Breaking into a corporate building turned out to be easier than I expected. Mostly because I didn't actually break in—I applied for a job.
"You want to work in our record-keeping department?" The hiring manager looked skeptical.
"I'm excellent with numbers and organization," I lied smoothly. "Plus, I heard Whitmore Corporation offers great opportunities for advancement."
[SILVER TONGUE (RANK F) ACTIVATED][DECEPTION CHECK: SUCCESS]
Two days later, I was employed as a junior clerk. Lowest level access, but access nonetheless.
[INFILTRATION SUCCESSFUL][NOW FIND THE EVIDENCE]
The Whitmore building was massive—ten floors of offices, warehouses, and records. Somewhere in here was proof they were poisoning the slums.
I started in the records room. During lunch breaks, I'd "accidentally" wander into restricted areas. My Peace of Mind skill helped me stay calm when security guards questioned me. My Strategic Planning helped me map the building layout.
On day four, I found it.
A ledger in the accounting department, poorly hidden. Payments to a "W. Darkwater" for "water treatment services." Twenty gold suns per week for the past month.
But Whitmore didn't own the slum's water supply. Why would they pay for treatment?
[ANALYZE FURTHER]
I cross-referenced the dates. Every payment to Darkwater coincided with a spike in illness reports.
Water treatment. Shadow Essence treatment. They were poisoning the water under the guise of treating it.
[EVIDENCE ACQUIRED: PAYMENT RECORDS][ADDITIONAL EVIDENCE NEEDED: TESTIMONY OR PHYSICAL PROOF]
I needed more. I needed to catch them in the act.
That night, I followed the next scheduled "treatment." A Whitmore employee met with a cloaked figure near the slum's well. Money exchanged hands. The cloaked figure poured something into the well.
I used a recording crystal I'd "borrowed" from Frost's mansion. Got everything.
[EVIDENCE COMPLETE][READY TO EXPOSE WHITMORE CORPORATION]
But there was a problem. Whitmore had friends in the city guard. In the council. Simply presenting evidence might not be enough.
I needed public pressure. I needed the city to care.
[STRATEGIC PLANNING ACTIVATED][ANALYZING BEST APPROACH...][SOLUTION FOUND: MAKE IT IMPOSSIBLE TO IGNORE]
I went to the Merchant's Guild. To the Healer's Guild. To every newspaper in the city. I showed them the evidence. Explained how twenty-three people had died so a corporation could buy cheap land.
At first, they dismissed me. Just another conspiracy theorist.
Then Nina brought the sick people. Forty men, women, and children, dying from Shadow Essence poisoning. Set them up in front of the Whitmore building.
The newspapers couldn't ignore that.
[PUBLIC OUTRAGE: RISING][WHITMORE CORPORATION REPUTATION: PLUMMETING]
Within hours, the city erupted. Protests. Investigations. The city guard was forced to act. Whitmore executives were arrested. The poisoning stopped.
[QUEST COMPLETE: THE SILENT PLAGUE][LIVES SAVED: 40][CORPORATION EXPOSED: 1][JUSTICE SERVED: YES][REWARD: +25,000 CREDITS]
[BONUS: PUBLIC HERO STATUS][ADDITIONAL REWARD: +10,000 CREDITS]
[CURRENT BALANCE: -907,740 CREDITS]
But it wasn't over. The sick people still needed antidotes.
I used my fifty gold to buy as many doses as I could—enough for twenty people. The Healer's Guild, shamed by the publicity, donated the rest.
Every single person survived.
[ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: "SAVED A COMMUNITY"][BONUS REWARD: +5,000 CREDITS][NEW SKILL: INVESTIGATOR (RANK F)]
Nina found me after it was all over, hugged me so tight I couldn't breathe.
"You did it. You actually did it."
"We did it," I corrected. "You brought the issue to light. I just helped."
[HUMILITY DETECTED][SINCERITY: 94%][YOUR CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT IS IMPRESSIVE]
As I walked back to the Frost mansion, exhausted but satisfied, the system chimed.
[NOTICE: YOUR REPUTATION IS SPREADING][YOU'RE BECOMING KNOWN AS "THE PEOPLE'S CHAMPION"][EXPECT MORE DIFFICULT REQUESTS][ALSO EXPECT MORE ENEMIES]
"Enemies?"
[YOU JUST TOOK DOWN A MAJOR CORPORATION][POWERFUL PEOPLE ARE NOTICING YOU][NOT ALL OF THEM WILL BE HAPPY ABOUT IT]
Great. But I'd worry about that tomorrow.
Tonight, I'd saved forty lives and taken down corporate murderers.
I'd call that a win.