PASCO RELL stayed bright at the head of the floor queue.
Caleb felt the old cold under his ribs answer before the screen finished writing. It was small now, buried under every other cost he had carried since the yards, but it knew that name.
VESSEL MEMORY CONFLICT DETECTED.
PRIOR LOAD FRAGMENT PRESENT.
CLAIM MAY BE SETTLED THROUGH VESSEL ASSUMPTION.
The silver liked the offer.
It leaned toward Pasco's name with grief dressed up as duty. Caleb held his hands open and kept Sefa's light ring outside his skin.
"No intake," he said.
The room accepted the words and fought them at once.
The green under Pasco's name sharpened. Rina's tracker clicked in her hand, three dry ticks, then a low hum that sounded older than the cracked speaker.
The woman in the chair looked at Caleb.
"You already carry him."
Sam's head came up.
Kikaru shifted one inch toward the chair.
Caleb kept his eyes on Pasco's name. "I carry the cost."
The screen answered before the woman could.
