"And the other five?"
Her jaw tightens. Just slightly. Barely visible unless you're watching for tells.
"Under investigation."
I let my abilities reach toward her. Just far enough to sense the surface emotions. The copper-ice hatred is expected. The grief underneath is familiar.
But there's something new. A flicker of something that tastes like fear.
She's afraid one of her own people sold them out. Afraid she missed it. Afraid she's not as un-fucking-breakable as she's spent six years trying to prove.
I should let it go. Should leave her to her investigation, her methods, her control.
I reach deeper instead. Just testing the edges of her emotional walls. Feeling for?—
"Don't."
The word cracks through the room like a gunshot. Everyone goes still.
Astra's eyes are locked on mine. Her walls have slammed up so hard I actually feel the pressure. Like hitting a force field at full speed.
"Conference room protocols," she says, voice flat. "No active sensing without consent. That applies to everyone." Her eyes haven't left mine. "Including Torrences."
She felt me reaching. Shut me down. Made it a public censure.
I should be angry. Should be offended. She just called me out in front of her team, established dominance, made clear she won't tolerate my abilities in her space.
I'm fascinated instead.
"Understood," I say.
She holds my gaze another three seconds. Making sure the lesson lands. Then she continues the briefing like nothing happened.
But I can taste her satisfaction. Just a ghost of it, leaking through despite her walls. She won that exchange. She knows it. She's pleased.
I'm still watching her mouth when she dismisses the meeting.
The others file out.I stay seated. She knows I'm staying. Her shoulders tighten fractionally.
When the door seals behind the last officer, I speak.
"You've gotten better. At the walls."
"I had six years of practice."
"Motivated practice."
"Yes." She starts gathering her displays, shutting them down one by one. Still not looking at me. "Turns out being left to die is excellent motivation for learning how to protect yourself."
There it is. The knife I've been waiting for.
"Astra—"
"Don't." Her hands stop moving. She finally looks at me. Green eyes, sharp enough to draw blood. "Don't use my name like you have the right. Don't apologize. Don't explain. We're working together because the station requires it. That's all this is."
I should agree. Should take the out she's offering. Keep it professional, keep it cold, finish the mission and never mention Sigma-9 again.
"I thought about you," I say instead. "Every day for six years. That doesn't change what I did. But I need you to know."
