"No."
Of course he would deny it. He was registered as an individual without ability. How could he use something he didn't have?
And it was technically true. He didn't have any ability and never used one.
It was just that when he tried to catch that crate the previous day, something had happened. But even he didn't know what.
Han's expression didn't change.
In the control room above, unseen eyes were activated and began to watch him.
And somewhere deep within the licensing network, Ryker Miller was reclassified.
Anomaly.
The system flagged Ryker as an anomaly.
This could mean nothing, but it could also be worse than being labeled as a criminal.
Ryker didn't know what the system had done. He remained seated silently.
He appeared calm, but his mind was already thinking of all the possibilities he might face from the preliminary evaluation.
He knew better than to believe the first sentence the officer had said.
"You are not in trouble."
Preliminary evaluations were how the system decided whether someone needed to disappear quietly or loudly.
So, he had to be mentally prepared.
The room was designed to be non-threatening with rounded corners and soft white panels.
Even the scanner hovering above him emitted a low, soothing hum, tuned to a frequency scientifically proven to reduce anxiety.
All this didn't work on Ryker.
The tingling sensation beneath his skin pulsed in waves as if deliberately trying to match the energy waves of the scanner to remain hidden.
"Your records are…. interesting." Officer Han said while tapping her fingers on the console placed on the table.
Ryker said nothing.
"That's not a bad thing," she added quickly, the practiced reassurance of someone trained to keep subjects calm. "Most anomalies resolve themselves once we identify the cause."
Anomalies.
Ryker finally realized what he had been classified as. What unsettled him further was the way the officer used the word.
Anomalies. Plural.
Han tapped a key on the console and Ryker's data was projected between them.
Fragmented layers of information overlapping one another. Some fields were pristine. Others were corrupted, as if rewritten and erased repeatedly.
That alone was unusual.
Ryker felt that familiar pressure he experienced whenever he was scanned.
The scanner above him beeped again.
Han knitted her brow. "Interesting." She said softly.
She leaned back again , eyes trained on Ryker as if studying him instead of the data.
"Do you experience discomfort during scans?" She asked.
"Yes," Ryker replied evenly. His expression still blank.
"How would you describe it?" Han asked moving forward and placed her hands flat on the table as if to give Ryker her full attention.
"Pressure. Like a mountain pressing down on me." Ryker replied without changing his expression.
Han nodded, typing. "Psychosomatic responses are common among late-stage civilians."
Ryker remained quiet. He didn't know what late-stage civilians meant and he had no interest in asking.
Han switched to another screen. "You've received two Minor Violation warnings in the past week. Both resulted in no measurable penalties. That's… unusual."
Ryker stared straight at Han and held her gaze. "I didn't commit a violation."
Han smiled thinly. "The system disagrees."
Ryker reaffirmed something he already knew from those three words.
The law was never wrong.
His nerves suddenly tightened and the sensation under his skin almost surfaced as if it had been threatened and was preparing to resist.
The scanner above Ryker's head beeped continuously causing the smile on Han's face to vanish.
"Excuse me," she said, standing. "I need to confirm something." She then stepped out.
The door closed behind her and the soft click of a lock popping in place could be heard.
Ryker panicked. Something was definitely wrong. Such caution wasn't taken on a low-tier citizen like him who had no ability.
Suddenly, the light in the room dimmed. The scanner above his head shut down and the wall opposite him lit up.
"Ryker Miller." Another voice replaced Han.
A translucent silhouette appeared on the wall following that voice.
The silhouette belonged to a male and so did the voice. The voice was calmer than Han's and more authoritative.
This was a Regional Oversight liaison.
A tier two agent.
Ryker straightened his back instinctively at this realization.
"You are currently classified as administrative data noise," the voice said. "Do you understand what that means?"
Ryker chose his words carefully. "It means my data is inconsistent."
"Wrong," the voice replied. "It means your existence is interfering with systemic clarity."
The scanner that had just been shut off came back to life.
The usual pressure whenever he was being evaluated came again. This time it was heavier than usual.
This time, Ryker tried his best to suppress the sensation within him that offered resistance.
He endured the pressure for two minutes before it vanished.
The scanner shrieked loudly then went quiet.
The room fell into silence.
The silhouette on the opposite wall flickered.
"…Noted," the voice said after a pause. "You will undergo extended evaluation."
That sentence felt like it had opened a nightmarish chapter in Ryker's life.
The screen went dark and the door was unlocked.
Han returned, her expression tightly controlled.
"Your preliminary evaluation has concluded," she said. "You'll be scheduled for further assessments."
Ryker didn't like the sound of that.
"How long?" He asked.
Han hesitated, then replied.
"Soon."
That meant immediately.
Ryker was escorted through a separate corridor into the Evaluation Wing.
The walls here were darker than in the other evaluation room, the lighting sharper, and the cameras were no longer hidden.
This was where the future of many civilians was decided. It could either be restored or destroyed.
Ryker was seated in a restraint chair, though the restraints were not used. Like a subtle threat.
Across from him, a panel of three auditors appeared via projection. It was as if they were afraid of him being a threat so they refused to show up in person.
They were second-tier evaluators. A rank higher than Han.
"Mr. Ryker Miller," the center auditor said. "This is your Behavioral Deviance Index assessment."
Ryker remained silent for two seconds then spoke.
"That exam is for awakened individuals."
"Correct," the auditor replied.
"Then why am I here?" Ryker asked.