The maintenance drone abruptly powers down. Darkness swallows the kiosk awning, leaving only rain sheen and distant maglev light around Vesper and Razor.
Rosiya steps from behind the shuttered entrance, a compact young woman with warm brown skin, cropped dark hair, and a weathered armored coat. Her pistol stays lowered, though ready.
Rosiya
The Black Arancini aren't the only people tracking you. I have a contract bearing your family name, Vesper.
Rosiya
Temporary negotiation. You answer a few questions, I keep my employer from closing this net around you.
The projected contract hovers between them in pale blue layers, displaying Inagawa-kai credentials and a bounty authorization whose final clauses remain deliberately redacted.
Razor
Rosiya. Bounty hunter, corporate leash, and terrible timing. Lower that weapon another centimeter before this becomes a bad negotiation.
Rosiya
Your detective already escaped. Your gang escorts are searching the wrong alleys. For now, I am the only person offering terms instead of an ambush.
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure a bargain with Rosiya that redirects the pursuit
“My family? That’s a lose term. They don’t exactly claim me, you know. Who could it possibly be?”
SUCCESS (Good Reasoning, rolled -1)
Vesper
My family? That’s a loose term. They don’t exactly claim me, you know. Who could it possibly be?
Rosiya
Toritoma Inagawa-kai. Your father’s organization issued the contract through an intermediary, but his authorization is embedded in the credentials.
The blue projection sharpens. Toritoma’s seal resolves beside the bounty clauses, followed by a retrieval order naming Vesper as a priority asset rather than a relative.
Razor
Priority asset? That’s corporate language for somebody who wants you contained, questioned, and stripped of every useful secret.
Rosiya
The order does not say whether he wants you alive, but it does authorize escalation if you resist. I dislike vague employers. They make witnesses inconvenient.
Rain ticks against the kiosk roof. Vesper now has the answer plainly: Toritoma is behind the net, using his organization to reclaim control of her.
Razor
Now we know whose leash she’s holding. Question is, Rosiya, are you still wearing it?
“Well.. if you think I’m going to just let you take me to my father you’ve got another thing coming. First of all.. my father is dead. *I take out my katana and rest it on my shoulder.* You really want a fight right now?”
SUCCESS (Superb Willpower, rolled -1)
Vesper
Well, if you think I’m going to let you take me to my father, you’ve got another thing coming. My father is dead. You really want a fight right now?
Vesper draws her katana and rests it across her shoulder. Rain beads along the blade, catching the kiosk’s pale projection light.
Rosiya
She is not bluffing. The contract says priority asset, but it does not make this a clean capture.
Rosiya’s pistol lowers fully. Her shoulders remain squared, but the projected contract flickers between them as her attention shifts from the bounty to Vesper’s blade.
Rosiya
No. Not right now. I am paid to bring people in, not trade limbs beneath a dead camera.
Razor
Smart answer. Keep the steel down, Rosiya, and maybe this stays a negotiation instead of becoming tonight’s headline.
Rosiya
Your father may be dead. His organization is not. I will not take you anywhere by force, but the contract remains active.
“Whatever they want it isn’t good. You’re on the wrong side of this unless you only care about money. Give me your gun and go in peace. This time.”
SUCCESS (Superb Willpower, rolled +0)
Vesper
Whatever they want, it isn't good. You're on the wrong side unless you only care about money. Give me your gun and go in peace. This time.
Vesper's katana remains balanced across her shoulder, rain sliding from its edge. Her voice stays level, but the demand leaves no room for Rosiya to mistake her resolve.
Rosiya
Money is the leash they expect me to wear. Tonight, I can choose whether to fasten it.
Rosiya
You make a convincing argument. I care about surviving, and I have no appetite for being Toritoma's disposable instrument.
Rosiya slowly removes the pistol's power cell, ejects the magazine, and places both pieces on the kiosk ledge. Then she sets the unloaded weapon beside them and steps back.
Rosiya
There. The gun is yours. Tell your father, if he is listening through that contract, that I declined the retrieval.
Razor
That is the cleanest surrender I've seen all week. Take the hardware, Vesper. Rosiya, walk before somebody remembers how lucrative loyalty can be.
Quest Complete
Secure a bargain with Rosiya that redirects the pursuit
Attribute Upgrade: Willpower Superb→Legendary
+ New Item Acquired
Pistol