Skybridge 88 falls behind as Mara slips through a maintenance descent, her upgraded Aero-Stride Greaves stable beneath every quiet landing. The controlled copy remains safely transferred to X, while the projector crawler stays with her elsewhere.
The route drops into Sector 9 Slums, where neon haze pools beneath the transit grid and black-market chatter threads through crowded lanes. Unclaimed routes branch everywhere, offering exactly the low profile Mara needs.
Behind her, Jacy J and Rylan D. Wolfian remain at Gilded Spire Plaza, left with the exposed truth and a bridge full of restored telemetry. They do not follow her into the lower tiers.
Mara emerges beside a shuttered repair stall and slows to a walk. The favor is secured, the technology is still hers, and the city has not managed to put a leash back on her.
Mara Vance
Aethelgard still has plenty of games.
Around her, the Sector 9 crowd trades rumors, routes, counterfeit access keys, and impossible opportunities beneath flickering signs. Every alley seems to promise a different kind of trouble, profit, or spectacle.
Then a battered public terminal beside the stall wakes without invitation. Its screen displays a single unopened message addressed to Mara, while the surrounding neon hums steadily on.
✓ Quest Accepted
Learn what opportunity the terminal message offers