The group reaches the private-room corridor beneath muted club bass. Gwen leads in her fitted black club dress, with Razor, Reina, and Vesper close behind. Room Nine waits ahead.
A side access panel unlocks with a Lazarus laboratory credential, not a club badge. John Franco, with a narrow, hollow-cheeked face and wire-framed glasses, a gaunt middle-aged man with olive skin, thinning dark hair, and a stained white lab coat, stumbles through clutching a cracked data wafer.
John Franco
Razor. I knew you were connected to this. You have to get this somewhere secure before they find me.
The wafer’s fractured casing exposes Lazarus authorization metadata beneath the damage. John recognizes Razor, then flinches toward the corridor as locks begin engaging in sequence.
Reina Sato
Security panels are sealing room by room. The credential opened this access, but it also announced his location.
Gwen Armitage
John, stay where I can see your hands. Tell us whether Lazarus sent you, or whether you are running from them.
Metal shutters descend behind the group, cutting off the staff route. Vesper watches the far intersection while Reina scans the closing panels, leaving Razor beside John and Gwen with the damaged wafer between them.
✓ Quest Accepted
Get John Franco to safety
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure the cracked data wafer
“*I move to repair and secure the damaged data wafer.*”
SUCCESS (Great Electronics, rolled -2)
“*I move to repair and secure the damaged data wafer.*”
SUCCESS (Great Electronics, rolled +0)
Razor takes the cracked wafer from John and braces it against his gloved palm. Blue diagnostics crawl across his visor as he isolates the damaged authorization layer.
His tools bridge the fractured contacts, rebuild the wafer’s corrupted index, and seal the casing beneath a conductive patch. The Lazarus metadata stabilizes without altering its forensic signature.
John Franco
You repaired it. That is the original chain, including the laboratory credentials and the internal access trail.
Razor transfers the restored wafer into a shielded evidence sleeve, then locks it inside a compact Faraday case from Reina’s kit. The case confirms a clean seal.
Reina Sato
Secure and readable. I will make a forensic duplicate, but the repaired original stays with us and never touches the club network.
Gwen Armitage
Good. John, you are now a witness with evidence, not an unexplained breach. Tell us what that credential opened.
John Franco
A restricted Lazarus archive beneath this club. Mara Venn used it to move prototype research and erase personnel records.
Quest Complete
Prevent Lazarus from burying the authorization
Skill Upgrade: Stealth Mediocre→Fair
Quest Complete
Secure the cracked data wafer
+ New Item Acquired
Cracked data wafer
“Alright Franco, I can get you to safety. However we need information in exchange. Got that?”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled +1)
Razor
I can get you to safety, Franco. In exchange, you give us the information you have. Got that?
John studies Razor over the sealed Faraday case, then nods. The corridor shutters finish locking, but the private-room route remains open behind Gwen and Vesper.
John Franco
Got it. I will tell you everything I know, and I will take the safe route you provide. Mara Venn used the archive to hide prototype trials and personnel removals.
John Franco
The night-sheath prototype was stored there. Only Venn and Henry Katzadoulos had full authorization. After Henry died, Venn accessed the archive alone.
Gwen records the statement on an isolated police device while Reina duplicates the wafer’s readable index. Vesper checks the corridor, finding a service lift leading to a concealed vehicle bay.
Gwen Armitage
That is enough to move him under witness protection protocols. We get John out with the original evidence, then secure the archive before Lazarus can rewrite it.
John Franco
There is one more thing. The archive contains access logs showing who entered the prototype vault after Henry was killed. I can identify the records.
“Vesper, don’t have any questions for him? You are important to this missions success as well.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled +0)
Razor
Vesper, don’t you have questions for him? You’re important to this mission’s success too.
Vesper turns from the service lift and steps beside the isolated police device. Her attention fixes on John, while Gwen keeps recording and Reina guards the wafer case.
Vesper
I do. John, who entered the prototype vault after Henry died, and what did they remove or change?
John Franco
Mara Venn entered twice. The first time, she accessed the night-sheath files. The second time, she brought a security technician whose identity was scrubbed.
Vesper
Did the technician wear Lazarus equipment, and did either visit connect to Room Nine or its private guests?
John Franco
The technician wore a prototype night-sheath. The archive links both entries to Room Nine, but the guest manifest was altered from inside the club system.
Vesper holds John’s gaze, committing the details to memory. Gwen marks the new links in her recording, and Reina isolates the altered manifest for later forensic comparison.
“Reina. What do you need from him?”
SUCCESS (Superb Reasoning, rolled +1)
Razor
Reina, what do you need from him?
Razor shifts toward Reina without touching the evidence case. The isolated device continues recording, while John waits beneath the corridor’s cold security lights.
Reina Sato
I need the unredacted vault identifiers, the technician’s access signature, and every timestamp connecting Room Nine to the archive.
John Franco
I can provide those. The archive preserved the technician’s biometric handshake beneath the scrubbed identity. It was not fully erased.
Reina places a shielded connector beside the police device and points to the Faraday case, keeping the original wafer isolated from the club network.
Reina Sato
John, copy the records through this connector. Do not interpret them and do not access anything else. I will verify the signatures against the wafer.
John Franco
Understood. The identifiers and timestamps are transferring now. The biometric trace should reveal who wore that prototype after Henry died.
“*Time to get him to safely when he is down with Reina.* Alright, where do you need to go Franco?”
SUCCESS (Superb Reasoning, rolled -3)
“*Time to get him to safely when he is down with Reina.* Alright, where do you need to go Franco?”
SUCCESS (Superb Reasoning, rolled +1)
Razor
Franco, when Reina finishes the transfer, where do you need to go to be safe?
John Franco
A Lazarus whistleblower clinic in the Old Port. It is unlisted, and the intake code is embedded in my personnel file.
John Franco keeps his hands visible while the connector pulses. Reina watches the transfer, then verifies the biometric signature against the wafer without exposing the original.
Reina Sato
The records match. The clinic route is viable, but we use a dead-drop entrance and no police network. I can guide us there.
John Franco
There is a maintenance entrance beneath Pier Twelve. The clinic staff will recognize this access phrase: blue lantern, third bell.
Reina seals the copied identifiers and disconnects the connector. Gwen locks the testimony, while Vesper checks the corridor. The evidence and John Franco are ready to move.
Gwen Armitage
Then Pier Twelve is our destination. We get John inside, preserve the chain, and leave Lazarus nothing to follow.
“The plan is set. Let’s go. *I make good and get Franco to safety.*”
SUCCESS (Legendary Agility, rolled +0)