“Mr. Mercer. Medical evaluation. Please stand for transport.” Alex heard the words through a fog that had settled over him weeks ago and hadn’t lifted since, and he pushed himself upright from the cot with an effort that felt disproportionate to the small motion required, his joints protesting in a way that hadn’t been true of his body before any of this had started. Four months now. He’d stopped marking the wall sometime after his fingernail wore too thin to leave a mark, and the number had simply kept climbing in his head anyway, an involuntary count he couldn’t switch off even when he wanted nothing more than to stop knowing exactly how long he’d been sitting in the same small room. The officer led him through corridors that had become, over these months, the only geography he still trusted completely, each turn memorized down to the specific scuff pattern on the floor tiles. He didn’t ask where they were taking him. He’d learned, weeks ago, that questions cost more energy than

“You’re smiling. That’s new.” Sena said it from across the dining hall table, though Kai wasn’t there this time. Alex had transferred briefly to general population for a routine facility inspection, a small administrative gap in his otherwise isolated schedule, and Sena had claimed the seat across from him before he’d fully registered he had company. “Am I?” Alex hadn’t noticed. “You are. First time I’ve seen it since you got here.” She studied him with open curiosity. “Kai mentioned you had a new doctor. That wouldn’t have anything to do with it, would it?” Alex felt heat rise in his face despite himself. “It’s not like that.” “Your face says otherwise.” He didn’t answer, but he didn’t deny it either, and Sena’s knowing smile told him that was answer enough. “Good,” she said simply. “You could use something good in your corner right now.” The inspection ended too soon, and Alex was escorted back to isolation before he could ask Sena to pass anything along to Kai. He didn’t m

“You’re late today.”Alex said it the moment Mira stepped through the door, and immediately regretted the sharpness in his own voice, though she didn’t seem to take offense.“I know. I’m sorry.” She sat down heavily, exhaustion evident in every line of her posture. “I got pulled into an unrelated consultation that ran long. It won’t happen again.”“It’s fine. I didn’t mean to snap.”“You’ve been waiting three months for something that isn’t coming fast enough. I’d be surprised if you didn’t snap occasionally.” She managed a tired smile, though something behind it looked frayed in a way Alex hadn’t seen from her before. “How are you feeling?”“Tired of asking the same question every appointment and getting the same answer.”“I know.” Mira rubbed her eyes. “I don’t have anything new this time. I’ve asked twice more since we last spoke. Both times, the response was identical. Still deliberating. No timeline.”Alex sat with that, the disappointment settling into a shape that had become de

“You wanted to see me, Captain?” Sena stood at attention in the small review room, still unsure why a general-population detainee had been summoned directly by Elena Voss rather than processed through the usual channels. Of all the people who could have called her in, Elena was perhaps the last person Sena expected. Her mind had already run through every possible reason for the meeting. None of them were reassuring. “At ease. This isn’t disciplinary.” Elena gestured toward the chair across from her desk. “Sit.” Sena lowered herself into the chair, remaining cautious as she studied the captain’s face, searching for some indication of what this was actually about. “You’re close with Kai Bellows,” Elena said. “And through him, with Alex Mercer.” “I know them both, yes.” “I’d like your help with something.” Elena folded her hands on the desk, pausing as though she were carefully deciding how much to reveal. “Mercer’s health has declined significantly this past week. I’m told he’

“Not signing anything.” Marcus let go of her hand slowly, disappointment plain on his face. “Elena, listen to yourself.” “I heard myself perfectly well.” “Then hear this too. Every day you delay costs us something. Bellows already suspects deliberate interference. If he starts saying that out loud, to the wrong person, in the wrong conversation, we lose the very control you’re apparently so afraid of losing anyway.” Marcus stood, pacing a short line in front of her desk. “You told me yourself. He’s ready. Every indicator says so. What exactly are we gaining by waiting?” Elena didn’t answer right away. She stared at the paused recording, Kai’s frozen, worried face still filling the screen, and found she couldn’t fully explain, even to herself, why the thought of authorizing Alex’s release tonight felt like giving something up rather than finally finishing something. “A month,” she said finally. “Maybe two, depending on how the rest of this week goes.” “Two months?” Marcus stopped