Lyra's eyes snapped open in the darkness. The silent alert fshed in the corner of her interface vision—a small pulsing dot only she could see. Network activity. Unusual pattern.

  She y perfectly still, listening to Riva's soft snores from the neighboring cot and Valeria's measured breathing across the small women's quarters the Forest Watch had assigned them. The outpost had gone quiet hours ago, with only the occasional footsteps of night patrols breaking the silence.

  2:14 AM, her interface dispyed in faint blue text visible only to her.

  Carefully, Lyra shifted to a sitting position, reaching for the small toolkit she always kept beside her sleeping roll. Her fingers found the signal amplifier she'd assembled from parts Artificer Jorin had discarded. Most people would have seen worthless scraps, but Lyra never saw junk—only possibilities.

  The network activity was coming from Valeria's corner, right on schedule. For weeks, Lyra had detected these te-night transmissions but had never been able to crack the encryption. Alexander and Elijah already knew Valeria was communicating with someone—corporate oversight, most likely—but the actual content remained a mystery. Tonight, Lyra was determined to change that.

  Lyra had been monitoring these transmissions for weeks using a passive system she'd built into her interface—a modification that had allowed her to detect Valeria's communications but never decode them. She'd told Elijah about the suspicious activity, who had informed Alexander. Alexander hadn't seemed surprised, admitting he'd suspected corporate oversight from the beginning, but none of them knew exactly what information was being shared.

  "Just pay attention to the gaps in the system," Tel had taught her back in Sector 17. "That's where opportunity lives."

  Tonight was different. After working with Artificer Jorin, Lyra had managed to refine her amplifier with components from the outpost that might just be powerful enough to crack the encryption. She silently connected it to her interface port, closing her eyes to focus on the data stream now flowing through her modified system.

  For a moment, nothing happened. Then, fragments began to appear—broken pieces of decrypted data slipping through the corporate security measures. After all this time, Valeria's reports were finally revealing themselves.

  Lyra frowned, concentrating on decoding fragments without triggering security alerts. It was like slipping between raindrops—finding the safe spaces between detection parameters.

  The first decrypted fragment appeared in her vision: ...continued observation of E. Voss suggests abnormal perceptual capabilities. Subject frequently responds to stimuli others cannot detect...

  Lyra's fingers tightened around her amplifier. They were watching Elijah specifically.

  Another fragment decoded: ...team dynamics evolving beyond standard parameters. A. Voss demonstrating concerning independence from established protocols. Integration of Unaligned subject remains problematic...

  She was reporting on all of them, but with special attention to the twins. The message format suggested this wasn't the first report either—references to previous observations indicated an ongoing surveilnce operation.

  A response packet arrived, bearing heavier encryption. This wasn't just an information drop; someone was actively communicating with Valeria. Lyra diverted more processing power to her decryption matrix, pushing her interface's capabilities to their limits.

  The response rendered slowly: Further data on E. Voss required. Obtain proximity readings during anomalous perception events. Priority directive: Assess whether abilities are interface-based or organic in nature. Maintain standard monitoring of A. Voss leadership patterns and Unaligned influence.

  Outside the quarters, footsteps approached—a night patrol. Lyra quickly disconnected her amplifier and slipped back under her bnket, leaving just enough of a gap to watch Valeria through one partially opened eye.

  Valeria's face was illuminated by the faint blue glow of her interface—active but in sleep mode. The transmission had been automated, scheduled to send while she slept. Clever. It meant she could truthfully cim she wasn't actively reporting if confronted—the system was doing it for her.

  The patrol passed without entering, and Lyra waited ten more minutes before carefully retrieving her equipment again. This time, she focused on the encryption pattern itself, seeking the source signature. The coding structure was distinctive—high corporate level, with markers she recognized from VitaCore's security protocols. This went directly to someone important.

  By the time pre-dawn light began filtering through the small window, Lyra had extracted enough information to transform their vague suspicions into concrete evidence. Valeria wasn't just making occasional reports—she was systematically monitoring them all, with specific instructions to focus on Elijah's "whispers" and Alexander's growing independence. The data was being sent directly to Alexander's father or someone close to him.

  Lyra chewed her lower lip, weighing her options. Finally having actual content from these communications was a breakthrough, but sharing everything would raise questions about how she'd suddenly managed to crack encryption that had baffled her for weeks. Her recent interface modifications went well beyond what an Unaligned salvager should possess. Revealing her full capabilities would only increase suspicion.

  She slipped her tools back into their hiding pces within her clothing and moved to the small workbench in the corner. With quick, precise movements, she assembled a simple signal detector from outpost components—an easily expinable device that could "accidentally" pick up Valeria's transmissions without revealing her sophisticated decryption methods.

  As she worked, Lyra sorted through what she'd learned, deciding what to share and what to withhold. The team already knew Valeria was communicating with corporate oversight, but the specific interest in Elijah's whispers was too important to keep secret. However, her sudden ability to crack encryption that had stumped her for weeks needed a pusible expnation. She would present this as a breakthrough made possible by Forest Watch components—a signal anomaly she'd managed to capture with her new detector.

  Riva stirred in her cot, stretching zily before sitting up with a yawn.

  "You're up early," she mumbled, rubbing sleep from her eyes.

  "Couldn't sleep," Lyra replied, which wasn't exactly a lie. "Thought I'd get some work done."

  Across the room, Valeria opened her eyes, immediately alert in the way that suggested military training. Her gaze flicked to the device in Lyra's hands, then away without comment. If she suspected anything, she didn't show it.

  Lyra continued working on her decoy detector, mentally rehearsing what she would tell Alexander. The truth, but not the whole truth. Just enough to reveal Valeria without exposing herself.

  Her inventory updated automatically as she completed the detector:

  Personal Inventory:- Signal detector (newly constructed, outpost components)- Interface amplifier (hidden in left boot compartment)- Decryption matrix (software, personal interface)- Toolkit (12 specialized tools, salvaged)- Water purification tablets (6)- Ration bars (4)- Sector 17 pendant (personal item)- Encrypted data package (evidence of Valeria's communications)As she finished, Lyra felt the familiar weight of secrets settling on her shoulders. Another yer of deception in a life built on necessary lies. But this time, the deception wasn't just to protect herself—it was to protect Alexander and Elijah too.

  Especially Elijah, whose whispers had caught dangerous attention from corporate oversight.

  Lyra gnced at Valeria, who was methodically preparing for the day as if she hadn't spent the night being monitored while her automated systems reported on her teammates. In Sector 17, trust was a luxury few could afford. Lyra had learned to survive by assuming everyone had an angle, a hidden purpose.

  But watching Alexander and Elijah these past weeks had stirred something unfamiliar—a desire to protect not just herself, but them too. They were naive in many ways, raised in privilege that shielded them from the harsher realities of the world. Yet their growing willingness to question their father's authority, to make their own choices, had earned a grudging respect from her.

  Lyra slipped the signal detector into her pocket. After breakfast, she would find a moment to speak with Alexander alone—and share the concrete evidence of what Valeria had been reporting all this time. The specific mentions of Elijah's abilities and Alexander's "concerning independence" would force him to confront the full implications of being watched by his father.

  She just hoped the evidence would be enough without revealing how she'd obtained it.