Neo stepped out into the hallway and found the three of them waiting where he had left them.
Snot was leaning against the wall with his arms folded, one foot pressed back against the plaster. Alice stood beside Marika without saying anything, close enough to step in if she had to, quiet enough not to crowd her. The fourth place in the group stayed empty.
Max wasn't there.
Nothing in the corridor filled that absence. No voice, no shield hanging from a broad shoulder, no easy promise that if things turned ugly, he would stand in front of it first. The space where he should have been drew the eye on its own.
Snot straightened a little when Neo came out. "You done?"
Neo gave a short nod. "Yeah."
"What did they ask you?" Snot pushed himself off the wall and rolled one shoulder. "Same annoying things as us or special treatment because you've got that permanently miserable face?"
Neo ignored the second part. "Questions about the tower. My head. What I remembered. What I saw inside."
