Ash finds a closed street clinic beneath a dead magenta sign. Rain needles the pavement, but a recessed service alcove still glows behind its security shutter.
Inside, a basic diagnostic bench hums beside stacked medical crates. The room smells of antiseptic, wet concrete, and overheated circuitry, with no sign of anyone who left the warehouse.
A storage door opens. Dr. Vale, an exhausted middle-aged woman with a narrow build, close-cropped gray hair, and a stained green clinic coat, steps into the alcove, her tired eyes fixing on Ash's injuries.
Dr. Vale
You look like the district tried to process you. I am not reaching for an alarm. Sit down if you want the bench.
Vale keeps both hands visible and nods toward the diagnostic cradle. Its cracked display offers trauma scans, prosthetic alignment checks, and a warning about automatic record synchronization.
Dr. Vale
The hardware can tell me what is failing. The clinic network can also tell whoever is hunting you where to find this door.
Outside, a surveillance drone whispers through the rain and passes beyond the shutter. The bench remains powered, waiting for Ash's choice, while Vale watches without moving closer.
✓ Quest Accepted
Assess Ash's injuries
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure medical treatment without exposing Ash's location
“I sit at the bench and ask Vale to disable record synchronization.”
FAILURE (Mediocre Willpower, rolled -1)
Ash sits on the diagnostic bench. The cradle adjusts around their remaining arm and shoulder, while the cracked display wakes beneath a wash of pale green light.
Ash
Disable record synchronization.
Dr. Vale
I can cut the automatic upload, but not from this screen. The request already opened a protected session.
Dr. Vale reaches beneath the bench and pulls a maintenance key from a sealed slot. She turns the clinic uplink switch, but the display flashes: SYNC SESSION ACTIVE, LOCAL CACHE LOCKED.
Dr. Vale
The network has not received your scan yet. That is the good news. The bad news is the cache will not release until its session is closed.
She disconnects the uplink cable and folds the diagnostic display into offline mode. A service prompt remains, exposing a manual cache purge port beneath the cradle.
Dr. Vale
I cannot disable it through the normal controls now. I can purge the locked cache through that port, but it will destroy this scan and leave no clinic copy.
“"i guess just do your medical thing and then i will head home before some one arrives" i say to Dr. Vale”
SUCCESS (Mediocre Willpower, rolled +1)
Ash
I guess just do your medical thing, and then I will head home before someone arrives.
Dr. Vale
Fine. Keep still. I will purge the cache, stabilize the shoulder, and make this quick.
Dr. Vale inserts the maintenance key into the manual port and confirms the purge. The locked scan dissolves from local storage, leaving only a blank diagnostic record.
She cleans and seals Ash's damaged side, checks the cybernetic socket, and fits a temporary brace around the shoulder. The cradle reports stable vitals and no automatic upload.
Dr. Vale
The clinic has nothing to transmit now. Avoid heavy strain until the socket stops complaining, and do not reconnect that arm tonight.
Dr. Vale kills the bench lights and unlocks the service shutter. Rain has thinned to a silver mist, and the street beyond remains empty beneath the dead magenta sign.
Ash leaves the clinic and heads home through the wet neon streets before anyone arrives. Behind them, Dr. Dr. Vale reseals the shutter and the alcove vanishes into darkness.
Quest Complete
Secure medical treatment without exposing Ash's location
Attribute Upgrade: Willpower Mediocre→Fair
+ New Item Acquired
Temporary shoulder brace
“when i arrive home i check my body for any injury”
SUCCESS (Good Perception, rolled +0)
Ash reaches home through thinning rain and locks the door behind them. The apartment is quiet, its cheap wall display pulsing with muted city alerts.
Under the bathroom’s harsh white strip, Ash removes the temporary brace and checks their body methodically, inspecting the sealed wounds, ribs, shoulder, and remaining arm.
Ash
The shoulder is stabilized. The sealed injuries are not bleeding, and there is no new damage.
The inspection finds bruising along the ribs, soreness around the cybernetic socket, and tenderness beneath the brace. The clinic’s seals remain clean and intact.
Ash checks their face and eye covering, then examines the loose cable and dislocated-arm connection. Nothing is worsening, though the socket shows clear strain.
Outside, a drone passes between the buildings, its searchlight briefly whitening the blinds before sliding away. No alarm follows, and the apartment remains undisturbed.
Quest Complete
Assess Ash's injuries
Attribute Upgrade: Willpower Fair→Good