Alexander found a small alcove deeper in the cave system, far enough from the entrance that the bioluminescent fungi provided the only light. The blue-green glow cast everything in an eerie underwater hue, but it was perfect for what he needed—privacy, security, and enough light to see.

  "This should work," he said, setting down his pack and pulling out a small toolkit. "We can barricade the narrow entrance if needed."

  Lyra stood awkwardly at the edge of the alcove, still visibly uncomfortable with the whole situation. Her fingers kept fidgeting with the frayed edge of her sleeve, but her eyes never stopped scanning—the cave yout, the supplies, potential exits.

  "So," she finally said, "is this the part where you decide if I'm worth keeping around? Or just figure out how useful I am before ditching me at the next settlement?"

  Alexander looked up from arranging his gear. "This is the part where I assess how we can work together effectively. Everyone on this team has specific strengths. I need to understand yours."

  Elijah approached with a canteen. "Water?" he offered Lyra. "The tests might take a while."

  She hesitated before accepting it, taking only a small sip before handing it back. "Save it. I've gone longer on less."

  Valeria leaned against the cave wall, arms crossed. "Are we really doing this? She's Unaligned. Probably can't even read her own interface prompts."

  Lyra's jaw tightened, but she said nothing.

  "That's enough," Alexander said. "Combat ability isn't everything. Riva, can you get the damaged scanner from your pack? The one that took damage during yesterday's tunnel colpse."

  Riva nodded and dug through her inventory, pulling out a cracked device with exposed wiring. She handed it to Alexander, who pced it on a ft rock in front of Lyra.

  "First test," he said. "Can you fix this?"

  Lyra studied the device without touching it. "What's the catch?"

  "No catch. It's broken. Fix it if you can."

  She knelt beside the rock, finally picking up the scanner. Her fingers moved deftly over the casing, prying it open with practiced ease. "Got a light source that isn't blue? Hard to distinguish wire colors."

  Elijah pulled a small white light crystal from his inventory and pced it nearby.

  "Thanks," Lyra murmured, already focused on the internal components. She worked in silence, occasionally pulling small tools from hidden pockets in her clothing—improvised but effective implements that clearly weren't standard issue.

  Alexander watched her closely, noting the precision of her movements and the confidence in her handling of the delicate components. This wasn't beginner's luck or basic training.

  Ten minutes ter, Lyra reconnected the final wire and closed the casing. She hit the power button, and the scanner's dispy illuminated, running through its boot sequence.

  "Should work now," she said, handing it to Riva. "The power coupling was damaged, and there was a break in the main sensor array's connection. I bypassed the secondary systems to route everything through the primary. You'll lose some range, but it'll function."

  Riva tested the device, eyebrows raising. "It's working better than before the damage."

  "I cleaned some corrosion while I was in there," Lyra expined with a shrug. "That stuff builds up fast in cave environments."

  Alexander nodded, impressed despite himself. "Next test. Inventory assessment. What can you create with..." He rummaged through his pack, pulling out seemingly random items. "This broken bowstring, three empty vials, and this chunk of unrefined crystal ore?"

  Lyra looked at the items, then at Alexander. "That depends. What do you need? A trap? A light source? A signal device?"

  "Whatever you think would be most useful right now."

  She considered the items, then quickly got to work, fingers moving with practiced efficiency. Within minutes, she had unraveled the bowstring into separate strands, crushed and prepared the crystal into a fine powder, and arranged the components into what looked like three small, crude bombs.

  "Fshbangs," she expined. "The crystal powder has luminescent properties. Impact breaks the inner vial, mixing the components. Creates a bright fsh and disorienting sound. Good for escaping or creating a distraction."

  Valeria scoffed. "Those look like they'd fall apart if you breathed on them."

  "They're not pretty," Lyra admitted, "but they'll work. When you're scavenging in Unaligned territories, function matters more than appearance."

  Alexander took one, examining the construction. "Clever use of materials."

