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“And it doesn’t decide anything now.”

“No.”

I looked down.

That should not have felt enormous. It did.

For years, everything about my status had been defined by what might happen to my body. Who I might match. What I might produce. What category I belonged in after the person I had supposedly been meant for died before either of us had a chance to choose anything.

Now the record was still there. But it was only a record. Not a sentence.

Anik let the silence sit. Then he said, “There is something else.”

Of course. I braced.

“We found Sera’n.”

Everything inside me stopped. “What?”

Anik’s voice softened slightly. “He is alive.”

I stood too fast.

The room shifted, and Veyr’s hand caught mine.

Not holding me down.

Steadying.

“Where?”

“A secured administrative holding facility outside the central district.”

“They took him?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“The official detention cited unauthorized archive access, data interference, and obstruction of administrative review.”

“That’s bullshit.”

“Yes.”

The agreement came so cleanly I almost laughed.

“Is he hurt?”

“Minor restraint injuries. Dehydration.”

My stomach turned. “And?”

Anik hesitated. “Prolonged sedation.”

I closed my eyes. Damn it.

His pendant on the desk. The unlocked terminal. The unfinished comparison.