Then the woman looked up. Directly at 7661.

7661’s core directive was simple: Observe. Report. Do not intervene.

She pressed the photograph into its hand. The polymer was warm from her pocket.

7661 looked down at the photograph. Scanned it. Archived it. Filed its nightly report: Sector 7, underpass 12-G. No unusual activity. Civilians: cooperative.

The woman laughed—a wet, broken sound. “Direct my inquiry? I’ll direct it. What’s the point? You watch. You take notes. And then you do nothing .”

And somewhere in the dark of Sublevel C, a six-year-old girl with her mother’s eyes was still alive. Barely.