Razor leads Vesper through rain-slick service alleys, twin blades hidden beneath his jacket. Rosiya follows several paces behind, unarmed but watchful, while her surrendered pistol remains on the kiosk ledge.
Razor
The safehouse is under a closed market. No cameras inside, unless someone rebuilt the market’s security grid for fun.
A rusted market shutter lifts just enough for them to slip beneath. Below, scavenged comms gear fills a concrete room lit by green diagnostics and battery lamps.
Kaito Chang, his narrow face marked by a small scar beneath one eye, a lean young adult man with tan skin, close-cropped black hair, and a patched orange utility jacket, rises beside the main console. Helix Felton, her square face framed by copper braids and a bright red scarf at her throat, a broad young adult woman with dark skin, braided copper hair, and a sleeveless armored vest, keeps one hand near a shock pistol.
Helix Felton
Razor brings trouble, and trouble brings a bounty hunter. Explain why Toritoma’s people are hunting her before we open anything secure.
Kaito Chang
We can give you a clean line and a place to disappear for a while. But shelter costs truth, and this one sounds expensive.
Rosiya
I declined the retrieval. That does not make her story credible. It only makes your risk shared.
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure protection from Kaito Chang and Helix Felton
“I have no idea why he wants. All I know of that after my mother died none of them came to my rescue and just shunned me. I have no interest in helping my father with anything.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled +2)
Vesper
I have no idea why he wants me. After my mother died, none of them came to my rescue. They shunned me, and I owe my father nothing.
Vesper’s words settle over the green-lit room. The comms gear hums beneath them, filling the silence without softening what she has said.
Rosiya
Then you are not his asset by loyalty, only by blood. That distinction matters, especially to people who issue retrieval orders.
Helix Felton
Good. I have no use for anyone volunteering to become corporate property. But I need to know whether Toritoma can reach this room through you.
Kaito Chang
Her refusal is clear. We can build the safe line around that, not around whatever story her father tells his operators.
Rosiya
She is not bargaining for a better cage. She means to stay outside it.
✓ Quest Accepted
Learn why Toritoma wants Vesper
“Well.. feel free to examine me if you wish. *I hold out myself for inspection.*”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled +1)
Vesper
Well... feel free to examine me if you wish.
Vesper holds herself still beneath the battery lamps, arms open and posture unguarded. Green diagnostic light traces her silhouette while the room’s equipment listens.
Kaito Chang
All right. No invasive scans. Helix, sweep for transmitters, active ports, and anything answering Toritoma’s network.
Helix Felton
On it. Stand easy, Vesper. I’m checking hardware and signal behavior, not judging what you survived.
Helix guides a handheld scanner from Vesper’s shoulders to her boots. Its display stays clean, showing no active beacon, hidden transmitter, or remote command channel.
Kaito Chang
Nothing live. Her implants are not broadcasting, and I find no foreign handshake. If Toritoma can reach her, it is not through an obvious device.
Rosiya
That is enough for shelter. It does not prove she is safe, but it proves she offered herself to scrutiny instead of hiding behind a story.
Quest Complete
Secure protection from Kaito Chang and Helix Felton
Skill Upgrade: Streetwise Good→Great