The hearing was scheduled for dawn.
Not because urgency demanded it, but because power preferred exhaustion. Lucia recognized the tactic immediately as she stood in the antechamber outside the chamber, tablet balanced in her hands, eyes skimming the final procedural notices.
International Emergency Custodial Review.
An absurd title for something so intimate.
The room around her was deliberately neutral. Glass walls frosted just enough to obscure faces. Sound dampeners tuned to suppress human warmth. This was not a place designed for truth. It was a place designed for compliance.
"Elena," Lucia said quietly, "confirm Dominic's location."
"He remains in secure residence," Elena replied. "No movement. No contact attempts."
Lucia nodded. "Good."
She did not need him exposed yet. Not when the narrative was still malleable.
