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Chain of command.

Facts first.

I opened my mouth. Then stopped.

No. Not without her.

“There is evidence.”

Anik’s expression hardened. “I assumed.”

“Talia remains.”

One of the guards at the door shifted.

Anik looked between us. “What you disclose may include compartmentalized military or Veil information.”

“Talia remains.”

Talia’s grip tightened slightly.

I looked at her. Not Anik.

“If she chooses to stay, she stays.”

The words settled in the room.

Anik looked at her. “Do you choose to stay?”

“I’m staying.”

He looked back at me. “Then what you disclose is your responsibility.”

“Understood.”

Anik gave a single nod. “Then stay.”

Simple. No argument.

I felt something in my chest loosen. Not because Anik allowed it. Because he asked her.

Talia released my hand only long enough to pull a chair closer. She sat beside the bed.

Anik remained standing. That felt deliberate.

“Start at the beginning,” he said.

Talia glanced at me.

I waited, then nodded.

She took a breath. “The beginning depends on which problem you mean.”

Anik’s expression shifted slightly. “Choose.”

She did.

“My lab supervisor vanished while we were reviewing reproductive records that had been altered. Someone went back and changed compatibility histories after they’d already been logged. Warriors listed as deceased in one system showed up as active in another. Human assignments got reassigned even after a match was supposed to be final, and biological samples moved through transfer chains that didn’t match the accession records.”