I swallow.
Jennings meets me in the hallway, clipboard in hand, eyes scanning. She stops at the door and looks at me straight.
“You okay?” she asks.
I blink. “Yeah. I—” I cough. “Just a little tired.”
She doesn’t press. She just nods.
“Good. Because you’re doing great here. The kids look up to you.”
I manage a smile. I want to say: I’ll keep doing great. But my ribs knock together when I move. I decide silence is better.
Then I go home.
Apartment. Holonet off. Lights low.
Ben is there. He runs up to me. Wraps his arms around my waist.
“Mr. K, can I be a cupcake boss again tomorrow?”
I lift him. “If you’d like.”
He giggles. “And you’ll do the starfish?”
I laugh. “Yeah.”
He jumps off and heads to his room.
Kairo appears in the doorway. She’s framed in the lamplight. Her face has that look again—the one from the rooftop garden. Something like uncertainty and fear and maybe a little hope.
She doesn’t say anything.
I know what she’s asking.
I want to tell her everything—about the extraction, the ribs, the chip, the mission. But I can’t.
Not yet.
I sit at the couch. I pull my coat off. I feel the brace around my side beneath the sweater.
She watches.
Finally, I speak. Voice low. “Tough night.”
She nods.
“What are you thinking?” I ask.
She hesitates.
“I saw how the kids looked at you today,” she says. “And… I don’t know what to think.”
I look at her. I see the worry in her eyes. The calculation. The weight.
“I’m still dangerous,” I say. “I know that.”
She bites her lip. “Yes.”
