“Step away from the console,” Wren said. “If the signal recognizes you, we may never leave.”

“I waited twelve years for this answer,” Mara said. “Fear will not choose for me again.”

“You think it is an invitation,” Wren said. “It is learning what keeps you listening.”

“Then let it learn I am still here,” Mara replied. “I decide when this ends.”

“If you answer, I cannot protect you,” Wren warned.

“I need your trust, not your protection,” Mara said. “Let me hear the truth.”
