Ash checks the apartment locks, tests the blinds, and inspects the disconnected arm cable. The socket remains strained, but the cable is secure and the door stays sealed.
A measured tap sounds through the apartment door, followed by a pause, then two shorter taps. The pattern matches an old emergency code.
Ash
The code predates the clinic visit.
Through the door camera, Kestrel waits in the corridor, a young adult woman with a compact build, copper-brown skin, cropped black hair, and a yellow courier jacket darkened by rain. One gloved hand holds a sealed data wafer.
Kestrel
Ash, it is Kestrel. I have a sealed wafer for you, and a warning. Someone has been asking about the person who rescued you from the wolves.
Kestrel keeps both feet outside the threshold and raises the wafer toward the camera. She makes no attempt to touch the lock, while the hallway's failing light pulses across her jacket.
Kestrel
I will wait here. You do not need to open the door until you decide what you want to do.
✓ Quest Accepted
Learn who is asking about the person who rescued Ash