The terminal steadies into amber, then throws up a floor plan of a hidden lab below the facility. A second alarm joins the first, sharper and closer, and the corridor floor starts to tremble.
Marcus goes pale and points at the map. On-screen, a sublevel marked ARCHIVE COLD ROOM and SECONDARY SERVER flashes access warnings beside the AEGIS tag.
Marcus
That room has the rest of it. Samples, logs, everything they hid after the field trials. If Northstar gets there first, the proof is gone.
A heavy metallic impact rolls through the corridor from the blast door. Dust sifts from the ceiling. Somewhere beyond the smoke, something large is moving with purpose.
Sarah
Then we do not wait here. Elihjah, that archive is the case. It names the victims and the people who built this.
The PA Voice
Unauthorized access confirmed. Target acquisition in progress. Containment team advancing to recover Project AEGIS assets.
The route is clear now, down to the hidden lab or back into the corridor to meet Northstar's cleanup crew. The evidence is real, and so is the hunt for it.
✓ Quest Accepted
Reach the hidden archive
✓ Quest Accepted
Get past Northstar’s containment team
“Can we reach the archive before the containment team blocks the path?”
YES (Likely, rolled 18)
Elijah Hunter
The ventilation shafts on the map... they bypass the main corridor entirely.
Sarah
Elihjah, look at the maintenance schematic. If we move now, we can reach the cold room before they seal the sector. My name is Sarah, and I know these layouts better than they do.
“I ask Sarah how to bypass the seals”
SUCCESS (Fair Reasoning, rolled +1)
Elijah Hunter
How do we get past the seals?
Sarah
Maintenance access. The cold room has a manual bypass under the panel, but only if the vent route stays open long enough.
Sarah sweeps a finger along the blue line on the terminal, then points to a narrow maintenance junction that pulses faint green on the map.
Marcus
There should be a relay key in the archive antechamber. If Northstar has not already locked it, that route gets us around the main seals.
The corridor shudders hard enough to rattle dust from the ceiling, and the terminal flickers as the ventilation route locks into a clear path.
The PA Voice
Containment team is entering Sector B. Target data signature confirmed.
Sarah snatches the map off the screen and turns toward the marked access hatch, waiting for Elihjah to move first.
“i move towards the archive antechamber”
SUCCESS (Superb Agility, rolled +1)
Elihjah moves off the terminal glow and into the maintenance junction, the data drive held tight as the floor gives a hard, warning tremor under his boots. The archive route opens ahead of him like a slit of darker air.
Sarah slips after him, one hand on the wall for balance, eyes locked on the hatch line and the route marker now pulsing beyond it.
Marcus
If the relay key is still there, take it fast. Once the seals cycle, Northstar will try to cut this corridor off.
The access hatch stands open now, revealing a narrow service throat beyond, lit by a thin strip of emergency green.
Elijah Hunter
The archive antechamber is ahead.
Elihjah reaches the threshold first, the drive secure in his hand, while Sarah angles in behind him toward the hidden route.
The PA Voice
Target movement continues. Intercept the archive access point.