Static crawls across the corridor feed overhead. The lift stays locked red, and Dax Orin keeps staring at the data wafer in Jade Blue’s hand like it might explode.
Marshal Dax Orin
Give me the wafer, Jade. If the Syndicate sees that breach tag, they will come here fast.
A sharp buzz hits Jade’s smart watch, one encrypted pulse from the wafer, then a second. A file index flashes up: debt ledger, shipping routes, and one name buried in the traffic, ORPHEUS.
Jade Blue
ORPHEUS again.
Marshal Dax Orin
That ledger is bigger than you think. It ties names, cargo, and favors across the Velvet Mile. If you keep it, you are holding a Syndicate target on your back.
The static on the feed briefly resolves into a reflected image, a masked transfer record and a partial route marker from Nova Meridian. Dax sees it too, and his jaw tightens.
Marshal Dax Orin
If your sister is in that mess, this is where you start. But we move now, or we both get boxed in.
✓ Quest Accepted
Escape the Velvet Mile corridor
✓ Quest Accepted
Investigate the Orpheus connection in Nova Meridian
“Can I use the kiosk to loop the feed and buy us an exit?”
YES (Likely, rolled 14)
Jade Blue
The kiosk interface is still warm, and the sub-routine for the security feed is surprisingly unshielded.
A quick diagnostic scan reveals a dormant loop function in the kiosk's architecture, capable of masking their presence from the corridor sensors for a short window.
“I activate the loop function to mask our escape.”
SUCCESS (Mediocre Engineering, rolled +1)
Jade taps the dormant loop active. The kiosk’s feed steadies into a harmless corridor replay, and the breach alert tone drops into a distant hush.
The sensor overlay on the screen goes translucent, then clean. Their silhouettes slip out of the active scan lane.
Marshal Dax Orin
That buys us a minute. Maybe two.
Dax checks the sealed lift with a hard glance, then looks back to the wafer in Jade’s hand. Its index bar crawls on, and a fresh label resolves: ORPHEUS, NOVA MERIDIAN ROUTE NODE.
Jade Blue
ORPHEUS is tied to Nova Meridian.
Marshal Dax Orin
We move now, or we stay here for them. Which way are you taking us?
“I lead Dax toward the service exit to leave the corridor.”
SUCCESS (Great Agility, rolled -3)
Jade hooks two fingers under Dax’s sleeve and angles him off the kiosk line, moving low and quick before the loop can sour.
He falls in beside her without argument, shoulder tight to the wall, eyes tracking the corridor mouth ahead.
They slip past the sealed lift and take the service exit when the frame opens on a maintenance hatch, half-lit and narrow.
Marshal Dax Orin
Keep that wafer hidden. If anyone clocks it, we were never here.
The corridor noise thins behind them as the hatch swallows their shadows, the Velvet Mile’s neon spill fading to a hard blue strip of service light.
Marshal Dax Orin
Nova Meridian is a big city. Orpheus could be a node, a broker, or a trap. We find the right one fast.
Ahead, the service passage splits into two maintenance routes, one marked with a faded transit glyph, the other with a fresh Syndicate chalk slash.
Quest Complete
Escape the Velvet Mile corridor
Skill Upgrade: Engineering Mediocre→Fair