The false ration strip carried the right color, the right expiry mark, and a nearly perfect copy of Emilia's intake seal. Its only visible flaw was a narrow ridge where the copied ink had pooled along one edge.
Vasa set it beside a real strip in the science-room office while the morning food line gathered beyond the gate. "The number belongs to a worker who finished a water shift yesterday," she said. "The real strip was redeemed. This one was printed after the task record closed."
"Who used it?" Nox asked.
"A woman from the east line," Emilia replied. "She gave it to her son, then stayed when the scanner failed. She says she bought it for two engine parts."
"Did she know it was false?"
"She knew it was cheaper than a legal ration," Emilia said. "That is not the same thing."
Nox did not need Vasa to tell him the distinction mattered. Holt's people could hide behind hungry buyers if the Citadel decided every forged strip required a public arrest.
