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“I never saw the whole file. Prime subjects stabilize more than one response network. Human nervous systems adapt. Some of you amplify alien implants. Some interrupt them. Some make the old machinery recognize imperial commands.”

“That is not mate compatibility,” Kesta said.

“No. It is infrastructure.”

That was worse. Kesta asked Nara for proof. She believed the scars and the fear. She still asked for proof because belief without method was how institutions turned trauma into doctrine.

Nara led her to a low alcove screened by hanging cloth. Inside were pieces of seven removed bands, each cut differently. One had been burned through. Another had been separated link by link with a surgical saw. A third remained attached to a strip of synthetic skin.

“These belonged to humans?” Kesta asked.

“Five humans. Two species close enough for the same hardware.”

Sera crouched beside the fragments. “Removal outcomes?”

“Three survived. One lost use of her left hand. One forgot every language she knew except the commands they trained into her. Two died during later pulses because the network still recognized implants beneath the band site.”

Kesta examined the fragment with synthetic skin. Microscopic filaments extended from its inner edge.

“The band grows neural roots.”

“Yes.”

“That is why cutting mine failed.”

“That and H-PRIME access. Prime bands defend themselves.”

Dreven remained at the alcove entrance, giving Nara the distance she had demanded. “Can it be disabled?”

“Temporarily. Salt saturation confuses skin sensors. Mineral grounding diverts some signals. Distance from an assigned cohort reduces reinforcement.”

Assigned cohort. Kesta hated the phrase more each time she heard it.

“How far?” Dreven asked.

Nara looked between them. “For some pairs, a few rooms. For others, a planet was not enough once conditioning completed.” Dreven’s expression became unreadable. Kesta said, “Ours is not complete.”

“You kissed him.”

“That was a choice.”

Nara’s laugh broke at the edge. “So was mine the first time.” Kesta held the other woman’s gaze. “I am not saying choice makes us immune. I am saying the possibility of manipulation does not retroactively erase every decision. We test. We set boundaries. We look for patterns.”

“You sound like a scientist.”

“I am a medic who learned what scientists can do when they stop seeing subjects as people.”

Nara touched the scar at her wrist. “My assigned male asked permission too.”

“What was his name?”

The question landed differently than any argument. Nara looked down. “Sovan.” K-14 was an asset designation. Sovan was his name.

“What did he want?” Kesta asked.

“To go home.”

“Did he hurt you before the pulse?”