  While Alexander continued the assessment, Elijah moved closer to observe Lyra more carefully. As the team's medic, he had a good reason to ask her about the healing progress.

  "How's your arm feeling?" he asked casually. "The treatment from yesterday holding up?"

  Lyra gnced at him, briefly touching where he'd treated her injury. "Fine. It's healing."

  "Mind if I check? Cave environments can sometimes interfere with the healing compounds."

  She hesitated before nodding reluctantly. "If you need to."

  Elijah knelt beside her, gently examining the healing wound. The cut was mending nicely, but this gave him the opportunity he wanted—a closer look at her neural interface connection points visible near the healing area.

  His fingers paused, eyes narrowing slightly. The interface nodes weren't standard—not even standard Unaligned. The connection pattern was unlike anything he'd seen, with subtle modifications that shouldn't have been possible outside a corporate boratory.

  "The healing is progressing well," he said, his face betraying nothing. "The medicine's working as it should."

  "Thanks," Lyra said, quickly adjusting her sleeve to cover the interface points.

  As the assessment continued through various challenges—navigation, resource identification, basic trap detection—Elijah caught Alexander's eye and gave a slight nod toward the tunnel entrance. Alexander understood immediately.

  "Riva, continue with the environmental awareness test. I need to check our perimeter." He stood, and Elijah followed him out into the narrow tunnel.

  Once out of earshot, Alexander turned to his brother. "What did you notice?"

  "Her interface traces," Elijah whispered. "The connection signatures that show up in my medical scan. They're not standard for any css, let alone Unaligned. There are patterns in her neural response metrics that look... purposeful. Advanced. The kind of work that would need specialized equipment and knowledge."

  Alexander frowned. "Corporate?"

  "Not like any corporate design I've seen either. It's custom work, but at a level that shouldn't be possible for someone from the Unaligned sectors."

  "Could she have stolen and modified corporate tech?"

  Elijah shook his head. "These modifications aren't superficial. The neural response patterns suggest integrated changes to how her brain interfaces with the system. That would require sophisticated procedures before Game entry, not just equipment theft."

  Alexander gnced back toward the alcove. "She's hiding something. But whatever her story is, those skills are real. And we could use them."

  "Agreed. But maybe we keep watching. See what else she reveals."

  They returned to find Lyra successfully completing Riva's challenge, having identified all potential food sources in a sample collection of cave flora.

  "Final assessment," Alexander announced. "Basic combat positioning. I don't expect you to be a front-line fighter, but everyone needs to know how to defend themselves and support the team."

  Lyra stood, brushing dust from her worn clothing. "I'm better at avoiding fights than winning them."

  "That's a skill too. Show me."

  For the next twenty minutes, Alexander ran Lyra through basic evasion and positioning drills. Her movements were efficient but unpolished—clearly self-taught but effective. She had a natural instinct for finding cover and using environmental features to her advantage.

  Finally, Alexander called a halt. The entire team gathered as he made his decision.

  "Here's how this works," he said. "Lyra, you'll handle technical support, equipment maintenance, and assist Elijah with resource identification. During combat, you stay back, focus on trap detection and environmental hazards. Your primary responsibility is keeping our gear functional and identifying useful resources."

  Valeria started to object, but Alexander cut her off with a raised hand.

  "This isn't a debate. She stays, and these are her roles." He looked directly at Lyra. "Can you handle that?"

  Lyra nodded, her expression carefully neutral despite the relief visible in her eyes. "I can handle it."

  "Good. We move deeper into the cave system in one hour. Rest while you can." Alexander turned away, effectively ending the discussion.

  As everyone dispersed to prepare for departure, Lyra organized her meager inventory, tucking away her tools in their hidden pockets. For the first time since being surrounded by the hunters, she allowed herself a small breath of relief. She had shown enough to be valuable without revealing everything—a delicate bance she'd learned through years of survival.

  What she didn't notice was Elijah watching her from across the alcove, his eyes thoughtful as he processed the mystery of her impossible neural interface.