The conference room's holographic display flickered with five separate video feeds, each showing a team leader's face rendered in blue-white light. Sophie stood at the head of the table, Sam beside her with three tablets spread across the surface, fingers moving between screens as he compiled data.
"Alright, everyone's connected," Sophie said, her voice carrying the controlled calm she used when situations were developing faster than she liked. "I've reviewed your field reports. Before we continue operations, I need clarity on what each of you is seeing."
She gestured at the display, and the feeds rearranged themselves into a grid. "Team Lila reported unusual scarring patterns on evacuees at Settlement Echo-Seven. Team Lucas flagged tactical awareness in refugee populations that seems inconsistent with civilian profiles. Team Kelvin discovered his research station is running life support systems configured for something requiring significantly more infrastructure than reported."
