Alexander finished organizing their gear for tomorrow's expedition, carefully repacking the additional filtration yers they'd need for the western garden sector. The camp was quiet in the early evening, with Elijah still resting after his brush with the toxic pnt. Lyra sat nearby, working on what appeared to be refinements to the detection scanner, occasionally checking on Elijah's condition.

  Valeria approached, her posture more rigid than usual. "I need to talk to you," she said, keeping her voice low. "Privately. It's about team security."

  Alexander studied her face for a moment, noting the unusual tension around her eyes. "Alright. Let's take a walk." He turned to Riva, who was cleaning her weapons by the fire. "We're going to check the perimeter. Keep an eye on things here."

  Riva nodded, gncing between them with mild curiosity before returning to her task.

  They walked in silence until they reached the eastern boundary of their camp, far enough that their conversation wouldn't carry back to the others.

  "What's on your mind?" Alexander asked, leaning against a tree trunk.

  Valeria pulled out her personal data pad and activated a privacy screen that dimmed the dispy from any angle except directly in front. "I've been compiling observations about our newest team member," she said, bringing up a meticulously organized file. "There are inconsistencies that need to be addressed before we ascend to Floor 6."

  "You mean Lyra."

  "Yes." Valeria's tone was clinically detached. "Her behavior, knowledge base, and technical capabilities don't align with her cimed background. I believe she represents a potential security risk."

  Alexander kept his expression neutral. "Show me what you've found."

  Valeria brought up her first data screen. "Let's start with her technical knowledge. She cims to be self-taught from Sector 17, but her understanding of neural interface architecture exceeds what would be avaible in Unaligned territories." She swiped to dispy a capture of Lyra's modifications to their scanning equipment. "This adjustment she made to our toxin detection system uses signal processing algorithms that aren't public knowledge."

  "Unaligned communities salvage a lot of corporate tech," Alexander pointed out. "They could reverse-engineer it."

  "Some, yes. But not this." Valeria brought up another screen showing a schematic. "This is a specialized filter algorithm used in Helix Pharmaceuticals' test neural interfaces. It's not in any salvaged equipment – it was only deployed eight months ago. Yet she implemented a variant of it when modifying our scanners."

  Alexander studied the schematic, acknowledging the simirity. "What else?"

  "Her neural interface." Valeria brought up a zoomed image, captured when Lyra had been working on equipment. "I've noticed anomalies in her connection ports. Standard Unaligned interfaces are salvaged Worker-css models with basic modifications. Hers has custom connection points I've never seen before – not standard in any css of interface."

  The image showed a close-up of the back of Lyra's neck, the interface connection unlike the standardized models Alexander was familiar with.

  "Maybe she modified it herself," Alexander suggested. "She's clearly good with tech."

  "Beyond modification capabilities," Valeria countered. "This is custom manufacturing, not field adaptation." She swiped to another screen. "Then there's her combat awareness. Have you noticed she never has her back to open space? Always positions herself with maximum visibility? Those aren't Unaligned survival skills – that's tactical training."

  Alexander had noticed, but hadn't considered it unusual for someone who had survived on her own. "Survival instincts develop in harsh environments."

  "Not like this. It's systematic." Valeria continued through her evidence: Lyra's reaction times during combat situations, her knowledge of medicinal compounds that shouldn't be avaible in Unaligned territories, vocabury patterns inconsistent with her cimed education level, and most recently, the experimental compound she'd used on Elijah.

  "That compound wasn't just some lucky experiment," Valeria argued. "The chemical composition was too precise, too targeted for the specific neurotoxin. She knew exactly what she was doing."

  Alexander let Valeria finish her presentation, which concluded with a formal recommendation: "We should remove her from the team before proceeding to Floor 6. The Garden Guardian will be challenging enough without unknown variables."

  Taking a deep breath, Alexander considered the evidence. Valeria wasn't wrong – there were inconsistencies in Lyra's background. But something about this felt off.

  "Your observations are thorough," he acknowledged. "But your conclusion assumes malicious intent."

  "I'm not assuming anything," Valeria replied. "I'm identifying a security anomaly that requires action."

  "Let me ask you this," Alexander said, pushing away from the tree to face her directly. "Has Lyra taken any action that endangered the team? Any at all?"

  Valeria hesitated. "Not directly, no. But—"

  "In fact," Alexander continued, "she's repeatedly acted to protect the team. She helped us navigate the Grass Hedge Trials when our initial route failed. She improved our detection equipment, doubling its sensitivity. And yesterday, she used her own experimental compound to save Elijah's life."

  "That could be establishing trust before—"

  "Before what?" Alexander challenged. "We're on Floor 5, Valeria. If she wanted to harm us, she's had multiple opportunities. The byrinth challenge alone offered at least three moments when any betrayal would have been devastating."

  He gestured back toward camp. "And today she sacrificed a personal resource – something pyers almost never share – to save a teammate."

  Valeria's expression remained unconvinced. "Tactical decisions don't always make sense from the outside. We don't know her objectives."

  Alexander sighed. "You're right. We don't know everything about her background. But here's what we do know: she's technically brilliant, she's saved our lives multiple times, and she's proven her value repeatedly." He looked directly at Valeria. "I'm not removing her from the team."

  "That's a significant risk."

  "Leadership is about weighing risks against benefits," Alexander replied. "Her contribution to our survival outweighs the potential threat of her unexpined background."

  Valeria's lips thinned, but she didn't argue further. Instead, she asked, "What precautions will you implement, then?"

  Alexander considered for a moment. "Focus on her actions, not her background. Watch for any behaviors that might actually harm the team. If she does anything suspicious during combat or exploration, bring it to me right away."

  He paused, then added, "But do it discreetly. I don't want this to disrupt team cohesion. We need everyone focused if we're going to survive the Floor Guardian."

  "And her growing connection with Elijah?" Valeria asked. "That creates potential emotional complications."

  Alexander hadn't missed the change between Elijah and Lyra since the toxin incident. "Elijah can make his own decisions. I trust his judgment."

  Valeria nodded, though her posture remained stiff. "I'll continue monitoring and documenting. But I want my recommendation officially noted."

  "Noted," Alexander confirmed. "And Valeria – I appreciate your thoroughness. Security matters. But so does trust within the team. We need to bance both."

  "Trust is a luxury in the Game," she said quietly.

  "Maybe," Alexander conceded. "Or maybe it's what keeps us alive when everything else fails."

  They walked back to camp in silence, the tension between them not quite resolved. As they approached, Alexander noticed Elijah now sitting up, showing Lyra something on his medical tablet. They were ughing softly about something, heads bent close together, completely unaware of the scrutiny they'd just been under.

  Alexander wondered briefly if he'd made the right call. Valeria's evidence was compelling – there was definitely more to Lyra than she'd revealed. But his instincts told him her secrets weren't threats.

  "Keep watching," he told Valeria quietly before they rejoined the group. "But remember, we all have things we don't share."

  She gave him a sharp look. "Some secrets are more dangerous than others."

  Alexander couldn't disagree with that. As team leader, the responsibility for this decision rested solely with him. If he was wrong about Lyra, they might all pay the price.

  But watching her gentle care as she checked Elijah's recovery progress, he couldn't reconcile Valeria's security threat assessment with the person who had risked her own survival advantage to save a teammate.

  Whatever Lyra's secrets were, Alexander suspected they had more to do with survival than sabotage. In the Game, the past mattered far less than what someone did right now, in the moment of crisis.

  And in every crisis so far, Lyra had proven herself a vital ally.