AISLYNI do not accompany Elliot.

That matters.

There was a time when I would have followed him instinctively, close enough to intervene, close enough to soften impact or redirect damage. That instinct is gone now. Not because I no longer care what happens next, but because I finally understand that some truths must be delivered without me standing between them.

This reckoning belongs to him.

And to her.

I remain where I am, seated at the edge of the strategy chamber table long after Elliot ...