His Mask, My Sin
Not panic.
Worse.
Competence.
Aidan moves through system layers, sealing nonessential ports, partitioning internal networks, forcing manual verification on every device that can be isolated.
Ezra audits sensor logs, timing drift, signal residue, any sign of deeper access.
I contribute by being emotionally correct.
“This is bad.”
“Yes,” both of them say.
Vindication at last.
The point remains dim.
No pulses.
No pressure.
Just presence.
As if content to let us react.
That restraint keeps bothering me more than if it were aggressive.