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“It already ended.”

“Then cut power to the shelter panel.”

The lights died. Dreven’s body eased by degrees. Kesta waited until his hand released the frame. “Can I examine you?”

“Yes.”

She crossed the room slowly. He turned his head to give her access to the scar, every motion deliberate. Heat radiated from his skin. When her fingers touched the edge of the implant, a second pulse moved through him. His eyes closed.

“Pain?” she asked.

“No.”

The single word was too controlled.

“What, then?”

“Awareness.”

“Of the implant?”

“Of you.”

Her fingers remained against his neck. The machine had not caused the shift between them. His honesty had, offered when lying would have been easier. Kesta withdrew her hand. Dreven caught himself before following the touch.

“Boundary,” she whispered.

“Yes.” His voice had roughened. “Tell me yours.”

“I don’t know yet.”

“Then nothing happens.”

It should have relieved her. Instead desire sharpened until the small room felt built entirely from things they were refusing. The fifth hour brought the first test that was not medical.

Pela requested Kesta’s testimony through the wall speaker. Two families claimed the drone had crossed the southern yard because Kesta’s earlier gate test had taught the empire Ash Camp’s perimeter pattern. The accusation was not supported by evidence, but fear did not require evidence before becoming policy.

Kesta sat beneath the dark diagnostic panel and answered every question. When had the band first activated? Which routes had she traveled? Had she ever heard a signal before the drone appeared? Did she believe Dreven’s presence increased the response?

“Yes,” she said to the last question.

Dreven’s head turned. Kesta continued before he could speak. “His implants respond to the band. That does not mean he caused the drone or that separating us would make the camp safe. It means the connection is a variable we have to measure.” One of the parents asked, “Would you leave if distance protected our children?”

“Yes.”

Dreven stood so quickly the pallet scraped stone. Kesta held his gaze while speaking toward the wall. “I would leave if evidence showed my presence created a threat Ash Camp could not contain. I would not leave because panic demanded a sacrifice.” Pela’s voice remained neutral. “And would Commander Dreven permit that?” The question belonged to the whole camp. Dreven approached the speaker. “Permit is the wrong word.”

“Then answer the right one.”

His tail moved once behind him. “If Kesta chose to leave, I would argue. I would offer escort. I would challenge the evidence. I would not imprison her.” The silence beyond the wall lasted long enough for Kesta to understand that Ash Camp had needed to hear him say it more than she had. After the testimony ended, he remained beside the speaker.

“You answered quickly,” he said.

“About leaving?”

“Yes.”

“I spent eleven minutes in a trial where everyone had already decided whose life was expendable. I will not ask families here to accept that structure because I am the person being protected.”