Formal Complaint: Conduct Violation – Instructor/Student Impropriety.
My name.
And hers.
Right there at the top.
The world tilts.
I stare at the letters until they blur. Until they stop looking like words and start looking like betrayal carved into glass.
Trozius leans back, arms crossed. “Effective immediately, you are removed from First Ray contention and placed under review pending reassignment.”
“You can’t—” My voice cracks. I force it steady. “You can’t do this.”
“It’s already done.”
“Who filed this?”
He doesn’t answer.
But I know.
I can see it in his eyes. The flicker of pity. Of justification.
My throat burns. “She told you.”
“Captain—”
“Shetold you?” I snap, slamming my hand on the desk. “After everything—after all this?—”
Trozius stands, voice sharp now. “Watch your tone, Lieutenant.”
I laugh. It’s ugly. Hollow. “You want me to watch my tone while you gut me?”
He doesn’t flinch. “I suggest you take this with some dignity.”
“Dignity?” I hiss. “I earned that post. Ibledfor it.”
“And now it’s done. Go cool off.”
I stare at him for a long second, chest heaving. Then I grab the datapad, hard enough that my knuckles pop.
I don’t remember leaving the office. I just remember sunlight hitting me like a slap. The courtyard spinning. The sound of engines overhead, distant and cruelly normal.
Her porch.
Of course she’s there.
Sitting like she’s waiting for a verdict she already knows the outcome of.
When she sees me, she stands. Lips part. Breath catches.
“Ka—”
“You killed me.”
Her mouth stays open. The words freeze there.
