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“That you were alive.”

“You cannot conclude that.”

“He had your identifier.”

“He had an identifier you believe was mine.”

She turned fully toward me. “Your name was VYR. The record was sealed. The status was deceased. Then you checked your own file and it showed deceased. How many coincidences do you need?”

“More than one similarity is not proof.”

“It is when one of the similarities is you.”

I looked forward again.

She was probably correct. I disliked that.

“If he knew you were alive,” she continued, “why would he put you in a reproductive comparison?”

“He would not.”

“Yet there you were.”

“Yes.”

“So either Sera’n somehow had access to a database he shouldn’t have⁠—”

“Likely.”

“—or whoever altered the reproductive records had access to your information.”

I said nothing.

Talia watched me closely.

The sarcasm faded from her voice. “That’s what you’re thinking.”

My hand tightened slightly around the control.

She noticed.

Of course she did.

“My legal death file exists in systems that are not connected to reproductive administration.”

“Not connected at all?”

“They should not be.”

“There it is again.”

I looked at her. “What?”

“Should.”

She gestured between us, frustration rising now that she had a pattern to point at.

“My compatibility record should not have changed. Dead warriors should not have duplicate files. Sera’n should not have disappeared. Your dead-person record should not be sitting next to reproductive data. Your secret safehouse should not be getting mystery pings.” She counted each point on her fingers. “We have officially exceeded the acceptable number of things that should not be happening.”