They gathered in the courtyard behind the district’s new community hall once a tribunal processing center, now stripped of scanners, stripped of judgment. Just brick and air and presence.No one had been summoned.No invitations sent.They just… arrived.Nova was first, with a tablet under one arm and a half-eaten pastry in the other.“I brought data,” she announced. “And carbohydrates.”Cassian, already leaning against the ivy-wrapped wall, arched a brow. “Bribery?”“Bribery,” she confirmed, dropping the pastry box with a theatrical thud.Next came Rae hair shorter now, buzzed down one side, a new scar trailing down the back of her neck. She didn’t speak when she entered. She just hugged Aria for too long, then shoved a folded map into her hands.“Resource hubs. People who slipped through. No one’s tracking them yet. But they still want to help.”Aria nodded, throat tight. “Then we’ll find a way to fold them in.”Elias arrived not long after, sleeves rolled, voice already half-lost f
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