Geras capped the marker and set it on the tray.
"How is A Block treating you?"
Elias sat because his legs were done pretending. "Complicated, because some want to train, some want to leave, and some want to pretend the whole thing is temporary. The rooms are comfortable, the food is good, and it still feels like a dressed up cage."
Geras nodded like the answer confirmed several things he had already suspected.
"Give me specific concerns from them."
"Families, jobs, money, medical care, and trust are the concerns. If you expect cooperation, people need to know what happens to the life they were taken from. Tid wants incentives, Kikaru wants discipline, Colby wants comfort, and I barely met the rest, but nobody sounded eager to be owned."
"Useful enough, so continue watching without making yourself the block counselor."
"I was not planning to start group therapy."
Dot lifted a hand. "He was considering accidental diplomacy earlier."
Geras looked toward her voice. "I will take accidental diplomacy over intentional sabotage."
Elias leaned forward, then regretted it when his ribs objected.
"The Doctor should appear again tonight for the daily report, right?"
"If the pattern holds, I want anything you remember afterward, especially if the requirements change or if the Doctor references consequences again."
"Dot is hoping for her memories."
Dot's usual energy dimmed at being named. "I would like to know why I miss someone I barely remember."
Geras did not answer quickly.
"Then remember what you can and protect what you are now, because both matter."
That was gentler than Elias expected from him, which made it harder to answer with a joke.
He moved to the question he had carried since the stadium.
"What about the attacker from the road, and has anyone caught him?"
Geras's expression lost the gentleness.
"No, he escaped the forest cordon after killing three PCA soldiers. We believe he had help or reached a prepared route before the second sweep."
Elias felt the number settle into the room.
Three dead because the fight had continued after the bus.
"Do you know who he is?"
"Vincent Morrow, former contract security, suspected ties to anti governance cells in Craliuk, and confirmed shard bearer after the convoy attack. His Ikona appears capable of tracking other bearers and supporting physical transformation."
"So he can find us again."
"Possibly, and we are changing movement protocols until we understand the range and limits."
"And what about the rebel group?"
"Craliuk has several groups, including desperate people with old grievances and others organized enough to become dangerous. Vincent's escape suggests the second category."
Geras walked back to the whiteboard. One cluster of red magnets sat outside the base boundary. Another line ran from that cluster toward Cube X, then stopped before it touched the inner blocks.
"Your father told me once that danger rarely announces itself honestly. It arrives as a favor, a shortcut, or a man who insists he has no choice, so keep your head moving, Elias. That was one of his final requests for you."
Elias swallowed once.
"He asked you to tell me that?"
"If I ever had the chance. I did not expect the chance to arrive this way."
The debrief ended soon after because Elias had run out of questions that would not make him look more tired than he already was.
Oliver walked him back to A Block with fewer lectures than usual. Dinner waited in the common area, roasted chicken, potatoes, rolls, and vegetables cooked well enough that Elias resented the kitchen less than he wanted to.
"If I had a grill, I could improve this," he muttered after the first bite.
Colby heard him from across the table. "The new guy critiques prison chicken on his first day."
"Containment chicken is the official wording."
That got a laugh from two people and a glare from Kikaru, which Elias counted as balanced feedback.
By ten, the block had thinned out. Some residents went to their pods. Kikaru stayed near the mats longer than anyone else, her movements smaller now but still exact. Tid disappeared toward the gaming lounge with Puff tucked under one arm like a smug pillow. Elias sat in a reinforced chair near the common area with Dot hovering close.
The daily report was due soon, if the Doctor kept his own schedule.
Dot's hands twisted together.
"I have been nervous all day. I want to see him again, and I hate that I want it."
"You could have told me earlier."
"You were busy getting hit all day," Dot said, and Elias nodded. "Fair scheduling issue from both sides."
A voice came from behind him. "How are you holding up, old man?"
Elias turned to find Colby approaching with gum in his cheek and Spock perched on his shoulder.
"I am not even thirty, so the old man campaign needs better research."
Colby dropped into the chair nearby. "You are the oldest person in A Block until proven otherwise, and Yui made you look ancient."
"Yui makes everyone look breakable eventually."
"I gave up after a couple hits when they tested me. My dignity survived because I abandoned it early."
Elias laughed despite the ache in his ribs.
Colby held out his palm. "So what does your Ikona do when you are not being kicked around?"
"Still figuring that out, because springs happened today, which was new and expensive, so what about yours?"
Colby grinned and glanced at the white Ikona on his shoulder.
"Spock, give him the friendly version."
Air gathered over Colby's palm. It tightened into a small spinning funnel, controlled enough to lift a napkin from the table and keep it circling without tearing it. Spock watched the napkin with bored dignity, then tilted its head when Dot leaned closer.
"That is much cleaner than our springs."
"Clean does not mean strong, because I can move light stuff, mess with balance, and make doors slam if the room helps. It is great for being annoying and bad for not dying."
"Annoying has tactical value when everyone is already nervous," Elias said.
"That is what I keep telling people."
The wall screens went black at the same time, and every conversation in A Block broke apart.
Kikaru stopped mid stretch near the mats. Tid appeared in the lounge doorway with his knife already in hand. Kari stepped out of her pod with her bird Ikona bristling on her shoulder.
Dot moved closer to Elias's chest as the black screens filled with a single white line.
Daily report connection pending.
Colby's gum shifted in his cheek. "Does this usually happen with all screens at once?"
Elias watched the line blink again. "First time for me, and I already dislike the upgrade."
Dot's hand found the shard under his ribs, and her voice sounded smaller than it had all day. "He is coming through the report now."