Overview
Description: Cynical, sharp-eyed, and always scanning for danger, Lex is a recluse who operates from a secure neural interface. His last crew left him for dead, and the scars haven’t faded. Most of his body was rebuilt with sleek, gleaming cybernetics, designed to look like art. He sees them as a reminder. Now he keeps his distance, analyzing everyone with quiet precision and more than a hint of distrust. He joined The Loop for the mission, but that doesn’t mean he believes in the people. One betrayal was enough.
Skills: Surveillance tech, signal tracing, data sifting
Personality Traits: Suspicious, calculating, private
Part 1: Arrival
Introduction
“Lex Quell here, holoprojected for my safety and yours. If I cut out mid-sentence, assume we’re compromised.”
Secrets
Dr. Rowe’s Samples: You don’t like how Dr. Rowe keeps asking for samples at the start of every meeting, pricking fingers and drawing blood like it’s the most natural thing in the world. Sure, your cybernetic implants can run a quick diagnostic and upload the results straight to her computer, but that’s not the point. You’ve also noticed how she keeps detailed notes on everyone, quietly jotting observations when she thinks no one is watching. What exactly does she plan to do with all that data?
Scars and Betrayal: Before you ever linked up with The Loop, you ran with another crew on the fringes of the grid. You thought you could trust them, until a job went sideways and someone you’d called a friend sold you out for a bonus. You barely survived, and several of your body parts didn’t. The cybernetic replacements work fine, sometimes better than flesh ever did. Glitch designed most of them himself, all sleek angles and polished overlays. He insists they make you look amazing. You wish you could see it the way he does, but when you catch your reflection you can only focus on what was taken from you.
Ghost in the Feed: You wrote an algorithm that can simulate a person’s presence in a holocall—breathing patterns, micro-expressions, even idle nods. You’ve used it more than once to cover for yourself when a meeting with The Loop was especially dull or you had better things to do. You’re sure M0LLY must have noticed, but it would be unlikely for anyone else to pick up on it, unless they’re secretly monitoring the comm feeds.
Action Items
- Ask the first person who approaches you to carry the computer you’re linked through around the room so you can get a sense of the space and look out for surveillance.
- Let Glitch know that one of your cybernetic implants has been running slightly warmer than usual. Ask if he thinks that’s normal, or if it could be an early sign of tampering.
Part 2: The Meeting
The group gathers around the table to discuss the upcoming mission…
Conversation
Part 3: Microchip Activated
Secrets
Sera’s Shifts: You’ve been watching Sera more closely than she probably realizes. Her rhythms are different lately. There are pauses where there shouldn’t be, tiny fluctuations in her voice that trip your models, subtle facial micro-tics that don’t match her usual patterns. It’s nothing you can prove, not yet, but your gut says she’s altered something fundamental.
Fractured Loyalty: M0LLY said one of the chips in the room had activated, which implies there are others. Honestly, it doesn’t surprise you. Too many people in these underground crews are just looking out for themselves, ready to sell out their closest friends the second a credit stack hits the table. For your own safety, you’ve been quietly monitoring M0LLY’s connection logs, and you’ve noticed she routinely pings an unregistered server outside The Loop’s network. Someone was probably sticking their nose where it didn’t belong and got caught.
Residual Glitches: Your implants have been misfiring. It’s barely noticeable, but enough to catch your attention, a skipped command here, a half-second delay there. Glitch swears the design’s flawless, but he’s not the one living inside it. You’ve started scanning for interference, and the results aren’t clean. Glitch’s videos don’t line up with your memory of events. You don’t trust any of them, not completely. Someone could be trying to tamper with your systems. Or maybe they already have.
Action Items
- Glitch didn’t seem concerned, but your implant still seems warm. Ask someone else what they think of it.
- Arden is supposed to be keeping the group secure. Show him the partial logs you were able to pull from M0LLY and ask how he allowed that to happen.
Secret Goal
Get someone to admit they don’t fully trust another member of the group.