Page 64 of Dose

“That seems punitive.”

“It is preventative.”

Theon steers me toward the door with the hand at my back.

“Go train,” Ezra says. “You can regain editing privileges when Phoenix is no longer in danger of being poisoned by its own ventilation.”

We make it into the corridor before I laugh. Theon lasts another three steps.

“It moved very easily,” I say.

“A brutal defense.”

“Thank you.”

The afternoon changes slowly enough that I almost miss it.

We are back on the mats, running the secondary egress. Left at the junction. Service corridor. Maintenance stairwell. Ground-floor emergency exit. I complete the route cleanly.

“Again,” Theon says.

I do it again.

“The stairwell is compromised.”

“East ladder to the roof. If the roof is exposed, I hold behind the service housing and report.”

“Audio is down.”

“Visual signal to my escort. If I’m separated, I continue to the secondary rally point.”

“Where?”

“Parking structure, three hundred meters east.”

“Under observation.”

“Tertiary point north of the facility, behind the drainage works.” I lower my hand. “Theon.”

“Again.”

“I’ve done it correctly four times.”

“Repetition makes it automatic.”

“Some repetition does.” I cross the mat and stop in front of him. “This isn’t training anymore.”

His face closes.

“You passed the route.”

“I know.”

“Then why are we still doing it?”

He looks at the plan instead of me.

“Reinforcement.”