His gaze narrows slightly.
“Most people revert,” he says. “They return to pattern under stress.”
“She didn’t.”
“No.”
A pause.
“She evolved.”
The word hangs in the air.
Because that makes her more than predictable.
It makes her… dangerous.
“And Carter?” the man asks.
Sentinel’s attention shifts to him.
“To her,” he corrects quietly.
A small beat.
“He anchored her through the shift.”
The man frowns. “So the attachment is stronger than we thought.”
Sentinel considers that.
Then shakes his head once.
“No,” he says.
A slight tilt of his head.
“It’s not stronger.”
A pause.
“It’smutual.”
That’s the problem.
Not dependence.
Not imbalance.
Symmetry.
“Which means?” the man presses.
Sentinel’s expression cools.
“Which means it won’t break under pressure.”
A longer silence follows.
