4338.210 · July 29, 2018 AD
The Wrong Brad
Luke arrives at Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary planning simple reconnaissance — register a portal location, gather information about conservation operations, disappear before anyone notices anything unusual. What he doesn't plan for is a charming tour guide who pays too much attention, a case of mistaken identity that spirals beyond correction, and the discovery that another Guardian has already been cultivating exactly the opportunity he's been imagining.
Luke's reconnaissance mission at Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary takes an unexpected turn when the Assistant Director mistakes him for someone called Brad — a Guardian whose conservation partnership she's been eagerly awaiting. What begins as a simple case of mistaken identity becomes something more complicated when Luke discovers that another Guardian named Melanie Bandy has already revealed portal technology to the Ironbachs, and they're packed and ready for what they believe will be a two-week assessment trip.
Faced with a choice between correcting the mistake and seizing an opportunity that's fallen into his lap, Luke makes the calculation that has defined so many of his decisions: what serves his purposes matters more than what others deserve to know.
Quest Text:The reconnaissance was supposed to be simple. Arrive at the wildlife sanctuary, take a tour, identify a suitable portal location, register it, and leave. Clean. Untraceable. One more piece of infrastructure for operations that needed every advantage they could get.
What Luke hadn't anticipated was James Fletcher — a tour guide whose warmth felt genuine rather than performed, whose observations cut closer to truth than a stranger's should, whose attention made Luke feel almost normal for the first time in weeks. Between hand-feeding wallabies and learning about wombat defence tactics, Luke found himself wondering what pieces of this place might fit into the world he was trying to build.
Then Sarah Ironbach appeared, mistaking him for someone named Brad, and everything shifted.
The Ironbachs weren't ordinary tourists. They were the Director and Assistant Director of Tasmania's premier wildlife sanctuary, and they'd been cultivated by another Guardian — someone named Melanie Bandy who had already shown them portal technology, already sold them on a conservation partnership, already packed their bags for what they believed would be a two-week assessment trip.
Two weeks. The innocent words carried weight the Ironbachs couldn't possibly understand.
Standing in that cluttered staff room with a portal swirling against the wall and two eager conservationists ready to step through, Luke faced a choice he'd faced before: tell the truth and lose the opportunity, or stay silent and gain exactly what his settlement needed.
The choice, when it came, surprised no one who knew him.
