“And they’re at full mobilization posture.”
He nods.
“That’s not reaction,” I say, more to myself than to him. “That’s preparedness.”
Councilor Merith enters the lab without announcement, her presence cutting through the sterile brightness of the room. “You’ve reviewed the fragment,” she says.
“Yes.”
“And your conclusion.”
I gesture toward the overlapping projections. “Alliance housing. Reaper harmonic signature. It’s structurally plausiblethat Reapers acquired Alliance hardware through salvage or black-market procurement.”
“And embedded their own trigger.”
“Yes.”
Her gaze sharpens. “So you believe this was designed to frame Reapers broadly.”
I hesitate only a fraction of a second before nodding. “Yes. Whoever orchestrated this wanted species-level escalation. It’s too effective not to be.”
She studies me carefully. “And Kael specifically.”
“He denies involvement. He consented to full energy scan.”
“Bold,” she says.
“Confident.”
“Or reckless.”
“He didn’t feel reckless.”
Her eyes linger on me for a beat longer than comfortable. “Finalize your interrogation notes. The Alliance is transferring him.”
My pulse spikes. “Transferring where.”
“Military custody.”
“That dissolves arbitration.”
“Yes.”
“When.”
“Within the hour.”
The lab suddenly feels too narrow, the overhead lights too harsh. “Under what authority.”
“Reclassification under security statute.”
“As what.”
“Combatant.”
The word hits hard.
“That’s a legal stretch,” I say.
