Cold welcomed Samira as she entered the hearing chambers. Runes either adjusting to the weather outside or deliberately programmed to be cold. The room was large, carved beneath the Storm Fortress from a single block of volcanic granite. The ceiling was high enough to be intimidating, but short enough to stop any echo.

  The light of the Shepherd Rings glow dull from the windows.

  The other source of cold came from the welcoming committee. Three seats on one side of a stone table. One chair on the other.

  Samira took the lone seat.

  Alivia Akrafona sat in the middle of the opposite row, hands folded, posture impeccable. Her golden hair was bound in the formal braid of her office, long enough to reach her waist. She looked younger than thirty years old, despite her high rank and long service to the Order. Alivia and Samira had been mistaken as sisters more than once, instead of mother-daughter. She did not look at Samira immediately.

  To Alivia’s right sat Grand Master Khyr Valen. Monocle upon one eye. Stacks of paper in front of him. To Alivia’s left sat Archivist Sereth – her stony face unchanging.

  Silence settled.

  Alivia spoke first.

  “Thank you for coming quickly,” she said, not a hint of love in her voice. “We will keep this brief.”

  “Of course,” Samira answered.

  Valen kept his gaze on her.

  “The Azerlian Incident,” he said, “did not resolve in a normal manner. May I ask you why?”

  “It was not normal. We improvised.”

  “May I ask you why?”

  “Because the Animiculus did not behave normal. We adapted. We escalated.” Samira said, unshaken.

  “Then we will bring our discussion to the Animiculus itself,” Valen folded his hands. “ Reports indicate it gathered mass far too quickly and displayed behavior inconsistent with our models.”

  “Correct.”

  “And you elected cold-based containment?

  “As per the model.”

  “This method resulted in – as the report said – identity stabilization.”

  “Yes.”

  Alivia looked at her daughter. “Explain.”

  “The Azerlian Mass Animiculus responded to cold not as loss of energy, but adapted by forming ice into insulating structure. It was immune to the model we projected. The core itself remembered Nasir II’s later imprisonment phase. It almost formed his body, and his face.”

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  “You are saying that the Animiculus remembered.”

  “I am saying,” Samira replied, “that our containment method altered its mind.”

  Silence fell once more.

  Sereth wrote faster.

  “That is a significant conclusion.”

  “It is,” Samira said.

  “So why did you omit this conclusion from your report?”

  “I postponed it. It was my choice.”

  “Interesting.”

  Alivia’s voice cut in. “The omission is noted. We will return to it.”

  She continued. “Let’s address how you resolved this. Via an avalanche.”

  “Yes.”

  “And the Animiculus itself?” Alivia asked.

  “Inert,” Samira answered. “Insulated. Contained.”

  “Not destroyed.”

  “No.”

  Valen nodded. “Containment without destruction has precedent.”

  “Yes, but not without consequence.” Samira said.

  Valen’s eyes darted to Alivia, and then back to Samira.

  “Which brings us,” he said, “to the matter of civilian involvement.”

  Samira felt the shift like a pressure change.

  “Kandar Akassir,” Valen continued. “Freeblade. Not a member of the Order. Present at multiple phases of the engagement.”

  “Yes.”

  “Acted independently.”

  “Yes.”

  “Triggered the avalanche. Under your consent.”

  Samira paused.

  “He did so to prevent civilian deaths. The Animiculus was heading towards a village full-bore.”

  Valen raised an eyebrow. “Commendable instinct. Not a sanctioned one.”

  “He saved the village.”

  “And endangered containment,” Valen replied smoothly. “Did he understand the nature of the Animiculus?”

  “He did not.”

  “Did he understand Nasir II’s condition?”

  “No.”

  “Then why,” Valen asked, “was he permitted to act at all?”

  Samira’s jaw tightened.

  “Because I hesitated.”

  That drew Alivia’s attention like a blade.

  “Hesitated how?” her mother asked.

  Sereth paused. Valen listened closely.

  “At meaning, not at the threat.” Samira replied.

  Valen sighed. “You see how this is difficult? For all of us?”

  “Yes,” Samira said. “I do.”

  “And yet,” Valen continued, ”following this incident you chose to remain in civilian proximity.”

  “Yes.”

  “Delaying redeployment.”

  “Yes.”

  “And maintaining contact with the civilian in question.”

  Samira looked directly at him .”Yes”

  Valen unfolded his hands. “You understand how this looks like.”

  “I understand how it will be framed.”

  Alivia leaned forward slightly. “Samira,” she said, and this time the word carried weight. “Is there anything about Mr. Akassir’s involvement that the Order does not yet understand?”

  Samira met her mother’s gaze.

  “Yes,” she said.

  Valen’s smile vanished.

  Alivia held the look for a long moment. Then she nodded once.

  “That will be enough for today,” she said.

  Valen stiffened. “Grand Master—”

  “We have established,” Alivia continued, “that Field Worldforger Akrafona acted within mandate, though at its edges. We have established the existence of anomalous Animiculus behavior. And we have established civilian exposure risk.”

  She turned to Samira.

  “You will remain under temporary review,” Alivia said. “You will submit a supplemental report. You will refrain from field deployment until further notice.”

  Samira nods slowly. “Understood.”

  “And,” Alivia added, “you will consider carefully what you choose to protect.”