EPISODE 4: GUILD OFFER ## Midnight Protocol — Season 1, Episode 4 --- Aegis Logistics did not knock. They scheduled. Rae found the invitation as a quest overlay on the pharmacy door at Mercy Cross, white corporate UI cleaner than the System's usual blue. ``` [CONTRACT OFFER: AEGIS LOGISTICS] Role: Protocol Runner (exclusive route rights, Harbor District) Pay: 500 System Coin / week + armor stipend Duty: Priority deliveries, no Mercy Cross conflict clause Deadline to respond: 06:00 Accept? [Y/N] ``` Lin Cho read it over her shoulder and laughed without joy. "They want the girl who can carry other people's skills. Of course they do." ``` [STATUS — RAE VOSS] Level: 6 Class: Protocol Runner (Restricted+) HP: 100/100 STA: 100/100 XP: 90/400 Coin: 214 Active: Sister Protocol · Learn the Rules (2/3) ``` "I'm not exclusive," Rae said. "I'm a courier. Couriers move." A second panel layered over the first — green this time, Mercy Cross colors. ``` [FACTION QUEST: HOLD THE BAY] Objective: Defend ambulance bay through tonight's Integration Wave Reward: 350 XP + Medic Alliance rank 1 Failure: Safe Zone rating drops to Contested ``` She accepted Mercy Cross. She deferred Aegis with a mental not yet that the System translated into: ``` [AEGIS OFFER: SNOOZED 24H] [NOTE: Corporate favor decays] ``` --- ## CHAPTER 1:...