I go straight for the archival spine.
The original drop file.
The one I was never supposed to access.
The file opens.
And my entire world tilts sideways.
Designation: ASSET T-1097
Status: ACTIVE CONTAINMENT
Placement Rationale: CIVILIAN COVER / INFRASTRUCTURE PROXIMITY
Objective: PASSIVE SURVEILLANCE / DENIAL OF ACCESS
Secondary Objective: BEHAVIORAL COMPLIANCE MONITORING
Location: NOVARIA
My vision blurs.
My hands start shaking so hard I almost lose the interface cable.
“Containment,” I whisper.
Not exile.
Not mercy.
Not a second chance.
Containment.
Surveillance disguised as freedom.
I scroll.
Every “random” job placement.
Every denied off-world transport request.
Every time my implant mysteriously glitched when I tried to leave the planet.
All of it logged.
All of it authorized.
All of it intentional.
I was never free.
Not for a single goddamn day.
Rage surges up my spine like lava through a cracked fault line.
Hot.
