"No."
"If something happens to me," Rune said quietly, "it won't be random."
The words landed like stones dropped into still water. Instead of offering reassurance, I said, "No. It won't be."
He deserved honesty more than comfort.
"I'm not scared," he said, but then corrected himself. "That's not true. I am scared, but differently than I thought I'd be."
"What do you mean?"
"I thought danger would be dramatic. Obvious." He gestured down the corridor. "It isn't. It's just more logistics. Like scheduling conflicts and temporary access routes. Small problems that aren't anyone's fault."
"That's what makes it effective."
"I know." His voice was steady. "When something happens, everyone will say it was bad luck. You stopped that today."
"Today."
In less than a week, I wouldn't be around to stop it.
Rune swept his fingers through his hair. "I've been thinking in terms of compliance my entire career. If I followed the rules, I'd be safe. If I didn't cause problems, they would protect me." He paused. "That's not how it works, is it?"
"No."
"They're not protecting me from danger. They're protecting all of this from disruption."
"Yes."
He nodded slowly. "Compliance won't save me."
"Probably not."
"And neither will you, once they remove you."
"If they can."
Rune exhaled. "We have five days."
"Yes."
"Five days to do what?"
"I don't know yet," I said honestly. "I do know waiting won't improve our options."
He was quiet momentarily. Then: "I'm tired of being ushered through corridors like equipment on rolling carts. Tired of other people deciding what's safe for me. I want to make my own choices. Even if they're dangerous."
I scanned his face. He was a man who’d spent his entire adult life being managed, contained, and protected in ways that had nothing to do with his actual safety. Seeing him decide he was done with that made something hot and dangerous stir in me.
"Okay," I said.
"Okay?"
"We move first. Document everything. Make sure when they try to contain this, they can't do it quietly."
"Will that work?"
"I don't know, but it's better than waiting for them to decide what happens to you."
