The woman nodded, clicked the stylus off, and said, "You will be retained for observation. Further orders will be issued, but you are not to leave Meridian without written clearance." She looked at each of them in turn, then: "Dismissed. You'll be contacted."
Lira and Liane left together, moving in their old, pre-choreographed way, heads bent close as if agreeing on the order of who would be first to drink or sleep. Kale hung back, eyes flicking between Soren and the exit, as if still needing permission to resume having a future.
Seren was the last to leave, and in the silence, she said, "You think it's over?"
Soren looked at the mirror in the corner, knowing it was just one more set of eyes he'd never see the face of. "I think it never started."
She grinned, the expression raw but, for once, real. "Classic Vale," she said, and closed the door behind her.
