EPISODE 9: CAPTURE MARKET ## Midnight Protocol — Season 1, Episode 9 --- Being hunted by a price tag changed the color of every alley. ``` [WORLD DEBUFF: BOUNTY MARK — RAE VOSS] Visible to hostiles within 200m Duration: until contract cancelled or claim made ``` Rae moved anyway. Couriers who hid starved. --- ## CHAPTER 1: FALSE DELIVERIES She seeded Dock B with fake contracts—empty coolers, tracked by Sasha—and watched freelancers pounce. ``` [TRAP QUEST DEPLOYED] [3 BOUNTY HUNTERS FLAGGED] ``` One hunter was Level 12, Class: Binder. Nets of light. Rae burned both Satchel slots—Net Shot reverse-engineered poorly, Guard Stance well—and still took a spike through the thigh. ``` [HP 48/100] [BLEEDING SEVERE] [STABILIZE ON SELF] [BLEEDING HALTED 30s] ``` Ortiz pulled her behind a dumpster that the System insisted on calling COVER +2. ``` [ENEMY DEFEATED: BINDER] [+180 XP] [LOOT: BINDING THREAD (craft) x3] ``` --- ## CHAPTER 2: MAYA'S PING Maya's Analyst candidate class finished installing mid-crisis. ``` [MAYA VOSS — CLASS LOCKED: ANALYST] [UNIQUE: PATTERN SIGHT — reveal hidden contract graphs] ``` She pinged Rae a graph: Aegis capture market had a hidden buyer above Aegis—NODE NULL. ``` [INSTALLER-ALIGNED ENTITY?] [DATA INCOMPLETE] ``` "Don't chase ghosts," Lin said. "Ghosts are writing my bounties," Rae said. --- ## CHAPTER 3: CANCEL THE CONTRACT Cancelling required...