Page 18 of Pocket Wife

“On what basis?”

“Contradictory local records, incomplete survey references, inaccessible central packets, and at least one manually overwritten archive entry.”

Kaun’s gaze moves briefly, reading the summary. “You are aware Helix has already filed two objections.”

“I received them.”

“They are also requesting reassignment of the review, citing local emotional influence.”

Lucy makes a quiet sound behind me. I don’t turn.

“Denied, I hope,” I say.

“Pending evaluation.” Kaun’s tone remains careful. “Rethan, limit your scope. Verify preservation standing. Do not pursue corporate fraud without authorization.”

“If the preservation standing was erased through fraud, the distinction collapses.”

“Do not turn a procedural review into a sector incident.”

“It may already be one.”

The director’s silence lasts only a second, but I hear the warning inside it.

“You have always been valued because you are precise,” she says. “Remain so.”

“I intend to.”

“Precision also means knowing where authority ends.”

The projection fades.

The old room holds only the low pulse of archive equipment and the rainlike tick of cooling pipes.

Lucy speaks first. “That sounded like a warning.”

“It was advice.”

“Specialist.”

I turn to her.

She folds her arms. “I know what it sounds like when powerful people dress a threat in clean clothing.”

I have no clean answer for that.

I turn back to the display. “My director is cautious, not corrupt.”

“I didn’t say she was.”

“No. You implied the system protecting Helix may be wider than Helix.”

“Is that impossible?”

I want to say yes.

Instead, I see the overwrite mark.

“No,” I say. “It is not impossible.”