Page 88

“Then what’s the accurate version?”

“You usually do not.”

Fair. I looked down at the terminal again. “I’m learning.”

“So am I.”

That made me pause. I looked up.

He had already turned back toward the window.

Maybe he hadn’t meant anything by it. Maybe he had.

With Veyr, those two possibilities existed at the same time far too often.

I scrolled to one of the partial identifiers. The shape of the code still bothered me. Three sections. The same structure he had shown me earlier.

Biometric class. Operational sequence. Individual encryption marker.

Veyr had explained enough to make the problem worse. Not enough to make it clear. Which meant I needed a different approach.

I tapped one of the identifiers. “Do you recognize this one?”

He didn’t turn. “No.”

Too fast. I watched his shoulders. Nothing.

I moved to the second. “What about this?”

This time, the pause came first. Barely. But it was there.

“No.”

Interesting.

I leaned back. “Do you know how obvious you are when you lie?”

He faced me. “I rarely lie.”

“That was not my question.”

“You ask many unnecessary questions.”

“Also not an answer.”

I looked at the screen again.

He had reacted to the second identifier. Not dramatically. No widened eyes. No visible shock.

But Veyr’s reactions were measured in fractions.

A pause. A tightened jaw. One hand going still. His silence arriving half a second later than usual.

Once I knew what I was looking for, he wasn’t nearly as unreadable as he thought he was. That realization should probably have frightened me. Instead, it made me feel better. Just a little.

I selected the third line. “This one had a compatibility percentage beside it.”

Veyr’s gaze moved instantly to the screen.