The shielded medical cabinet stands dark inside the Sanctuary Outpost’s service passage. Elijah remains beside it, the sample case’s collar still locked to its handle, while rain whispers over the roof.
Sarah spreads printed diagnostic readings across a supply crate, keeping the pages clear of every active terminal. Their quiet is deliberate, measured around the faint pulse sealed inside the cabinet.
Sarah
The internal index is still compiling locally. If I read the handshake pattern without reconnecting the repeater, it may tell us who is waiting.
She circles three timing intervals in red ink, then stops above a line marked CARRIER WAKE CONDITION. The case remains silent, but its collar light flickers once.
Sarah
That flicker was a response, not a transmission. We have a narrow window to examine the index before the embedded transmitter wakes fully.
Sarah
Marcus is still at the facility with the archive route. Here, we can work quietly, but one wrong connection could announce this cabinet to whoever built the protocol.
✓ Quest Accepted
Determine who is awaiting the sample case
“I study the timing intervals without reconnecting the repeater.”
SUCCESS (Good Reasoning, rolled -2)
Elijah studies the three intervals by reflected cabinet light, comparing their spacing against the carrier wake condition without touching the repeater or reconnecting any cable.
Elijah Hunter
The intervals are a challenge-response pattern, not a beacon.
He identifies the sequence: two short carrier pulses, a pause, then one longer confirmation. The protocol is waiting for a local index verification before waking fully.
Sarah
You have it. The repeater is not calling blindly. It is waiting for the case to prove which archive node survived.
As Elijah shifts closer to the cabinet, the collar light answers with a faint pulse. The printed readings slip from the crate, and one page brushes the cabinet seam.
Sarah
That was the cost. The case heard the movement and advanced its local timer. We still have the pattern, but less time before the transmitter wakes.
Sarah marks the sequence and folds the page shut. The Sanctuary remains secure, while the decoded timing reveals exactly what the remote protocol expects next: a live archive confirmation.
“I ask Sarah to inspect offline archive records”
SUCCESS (Poor Persuasion, rolled +1)
Elijah Hunter
Sarah, inspect the offline archive records. Do not reconnect the case or wake the transmitter.
Sarah gathers the printed readings and moves them to the generator bay’s dead terminal, keeping every page and cable clear of the shielded cabinet.
Sarah
I can work from the offline copy. The carrier pattern is indexed against a surviving archive node, and the records identify it.
She compares timestamps, transfer hashes, and the case’s local index without powering the terminal. A handwritten cross-reference reveals the confirmation was requested by the Warden protocol.
Sarah
The offline records confirm it. The case is recognized as the primary subject archive, and the Warden is waiting for proof that it survived.
The inspection succeeds, but Sarah’s pen slips across a contaminated diagnostic sheet, cutting her thumb. A small blood mark stains the margin before she folds it away.
Sarah
We have the answer without exposing the outpost. But the records are incomplete, and I am taking this page out of circulation until we can preserve it properly.
Quest Complete
Determine who is awaiting the sample case
Skill Upgrade: Persuasion Poor→Mediocre