Lost & found: A Sister Reclaimed
"No."
Rowan's attention snapped to her, confusion showing.
"She walked into his system," Elena clarified, the distinction clearly important to her.
A small difference in wording.
An enormous difference in implication.
Rowan understood it immediately, I could see comprehension hitting him, changing the geometry of how he was thinking about this.
Control was absolute, unbreakable, the complete domination of will and agency.
Systems could be studied, analyzed, exploited.
Systems had weaknesses.
That thought anchored him, not comfort exactly, not hope in any conventional sense.