The transmitter pulses against the blackmail file in the same measured rhythm as before. Then its faint chirp turns sharply toward the loading court floor.
Night Watchman
That pattern is new. It is not a beacon. It is a handshake.
Night Watchman points to a rusted maintenance hatch beneath the awning. Rainwater threads toward its seams, carrying a thin metallic vibration up through the concrete.
Night Watchman
The relay is answering the transmitter. Whoever receives this file is below us, or listening through the building's service network.
The file's inner photograph shifts as the transmitter pulses again. A pinprick of green light appears beside a printed address: the Forger apartment building, marked as an active pressure point.
Beneath the hatch, a concealed relay clicks into its transmission cycle. It is not sending the blackmail file onward. It is confirming that the file has reached the intended watch point, and that the household remains under observation.
✓ Quest Accepted
Identify the signal's recipient
✓ Quest Accepted
Cut off the relay's access to the apartment
“"I will go plant it somewhere else just let me go!"”
SUCCESS (Legendary Persuasion, rolled +2)
Loid Forger
I will plant it somewhere else. Just let me go.
Night Watchman studies the file, then the pulsing transmitter held at the edge of the hatch.
Night Watchman:7
All right. Take it away from this building. I will not record your departure.
They step aside and unlock the service-court passage. The sealed gate remains shut, but the pedestrian exit beyond the awning is clear.
Night Watchman:7
The handshake receiver is this relay beneath us, not a person inside the apartment. I can cut its building-network line now.
They wrench open the maintenance panel and pull the labeled service lead. The green indicator dies, and the transmitter's pulse loses its answering rhythm.
Night Watchman:7
The relay is blind to the household. Move before its operator notices the interruption.
Quest Complete
Cut off the relay's access to the apartment
“As I go I stealthily plant the transmitter on his neck”
SUCCESS (Legendary Stealth, rolled -2)
Loid Forger crosses the gap as the watchman turns toward the unlocked passage. His hand slips beneath the watchman's collar, and the transmitter vanishes against the skin at the back of their neck.
The device adheres without a sound, but its edge scrapes the watchman's collar. A thin line of blood marks the fabric, the concrete cost of a barely clean placement.
Night Watchman:7
You left it on me.
Night Watchman:7 reaches for the spot, then freezes as the transmitter pulses beneath their collar. The pulse no longer answers the apartment relay.
Night Watchman:7
There. The handshake is calling the building-network control desk, not anyone inside the flat.
Their handheld radio clicks awake with a distant acknowledgment. The watchman angles it toward the transmitter, turning the device into a warning that the control desk can hear.
Night Watchman:7
Control desk, your relay was cut. The apartment line is no longer available. Stop monitoring this address.
The acknowledgment dies into static. Behind them, the dark relay remains disconnected, while the concealed transmitter beneath the neighboring table is only a dead memory of the route.
Quest Complete
Neutralize the transmitter threat
Attribute Upgrade: Willpower Good→Great
Quest Complete
Identify the signal's recipient
Skill Upgrade: Security Systems Mediocre