ACT II · QUIET ENTRY · SECURITY STILL ASLEEP
The Smallest Person in the Room
The service passage closes behind you. Maddie copies a maintenance packet: the purge is deliberate, not a repair. It also warns that a normal portable battery will not safely support the central core.
A little maintenance robot lies pinned beneath a fallen trolley. Its display reads PIP — FLOOR SERVICES. When you approach, it hurriedly changes this to NOT WORTH STEALING.
“We are spectacularly bad thieves,” Romeo says. He crouches where Pip can see him and holds out an empty hand. “May I come closer?”
Pip points toward the chamber. “They called me defective when I refused to clean that room. There was someone crying in it.” You hear a heavy relay engage. The purge is moving to its next stage.
Freeing Pip takes time. Going straight to the chamber gets you to the voice sooner, but without a guide who knows its machinery.
Your move: