Adrian Vale hits the SUV’s passenger side, one hand already in his pocket. A keycard flashes in the haze. He swipes it at the door seam like he knows exactly what it opens.
The security officer jerks toward him, startled off their line, and the gun barks once. The shot cracks through the garage, forcing the maintenance worker to flinch back behind the sedan.
Justin keeps his focus low at the steering column, fingers moving through the hanging panel and colored wires. The open garage suddenly feels smaller, tighter, all sharp sound and smoke.
Adrian Vale
Now. Get it started.
The Security Officer
Nobody move. Back away from the vehicle.
The Maintenance Worker
I just need help, please, I did not do anything!
Adrian shoves the keycard reader against the SUV again, jaw clenched, while the officer re-centers their aim. The maintenance worker hesitates in the open, trapped between the gun and the car.
✓ Quest Accepted
Get the vehicle started
“Can Justin hurry the starting of the SUV? He's kind of on the clock...”
NO, AND WORSE (Likely, rolled 93)
Justin yanks at the ignition wires, but the sedan's security immobilizer triggers a hard lockout, killing the dash lights entirely. The engine does not even turn over, and the sudden silence in the garage is heavier than the gunfire.
Justin Forester
The system is dead. I am stuck here with a locked car and a gun pointed at my back.
undefined / undefined
The garage door groans halfway upward, then jams with a metallic shudder. Dust rains from the track above, and the sudden gap floods the bay with a stripe of cold light from outside.
Adrian Vale
Forget the SUV, Justin. I need the vehicle that leaves the facility logs clean. If I walk out in that one, they trace me in minutes.
His hand stays on the hidden keycard, but his eyes cut past the sedan, past Justin, toward the only open lane in the garage. The security officer hears the same thing and swings the pistol toward Adrian instead of the car.
The Maintenance Worker
No, no, no, you cannot shoot in here. The fuel line runs under that bay.
A faint drip hisses somewhere below the concrete, and the worker goes rigid, staring at the floor like they know exactly what is under it. Justin has one broken car, one trapped exit, and Adrian is suddenly looking less like a passenger and more like a man running from something official.
“Justin ducks from the guard, slips around to the sedan, and attempts to board and start it with the key in the ignition.”
SUCCESS (Fair Agility, rolled +0)
Justin breaks from the sedan, low and fast, using the hood as cover while the guard’s attention stays on Adrian. He slides into the driver’s seat and jams the key into the ignition.
The engine coughs, catches, then stalls hard. The dashboard flashes a theft lockout before going dim again.
Justin Forester
The immobilizer still has it boxed.
Justin gets one hand on the wheel and the other back to the wires. The sedan gives a second angry sputter, enough to wake the garage with its noise.
Adrian Vale
That’s my chance, Justin. The logs. I can’t leave in the SUV because they’ll know I touched the breach.
The security officer snaps his aim toward the sedan now, and the maintenance worker flinches harder against the pillar as the drip under the concrete hisses again.
The Security Officer
Hands where I can see them, both of you.
Outside light spills across Justin’s lap, the key still in place, the car still dead, and Adrian’s words hang in the air like a confession that changes the whole exit.