THE DOOR behind the woman's chair waited with its frame lit white.
Lower Admissions had gone quiet around Sefa, as if the room had spent all its breath letting him out.
Caleb kept his empty wrist at his side. The skin there felt bare. The silver beneath it felt awake, insulted by the missing ring.
Sefa took one careful step, then another. Rina moved with him but kept her hands visible. Iharu stayed close enough for the tower card in his jacket to glow against Sefa's shoulder.
"Pain scale?" Tali asked.
Sefa looked at her.
"For him, me, or the building?"
"Yes."
He almost smiled. "Bad. Manageable. I reserve the right to be rude."
Kikaru's blade angled toward the door. "Rudeness accepted. Walking?"
Sefa considered the white frame.
"That room knows my outline. It spent months using me as shelving. If I go, I may see where it kept the labels."
Caleb said, "Your choice."
Sefa nodded once. "Then I go."
