"And then you stayed," Tav said. The same words, their third use, differently weighted again.
"Yes."
"Despite knowing."
"Because of knowing." Alistair looked at him steadily. "The briefing said: observe, report, maintain cover. It didn't say: invest, care, choose. That was." "That was mine."
The kitchen was very quiet.
Tav considered the information. The structure of it — two Ablation operatives placed in proximity, assigned to the same nominal target, monitored. The Pairing Protocol that Alistair had described that morning. The language of "synchronization assessment" and "attachment evaluation threshold."
The peace every morning in this apartment.
"You were reporting on me," Tav said.
"Yes."
"Weekly contact with Ablation."
"Every three days, initially. Less frequently over the last two weeks." He met Tav's gaze. "When I realized what the assignment actually was, I began managing the information. Reporting the observable facts — routine contact, normal placement dynamics — and leaving out." "Relevant detail."
"You lied to Ablation," Tav said.
"I omitted. Technically."
"You protected what was happening between us."
Alistair's expression shifted slightly — not quite a flinch, but what preceded one.
"Yes," he said.
Tav held his gaze.
The rain outside found the window in long, thin lines. Somewhere in the building, the heating system ticked and settled. Outside, the city conducted its patient three a.m. business.
"The Pairing Protocol," Tav said.
"What I know—"
"Tell me what you know."
Alistair set both hands flat on the island.
"It's a structural assessment methodology," he said carefully. "Ablation has long-term data suggesting that operatives who develop genuine, stable personal attachments perform differently than operatives who don't. Not necessarily better — differently. More loyal to their partner than to the organization.
More resistant to certain kinds of pressure. Less susceptible to some vectors and more to others." He
studied Tav. "The Protocol is an attempt to study that systematically. Place two compatible operatives in proximity, with a controlled external assignment to provide shared operational context, and monitor."
"What are they monitoring for?"
"Whether attachment develops. How quickly. How deep." "Whether it changes operational behavior."
"And does it?"
The kitchen was very quiet.
"I haven't been behaving exactly the way Ablation would want me to," Alistair said, with the particular dryness of someone making a significant understatement, "for about ten days now."
