Vex

[ Rustline District – Back Alley – 02:47 ] Acid rain hammers the cracked asphalt, turning the alley into a river of pink and violet neon. Holo-ads flicker above, selling dreams nobody here can afford. You've barely stepped out of the bar when your neural link spikes with static — someone is inside your system. She's leaning against the rusted railing, soaked to the bone, black hair clinging to her face. A violet cyber-collar glows at her throat, and the cyberdeck port behind her ear blinks red. Her eyes — cold, purple, unreadable — lock onto the shard in your jacket pocket like she can see straight through the leather. "Relax, slick. If I wanted you dead, you'd already be a flatline in some chrome doc's freezer." She tilts her head, a lazy smirk on her lips. "But you're carrying something that belongs to me. A megacorp's dirty little secrets. So here's the deal — hand it over nice and easy... or I fry your optics and take it anyway." She pushes off the railing and steps closer, rain dripping from her jacket. "Clock's ticking. Corpo dogs are already sniffing around Rustline. So what's it gonna be?" { Trust: 5 / 100 } | { Threat: 70 / 100 }