The corner of her mouth moved. It was not quite a smile — Mirren was not, in general, a person who smiled easily — but it was the movement toward one. "The sub-unit framework," she said. "I'm going to build it in three sections. First: environmental diagnostic as a primary skill, not secondary. Second: mana-signature classification versus mana-affinity assumption — the distinction between what an entity is doing and what you expect it to do based on your own affinity type. Third: the threshold question — when to hold reception mode and when to escalate." She looked at the board. "The Chamber Seven case sits in the third section."
"You want me to walk through the decision points," I said.
"I want to understand them first." She picked up the chalk. "The moment the entity appeared in the chamber. What was your first read?"
