"Initial deployment will be team-based. You'll be entering with some other Adepts and Trainees pulled from compatible profiles. Low interference, balanced combat tempo. Field synergy was calculated through combat imprint records and complementary trait distribution."
She turned back to him, expression flat but firm.
"They'll meet you at the staging point tomorrow morning. Your mission is to clear and stabilize the sector."
Astron's gaze didn't shift. But there was a pause.
Then, quietly, without inflection:
"No."
Reina's head tilted.
Her eyes narrowed—not in irritation, but in curiosity, like someone analyzing an unexpected fault line across a clean blueprint.
"No?" she echoed.
Astron met her gaze. "I'll go in alone."
Silence blanketed the room for a beat, thick and exact.
Reina studied him, her fingers halting mid-gesture on the control panel.
"I assume you have a reason," she said coolly, though her voice held an edge of warning.
Astron nodded. "Two."
