Catherine POV
And there it was.
Fear.
Not being exposed.
Not losing control.
Fear of what happens when restraint finally collapses.
The file continued.
Subject A exhibits excessive ethical delay. Authority retention is high but operational efficiency declines over time. Long-term survivability low.
Subject A.
Aurora.
I stared at the designation, something cold spreading through my chest.
Low survivability.
Not politically.
Structurally.
The system was never built for someone like her.
Aurora was an anomaly not because she was weak, but because she refused to trade moral certainty for speed.
The framework assumed leaders like her would burn out. Be removed. Replaced.
Or bypassed.
That was the plan.
And somehow
Somehow, she had survived far longer than expected.
My breath came shallow now, anger and fear tangling into something sharper.
They hadn't miscalculated Aurora.
They had underestimated her.
But the system had not.
It had simply… waited.
