The Authority Registry accepted the Population Registry's last page before Nox reached its gate. Black lines ran from the appointment notice into the gray stone, matching the scars beneath his ribs with a precision that made Vasa's channel readings jump.
The Void pattern did not speak to him because it did not need a voice. It pressed every damaged channel toward the open authority line, making the next movement look efficient: accept administrator status, gain the district's routes, stop the registry from taking the Citadel.
Nox knew the cost because he could feel the corruption arranging his body around it. The line offered no help, only a place inside the system that was currently trying to call people property.
"It is at fifteen. The appointment is trying to use the command-core scar as a bridge," Vasa said over the receiver from her medical chair outside Parcel Zero, where damaged canal channels kept her from moving farther.
