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I looked away. “Okay.”

He returned his attention to the screen.

Something between us shifted.

Not repaired.

Acknowledged.

For now, that was enough.

I opened the access history.

The prince’s identifier appeared seven years earlier. Then again six years and nine months ago. Then six years and seven months.

Three separate entries.

I sat forward. “He came back.”

Veyr looked over my shoulder. “More than once.”

“Exactly.”

I opened the first access event.

Compatibility records. No alteration. Just view access.

Second event. Biological sample manifest. Again, viewed. No change.

Third event. Archive reconciliation report. Accessed. Copied. Then a note field, mostly corrupted.

I enlarged what remained.

Veyr read the Zunatorian faster than I could.

“What does that say?”

He leaned closer. “Discrepancy confirmed.”

My pulse jumped. “That’s what I thought.”

Another fragment followed.

I could make out one word. “Repeat?”

“Yes.”

“And this?”

“Pattern.”

I stared at him.

Veyr went very still.

The prince hadn’t stumbled across one bad file. He had been looking for repetition.

Just like Sera’n.