The catwalk shudders under the fans. Ahead, Marek Sulo’s office door glows with a red access seam, and the patrol drone drifts away for one clean breath.
Jade Blue slips from shadow to shadow, blaster low, while Marshal Dax Orin covers the rear. The corridor scanner keeps sweeping behind them, one more pass from sealing the route.
Jade Blue
The terminal is beside the door. If it’s live, it can open the office or pull Sulo’s records.
Jade reaches the terminal and jacks in her smart watch. A finance schematic blooms across the screen, then a locked file tag flashes the name MAREK SULO, with ORPHEUS buried beneath it.
Marshal Dax Orin
That’s our window, Jade. Get in there fast, before whoever’s hunting us closes the net.
The door seals hiss open a handspan. Inside, a man in a crisp suit turns from a desk of holo-ledgers, caught halfway between surprise and escape. Marek Sulo sees Jade, and all the color drains from his face.
Marek Sulo
Wait. I can tell you where your sister went.
✓ Quest Accepted
Extract information about Mira Blue from Marek Sulo
✓ Quest Accepted
Evade the Syndicate security team
“I demand Marek Sulo tell me exactly where my sister is.”
FAILURE (Good Willpower, rolled -3)
Jade Blue
You tell me where Mira Blue is, right now.
Marek Sulo
I can. Just not for free.
Jade keeps her blaster steady, but Marek lifts one hand off the desk and shows empty fingers. His chair inches back from the holo-ledgers, buying space he does not have.
Marek Sulo
The ledger names are bait. ORPHEUS moved her off-book, through a private handoff on Nova Meridian.
Jade Blue
He is stalling with a location and not giving one.
Marek Sulo
If you want the exact address, you need the courier tag. I remember the face, not the destination.
Dax stays silent at the threshold, watching Marek's hands. The office door hangs open behind them, and the scanner's light crawls farther down the corridor like it is counting seconds.
Marek Sulo
Sit down, Jade. I can give you the name that carried her away, or you can waste this moment staring at my gun-free hands.
Quest Complete
Confront Marek Sulo at the Nova Meridian finance stack
Attribute Upgrade: Agility Superb→Legendary
“I motion Dax to cover Marek while I search the desk”
SUCCESS (Good Investigation, rolled -3)
Jade gives Dax a sharp nod, and he shifts at the threshold, muzzle leveled at Marek's chest. The distraction opens a clean line to the desk.
She slides in low, one hand steady on the blaster, the other skimming holo-ledgers, cable beads, and a thin stack of access slips until her fingers catch a courier tag tucked under a data slate.
Jade Blue
Courier tag. Got it.
The tag is warm from the desk light, stamped with a routing code and a partial drop seal. Jade folds it into her palm before Marek can track the motion.
Marek Sulo
Careful, that tag is the only reason you're still getting a conversation.
Dax does not look away from Marek, but the scanner beam in the corridor keeps crawling nearer, bleaching the doorway in white.
Marek Sulo
If you want the courier, you move now, or you lose the window.
Quest Complete
Extract information about Mira Blue from Marek Sulo
Attribute Upgrade: Willpower Good→Great