Zarbits stands at the communications building’s service entrance, the copied access token loaded in his repaired receiver. The shielded cylinder remains secured in the utility cabinet, while the scavenger and uniformed searchers are far behind.
He presents the token to the obsolete reader. Its amber light turns green, and a narrow service corridor unlocks beneath the newer security door.
Meridian dispatcher
I have your receiver signal. The token is valid, but the internal route is waking in sequence. Proceed carefully and keep the cylinder isolated.
The door opens onto concrete walls, exposed conduit, and a line of indicator lamps. One after another, they activate toward the network room, each green glow followed by a faint relay click.
Meridian dispatcher
That sequence was not in the maintenance schedule. The queued transfer may have started early, or someone is testing the route from inside.
Beyond the first bend, a service cart sits abandoned beneath a camera dome. Its small diagnostic screen displays the same obsolete routing signature as Maestro’s shell account.
Meridian dispatcher
I cannot see the building’s internal response, only the public systems around you. The network room is still ahead, and the route is active now.
✓ Quest Accepted
Obtain the signal coupler
“Do the cart or camera have parts compatible with my gear?”
YES (Likely, rolled 41)
The service cart’s diagnostic screen flickers as its exposed panel cycles through maintenance data. Beneath the obsolete routing signature, several components match Zarbits’s repaired receiver architecture.
Zarbits
The cart carries a compatible signal coupler, and the camera dome uses the same relay-grade power interface.
A compact coupler rests behind the cart’s access panel, built for temporary diagnostic bridges. Its contacts align with the receiver’s auxiliary connector, while the camera’s control board offers a compatible signal path.
Meridian dispatcher
I can confirm those parts are compatible with your gear. The coupler could extend your receiver, and the camera board may expose the active route without involving the cylinder.
The camera dome pivots a few degrees toward the corridor, its amber status light reflecting across the cart’s scratched casing. The network room remains beyond the bend.
Meridian dispatcher
Do not disconnect anything yet. The matching interfaces establish a local access opportunity, but the route is still testing itself from inside.
✓ Quest Accepted
Expose the active transfer controller
“Can i hack the route and give access to Meridian?”
YES (Likely, rolled 33)
The coupler’s contacts emit a faint blue pulse without being touched. The camera board answers with a matching signal, exposing a dormant diagnostic channel beneath the active route.
Meridian dispatcher
Yes. You can hack the route and give Meridian controlled access. The coupler can bridge your receiver to the camera board without involving the cylinder.
Across Zarbits’s goggles, the route resolves into three layers: the camera interface, the internal relay, and a locked authentication gateway leading toward the network room.
Meridian dispatcher
I can enter through the bridge once you establish it. We will copy the route state, identify the active controller, and avoid sending commands through the device.
The camera dome stops pivoting and holds on the empty corridor. Its amber light steadies, revealing that the internal test has paused while the access opportunity remains open.
Meridian dispatcher
The window is real, but temporary. Whoever is testing the route will see the bridge if it remains active too long.
A new prompt appears on the receiver: LOCAL BRIDGE AVAILABLE. Beneath it, Meridian’s mirrored security channel waits for a controlled handoff.
“Grant Meridian access to the bridge”
SUCCESS (Superb Technology, rolled -1)
Zarbits aligns the coupler with his receiver and the camera board, then opens the LOCAL BRIDGE prompt. Blue diagnostic lines connect without touching the isolated cylinder.
The camera dome’s amber light dims as the bridge accepts Meridian’s mirrored security channel. The internal relay, authentication gateway, and active controller become visible in sequence.
Meridian dispatcher
I have access. The bridge is clean, and no command is passing through the cylinder.
Meridian’s tools copy the route state while Zarbits’s goggles isolate the controller’s signature. A hidden process identifies itself as the transfer coordinator beneath the network room.
Meridian dispatcher
The active controller is confirmed. It is coordinating the early test from the network room, using Maestro’s legacy authorization.
The bridge remains stable, but a timer appears beside the camera interface. Its short window counts down while the route map marks a service hatch directly ahead.
Meridian dispatcher
Access granted and evidence copied. Keep the bridge brief, then move to the hatch. I will preserve the controller trace while you investigate.
