Page 224 of Broken Oath

Each document was heavily redacted.

One designation remained visible.

SUBJECT CLASSIFICATION: OPERATIONAL ASSET

The warehouse grew still.

Sarah stared at the word.

Asset.

Not prisoner.

Not detainee.

Not witness.

Asset.

Her stomach tightened.

Assets had value.

Assets were useful.

Rook read the designation again.

“If Warden considers him an asset, they’ve been using him.”

“That’s my interpretation,” Fathom said.

“To do what?”

“I don’t know.”

Sarah looked at the repeated medical assessments.

“Are the reports genuine?”

“They use Warden’s internal authentication system. I haven’t found evidence they were altered.”

“Could the classification be a disguise?”

“Yes.”

That was the difficulty with every answer.

Nothing inside Warden’s network meant only one thing.

“Open the most recent evaluation,” Rook said.

Fathom selected it.

Most of the text had been destroyed, but fragments remained.

SUBJECT RETAINS REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE.

CONTINUED ISOLATION AUTHORIZED.