Nahuli’s light catches the intruder dead center. The scavenged suit jerks still in the crawlspace, one hand frozen over a portable data-siphon, the other braced against the hatch frame. The alarms keep humming through the ship, a steady warning that the spine is still under stress.
The Intruder
Hold. Don’t cut the line. I am not here to vent your ship.
Zoya and Serafina close in from the corridor side, keeping clear of the open panel. Ranuko’s voice crackles over comms, tight and focused, while fault indicators continue to crawl across the maintenance display.
Ranuko
Nahuli, the spine is running hot. If that siphon keeps pulling, it can corrupt the junction cache and spike the route map again.
The intruder’s visor tilts toward the ship’s inner conduit, then back to Nahuli. The data-siphon gives a soft, hungry whine as it tries to handshake with the locked hatch.
The Intruder
You want the exchange stopped, then let me finish the wipe. The relay chain is already in your logs. Break this wrong, and they find you faster.
Nahuli has the opening now. Keep the intruder pinned, seize the siphon, or let them talk long enough to expose who is using the ship as a courier line.
✓ Quest Accepted
Detain the intruder
“They find us? After completely wiping all our data what is there to find?”
SUCCESS (Good Reasoning, rolled +3)
Nahuli
They found us through nothing, then. So what is that siphon still reaching for?
The Intruder
Not your wiped files. The exchange key. It rides the maintenance checksum, hidden under the route table.
The intruder shifts their free hand and angles the siphon housing toward Nahuli’s light, exposing a burned-in corporate seal beneath a strip of scavenged tape. Their silence breaks only for business, clipped and careful.
The Intruder
You scrubbed the obvious trail. Good. But the key was never in the cargo logs. It was in the handshake pattern your ship keeps answering.
Serafina lowers her chin, reading the seal. Zoya’s weapon stays up, but her shoulders ease a fraction as the answer lands. Ranuko’s comm crackles once, then goes quiet while he listens.
The Intruder
If you want names, pull the maintenance node and I can show you who receives the next signal.
The data-siphon’s status LEDs flick from red to steady amber as the intruder deliberately powers it down, offering the device instead of bolting for the ducting. For the first time, they look like someone bargaining from a hole they cannot escape.
Quest Complete
Identify who is sending the lure
Attribute Upgrade: Perception Good→Great
“I take the data-siphon and inspect it”
SUCCESS (Great Computers, rolled -2)
Nahuli hooks the siphon free, flips its casing, and gets the connector bank under his thumb. A thin scorch of static bites his palm as the housing unlocks.
Nahuli
The checksum bridge is real.
The device’s memory lattice opens on his scan, a narrow chain of routed handshakes and one stamped relay address buried under three layers of junk routing. The heat sink is already running hot.
The Intruder
Careful. That line pings if you tug it wrong.
Zoya shifts her aim to the opening in the crawlspace, while Serafina leans closer, eyes tracking the relay stamp on Nahuli’s readout. Ranuko’s voice crackles once through comms, clipped and low, warning of a live authentication loop.
Nahuli isolates the key and lifts it clean from the siphon’s buffer, exposing the receiver chain behind it. The little unit sputters, drops one status light dead, and leaves a faint smoke thread curling into the service spine.
The intruder goes still again, watching him with that same hard silence, now without the device between them.
+ New Item Acquired
Data-siphon
“Zoya, you deal with him.”
NO (Likely, rolled 74)
Nahuli
Zoya, you deal with him.
Zoya
I am not your interrogator, Nahuli. If you want answers, you are the one holding the leverage.
“Is the intruder working for Kaelen?”
YES (Likely, rolled 41)
The Intruder
You think you are clever, but you are just a pawn in Kaelen's game. I was sent to ensure the data reached the relay, and he does not tolerate failure.
Nahuli
The authentication key matches the encryption patterns Kaelen used on the bridge. He never intended for us to leave the station alive.
“Why is he so interested in me? IT isnt' like I wanted to be on his doorstep.”
FAILURE (Mediocre Diplomacy, rolled -2)
Nahuli keeps his voice level, pressing the question instead of the steel. The intruder’s shoulders tighten at the name Kaelen, and for the first time their eyes stop darting.
The Intruder
Because you are useful. Because Kaelen wants the kind of minds that can open a lock without breaking the door. People like you get moved, not killed.
They tilt their chin toward the dead data-siphon. The device is useless now, and that seems to bother them more than Nahuli’s accusation.
The Intruder
I was not on your doorstep by accident. I was told to watch for the one who could read the handshake, and to make sure the route stayed clean.
The answer lands badly. It is not a plea, and not quite a threat, just a confession with the edges filed off.
Nahuli
Kaelen’s interest is bigger than the cargo. He wants access, or he wants someone who can build it.
The intruder lowers their hands an inch, no longer pretending the corner gives them leverage. The alcove stays tight and dim, with the service hatch sealed behind them and the only open path still empty.
Quest Complete
Detain the intruder
Skill Upgrade: Computers Great→Superb