Zarbits remains alone at the annex’s north utility exit, the archive evidence bundle and relay coordinates secured in passive storage. The cylinder stays isolated in the utility cabinet behind him, while the scavenger and uniformed searchers remain far behind at the junkyard.
Meridian dispatcher
I am opening a low-bandwidth voice channel. The archive findings confirm our worst concern: municipal credentials may have been compromised longer than Meridian reported.
The receiver’s dark indicator stays unlit, but its passive cache preserves Harmonic Ledger’s administrator, the emergency-systems designation, and the annex relay route.
Meridian dispatcher
Before you enter another controlled site, consolidate the evidence and equipment. I can maintain this voice link, but not a live network bridge.
Beyond the exit, a narrow service lane runs toward the next relay access point. Rainwater trembles in the gutter whenever hidden infrastructure pulses beneath the pavement.
Meridian dispatcher
The route forward is clear for now. I will compare the archive dates against municipal records while you decide how to proceed.
“Consolidate evidence, then double check it for anything relating to the next relay point”
SUCCESS (Good Investigation, rolled +0)
At the annex exit, Zarbits organizes the passive cache into a sealed evidence bundle: account histories, Harmonic Ledger’s administrator, the emergency-systems designation, and every relay coordinate.
His goggles compare timestamps, authorization branches, and route metadata without transmitting. The records converge on a municipal emergency junction beneath the civic records annex’s north utility district.
Zarbits
The next relay is beneath the north utility district, and its route is tied directly to the emergency-systems access key.
Meridian dispatcher
Your consolidation is complete. I have the same evidence bundle mirrored, including the relay’s service designation and the administrator’s inherited credentials.
A second pass finds a maintenance identifier embedded in the handoff metadata. It points to a sub-basement emergency junction two blocks north, beneath a marked utility interchange.
Meridian dispatcher
Confirmed. The next relay is the emergency junction under the north utility interchange. Its access window remains authorized through the archive token.
The receiver stores the verified route, access window, and evidence checksum in passive memory. Rain continues along the service lane as the destination settles clearly across Zarbits’s display.
✓ Quest Accepted
Reach the emergency junction beneath the north utility interchange
“I take a moment to fix up my gear”
SUCCESS (Legendary Technology, rolled -1)
Under the annex’s service awning, Zarbits opens his travel kit and lays out the repaired receiver, spare filament, compact tools, and worn connector clips.
He tightens the receiver housing, replaces the loose clip, and reinforces the solderless splice with a wrapped conductive strip. The indicator returns as a steady blue glow.
Zarbits
The transmitter is restored, and passive storage remains intact.
Zarbits recalibrates the goggles against the receiver’s restored output, clearing rain distortion and sharpening the emergency junction route across his display.
Meridian dispatcher
I see your signal returning. The receiver is transmitting again, though its auxiliary reserve is limited after the earlier bridge.
He secures the tools, seals the evidence bundle beneath his labcoat, and fits the receiver into its traveling mount. Every relay coordinate and checksum remains readable.
Meridian dispatcher
Your equipment is ready, and the archive token remains valid. The emergency junction is two blocks north beneath the marked utility interchange.
✓ Quest Accepted
Get Meridian to account for the concealed credential connection
“Is Meridian concealing a direct credential connection?”
YES (Even, rolled 14)
The restored receiver completes its comparison without a new command. Meridian’s mirrored records overlap the archive trail, and one concealed credential branch rises between them.
Meridian dispatcher
Zarbits, I found a direct connection Meridian did not disclose. One of our emergency-services credentials authenticated Harmonic Ledger’s inherited administrator.
The branch carries Meridian’s internal service authority beneath several layers of contractor records. Its oldest surviving timestamp predates the forged junkyard delivery by months.
Meridian dispatcher
This was not merely a stolen municipal credential. Meridian’s own service account opened the path, then concealed the relationship inside contractor inheritance records.
Zarbits
Meridian’s credential chain reaches Harmonic Ledger before Maestro’s delivery operation began.
A second comparison exposes deliberate omissions: three audit entries were replaced with routine maintenance labels, while the hidden branch remained active beneath the annex route.
Meridian dispatcher
I cannot tell whether the concealment began with one compromised administrator or an approved internal program. But Meridian has been hiding a direct connection.
“I ask Meridian to identify who approved the concealed service account.”
SUCCESS (Good Investigation, rolled -1)
“I ask Meridian to identify who approved the concealed service account.”
SUCCESS (Great Reasoning, rolled -1)
Zarbits
Identify who approved the concealed service account, including the authorization record and the date it entered Meridian's system.
The restored receiver captures Zarbits's request while rain taps the service awning. Meridian’s mirrored records begin cross-referencing approval logs, contractor inheritances, and the hidden emergency-services branch.
Meridian dispatcher
I found the approval chain. The account was authorized by Deputy Director Mara Venn, Meridian Emergency Systems, nine months before the junkyard delivery.
A personnel record, approval signature, and encrypted audit reference assemble across Zarbits’s goggles. Venn approved the original service credential directly, then routed its renewal through Harmonic Ledger.
Meridian dispatcher
The approval was not forged. Venn’s signature validated the account, and her office replaced the audit entries with routine maintenance labels three weeks later.
Meridian dispatcher
I am preserving the signed authorization, the replacement logs, and Venn’s account history in the mirrored evidence bundle. We now have a named internal approver tied to Maestro’s network.
Quest Complete
Get Meridian to account for the concealed credential connection