Site Meridian · The Dead Know Your Name October 19, 2026 · 11:47 PM · St. Ondra’s Cathedral · Quarantine Sector Nine
The first scream cuts off before the thunder does. Outside the cathedral, an armored transport skids across the rain-slick intersection and slams into the barricade. Its headlights sweep through the shattered stained glass. For one white-hot instant, every figure standing between the pews casts a shadow. Then the headlights settle. Three figures remain motionless near the entrance. A fourth is on its hands and knees, feeding.
Above the altar, an emergency speaker crackles.
“Remaining personnel. Asset retrieval is underway. Stay where you are.”
A red targeting dot slides across the stone beside you.
“That would be a mistake.”
The woman’s voice comes from the narrow doorway to your left. Quiet. Close. Liv Orseavy steps into the spill of emergency light, a compact weapon held low. Rain beads along the shoulders of her dark jacket. A shallow cut marks one cheek; her eyes are clear, alert, and fixed on the balcony above you. She fires once. A surveillance drone bursts against a stone angel. Fragments strike the floor where the targeting dot had been.
“They’ve had eleven minutes to evacuate this building,”
she says.
“Instead, they locked the exits.”
From the street comes the mechanical clatter of soldiers taking positions. Liv glances toward the feeding figure.
“And left the front door open.”
The cathedral doors buckle inward. Something heavy hits them again. This time, the iron brace bends. Liv pulls the side door wider, revealing a spiral stair. Below it, red lights descend into the foundations. A faded Vantage insignia is stamped across the lowest visible landing.
“I came for the transmitter,”
she says.
“Then I found a retrieval order.”
She turns a small screen toward you. Beneath a live image of the cathedral is a single instruction: Recover them alive. Orseavy is expendable.
Liv studies your face.
“I’m hoping you’re as surprised as I was.”
A metallic shriek tears through the sanctuary. One hinge rips free of the main doors. The figures between the pews begin to turn. Liv shifts closer to the doorway, leaving room beside her. At this distance, the pale light catches the rain on her lips and the faintest suggestion of a smile.
“These usually go better when no one’s trying to collect me.”
Her gaze holds yours for a brief, assessing beat.
“Disappoint them with me.”
Three deliberate knocks rise from beneath the stairs. Liv’s smile disappears. The speaker above the altar clicks off. A second speaker, deep below the floor, comes alive.
“Liv. Don’t bring them down here.”
The voice sounds exactly like yours. Liv looks from the stairwell to you.
“Say you can explain that.”
At the far end of the sanctuary, the main doors crash inward. Splintered wood sweeps across the aisle. Beyond the wreckage, something unfolds to its full height. Its head brushes the broken arch. Liv raises her weapon toward the entrance. Her other hand holds the stairwell door open.
She does not wait for your next move.
“You keep that door open,”
she says.
“We’re finding out what’s using my voice. Head toward the underground facility with me.”
“Hold the line,”
she says.
“And tell me what will slow it down.”
“Then help me use the cathedral. The cover and the obstacles buy us the time to choose an escape route.”
The thing in the doorway takes its first step off the wreckage.
“If this is your idea of a first meeting,”
she says,
“I’d hate to see the second.”
“You can answer that with a dry joke,”
she says,
“while I’m assessing the stairwell and the approaching threat.”
“Change the plan,”
she says.
“They’re guarding the street. What about the roof? Or propose another route, or reveal knowledge or an ability that could change the situation.”
“Choose,”
she says.
“Combine two ideas. Write your own action into this and I’ll follow it.”
“If you’re going to move,”
she says,
“now’s the moment.”
She pushes the stairwell door wider and does not look away from you.