina Sato
Signal contained. The terminal is offline, and whatever was tracking the carrier has lost this location for now.
“*I turn to Vesper her body and looks way to distracting. I walk over to her and pull the jacket closed zipping it up to hide her form. Trying to keep my eyes from straying. I focus on the zipper.* Well the good news that means we’re lost to them for now. We’ll have to find a better locations to reconvene to access the information. I have better equipment to work with at my home. If you two ladies care to join me. That is?”
SUCCESS (Fair Willpower, rolled +0)
Razor turns to Vesper, crosses the utility bay, and draws his jacket closed over her. He keeps his visor angled down, concentrating on the zipper track.
The zipper catches briefly against a bent tooth, then closes with a sharp metallic rasp. Two teeth shear loose, leaving the jacket functional but permanently damaged.
Razor
The good news is we’re lost to them for now. We need a better location to reconvene and access the information. I have better equipment at home. You two ladies care to join me?
Vesper
Your home is safer than an offline terminal in a utility bay, assuming you are not leading us into another trap.
Vesper tests the closed collar, then glances toward the sealed locker and the dark maintenance door. The damaged zipper gives a small, irregular click when she moves.
Reina Sato
I will join you. We take a clean route, avoid public transit, and keep the shard isolated until your equipment is ready.
Vesper
Then lead on, Razor. I will return the jacket when this is finished, assuming the city lets us leave it intact.
“Please Vesper.. for the shake of this mission and my concentration kept it on. *I say through gritted teeth. * My car is close by we can take mine. I lead them to my car.*”
SUCCESS (Fair Willpower, rolled -1)
Razor
Vesper, for the sake of this mission and my concentration, keep it on. My car is close.
Razor says it through gritted teeth, then turns toward the utility bay’s service exit. The damaged zipper clicks with every step as Vesper follows in his jacket.
Vesper
All right. It stays on until we reach your equipment. Try not to look so personally wounded by the zipper.
Reina falls in behind them, one hand near her concealed weapon. Razor takes the maintenance route through shuttered corridors, avoiding cameras and the public transit spine.
A service door releases onto a rain-dark loading lane. Razor’s right shoulder protests as he works the manual latch, a sharp strain left over from carrying the armored body.
Reina Sato
Your car better be close. We have already spent enough time underground to make this route memorable.
Razor leads them around a stack of freight crates to a dark, low-slung vehicle tucked beneath a dead sign. Its cabin lights wake as he reaches it, ready to carry all three away.
Quest Complete
Escape the utility bay
Skill Upgrade: Hacking Great→Superb