KIM did not send another apology.
That would have been easier to refuse.
The dead-clean channel opened a window Caleb had not seen since the night a kaiju ate him and a woman with too much money bought the right to watch whatever crawled back out.
Black background.
Thin silver frame.
One line in the corner.
ONE VIEWER ACTIVE.
The kitchen went silent in a different way.
Hiro whispered, "Oh, I hate that."
Caleb could not look away.
The old stream window had no video yet. There was no chat rail, no payment counter, no smiling avatar. It was only a frame, empty and waiting, and that was enough to put cold under his ribs where the silver should have been heat.
Rina reached for the console.
The window moved away from her cursor.
It moved only a few inches, playful enough to make Soma's face change.
Soma's face changed.
"That is not the civic relay."
Kim typed inside the frame.
The first answer was no.
The second was mine.
Caleb's hand closed.
