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Maybe because he had finally begun learning what happened when he decided which truths I could handle.

He entered a sequence. The screen changed.

My name appeared first.

TALIA MERCER

Underneath it was my registration photograph.

I remembered that day. The scanner. The official telling me where to stand. Three Zunatorian males discussing fertility markers and compatibility classifications as though I were a specimen instead of a person standing within hearing distance.

My stomach twisted.

Veyr’s original packet loaded beneath it.

I started reading.

HUMAN FEMALE. EARTH ACQUISITION.

LABORATORY ASSIGNMENT: ACTIVE.

REPRODUCTIVE STATUS: UNBONDED.

COMPATIBILITY PROFILE: RESTRICTED.

Then the threat assessment.

Restricted reproductive data accessed. Biological records compromised. Potential hostile dissemination. Possible transfer to unauthorized external actor.

The language was colder than I expected.

Not angry. Not accusatory. Clinical.

My entire life reduced to a threat category.

I scrolled.

Veyr’s hand moved once. Stopped. He let me continue.

Then I saw it.

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: RECOVER RESTRICTED MATERIAL.

SECONDARY OBJECTIVE: PREVENT EXTERNAL DISCLOSURE.

I frowned.

That phrasing bothered me.

Not recover stolen data.

Not apprehend a thief.

Prevent disclosure.

I kept reading.

The next line made every thought in my head stop.