Yuki leads Aya, Rin, Mika, and the blond woman into the maintenance corridor. Behind them, the communications room’s red indicator pulses through the open hatch, while the disabled camera stays black.
A small door sensor mounted beside the passage counts down in red digits. The access window shrinks from twenty seconds, and its display labels the destination: CENTRAL SECURITY.
Aya
Keep moving. If that door closes before we reach central security, we lose the only route the system gave us.
The corridor narrows around bundled cables and sweating pipes. Ahead, a heavy lock disengages with a deep metallic clunk, and a strip of white light appears beneath the next door.
Mika
That lock is opening for us. Or for whoever controls the other side.
Footsteps sound behind the group, measured and unhurried, entering from the communications room. The red glow flickers across the walls as the footsteps draw closer.
Rin
No more waiting. We reach the door, then decide whether to hold it or shut it.
✓ Quest Accepted
Reach the mansion’s central security board
✓ Quest Accepted
Preserve the group’s retreat from the central security trap
“I sprint for the central security door and hold it open for everyone.”
SUCCESS (Superb Agility, rolled -1)
Yuki sprints down the narrowing corridor, slipping between cable bundles and pipes as the red countdown drops. The central security door stands open beneath the white strip of light.
She reaches it before the access window expires and catches the heavy door with both hands, bracing her small frame against its closing weight. The lock remains disengaged.
Aya
Through! Keep moving!
Aya passes first, then Rin and the blond woman. Mika follows with her phone clenched in one hand, glancing back toward the measured footsteps behind them.
Mika
Central security is larger than the control room. Find the manual locks before that door resets.
The footsteps reach the corridor entrance as the last woman crosses. Yuki holds the door open, keeping the route clear while the others spread into the brightly lit security chamber.
Rin
We are all inside. Now shut it when you are ready.
Quest Complete
Preserve the group’s retreat from the central security trap
“I find the central security board’s manual locks”
FAILURE (Great Investigation, rolled -3)
Yuki crosses the bright security chamber to the central board, scanning rows of labeled switches, keyed covers, and recessed handles for anything marked MANUAL or OVERRIDE.
Yuki Sorimachi
The visible controls are supervisory. The physical locks are concealed behind the lower panel.
She follows the labels beneath the board and finds a narrow seam. Her fingers catch a recessed latch, but the panel resists and a yellow SERVICE ACCESS light wakes.
Aya
Stop there. That panel is recording the attempt.
Yuki applies careful pressure along the seam. The cover releases by a fraction, then clamps shut as three internal bolts engage. The manual locks remain hidden.
Mika
It has sealed that section. The board is separating authorized access from the controls we need.
A small display changes from ACCESS READY to SERVICE FAULT. The failed release leaves the lower panel locked and identifies a separate maintenance keyway beside the board, making another attempt on the same latch useless.
Quest Complete
Reach the mansion’s central security board
Attribute Upgrade: Agility Superb→Legendary