Quest Complete
Obtain the signal coupler
Quest Complete
Expose the active transfer controller
+ New Item Acquired
Signal coupler
“Implant a virus to buy some time”
SUCCESS (Superb Technology, rolled +1)
Zarbits packages a compact delay virus inside the bridge traffic, disguising it as a routine diagnostic heartbeat. The code slips into the transfer coordinator without touching the isolated cylinder.
The controller accepts the false heartbeat and begins repeating its validation cycle. The countdown beside the camera interface pauses, buying several minutes while the route remains mapped.
Meridian dispatcher
The delay is active. The coordinator is trapped in a verification loop, and its legacy authorization cannot advance the transfer.
Across Zarbits’s goggles, the network room sharpens into view: a locked hatch, two active terminals, and a fiber junction carrying the controller’s commands.
Meridian dispatcher
I am copying the loop and its timestamps now. The virus is contained to the coordinator, but the building’s security systems may notice the delay.
The bridge timer continues falling, though the transfer remains stalled. A maintenance indicator beside the hatch turns green, confirming the route is ready for entry.
“I spoof the camera loop and bypass the hatch”
SUCCESS (Superb Technology, rolled -3)
Zarbits mirrors the camera’s paused frame, then feeds the loop a second diagnostic heartbeat. The dome freezes on an empty corridor while the hatch bypass accepts the spoofed maintenance token.
The lock releases with a metallic clack. Zarbits slips through into the network room, but the bridge timer burns down sharply and the camera indicator shifts from amber to red.
Meridian dispatcher
You are inside. The camera loop held, but the building has flagged an anomalous diagnostic session. I am preserving the access trace now.
The hatch seals behind Zarbits. Two terminals glow beneath a web of fiber lines, and a rack-mounted controller pulses with Maestro’s legacy authorization.
Zarbits
The camera has detected the bridge, but the hatch bypass succeeded.
Meridian dispatcher
The central terminal is the transfer coordinator. Copy its live state before the delay loop expires, and avoid issuing commands through the isolated device.
A warning tone sounds somewhere beyond the sealed hatch. On the nearest terminal, a login prompt opens beneath the legacy signature, exposing the coordinator’s active session.
“I spoof the camera loop and bypass the hatch”
SUCCESS (Superb Technology, rolled +3)
Zarbits overlays the frozen camera frame with a maintenance diagnostic, making the red indicator report a routine reboot. The hatch bypass holds, and the central terminal accepts his spoofed session.
The live coordinator state unfolds across the screen: transfer timing, controller identity, and a queued destination beneath the municipal communications building. A hidden administrative token appears in the copied session.
Meridian dispatcher
I have the camera feed and the coordinator trace. That token is better than access, Zarbits. It can expose every relay still linked to Maestro’s authorization.
The delay loop continues cycling harmlessly in the background. Fiber lines pulse toward a second rack, where the coordinator has mapped three remote relays and labeled one as active.
A terminal window offers a complete transfer ledger. The latest entry identifies tonight’s recipient as a shell account nested inside Meridian’s municipal credentials, with a downtown handoff point.
Meridian dispatcher
Copy the ledger and the relay list. We can shut down the forged route with evidence in hand, and the active relay gives us Maestro’s next physical access point.
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure the transfer ledger and relay list
“I copy the complete transfer ledger and three-relay list.”
SUCCESS (Superb Technology, rolled -2)
“I copy the complete transfer ledger and three-relay list.”
FAILURE (Superb Technology, rolled -4)
Zarbits initiates a forensic copy of the complete transfer ledger and three-relay list. The terminal streams records into his repaired receiver while fiber lines pulse faster.
The ledger copies cleanly through the earliest entries, but the newest transfer records fracture into encrypted fragments. The active coordinator has recognized the extraction.
Meridian dispatcher
The session is resisting a full export. Preserve what you have, especially the relay identifiers, before the coordinator seals the channel.
Zarbits redirects the remaining bandwidth toward the relay list. Two relay addresses resolve completely; the third collapses into a masked endpoint and a partial routing signature.
The terminal locks the newest ledger rows behind a rotating authorization challenge. Its display retains the downtown handoff point, but the recipient account is now unreadable.
Meridian dispatcher
We received the complete first section, two confirmed relays, and the third relay’s partial signature. The coordinator has sealed the rest.
The failed export leaves a live forensic imprint in Zarbits’s receiver: two usable relay routes, one masked endpoint, and a timestamped fragment pointing to the active controller.