Richards had chosen a place with walls thick enough to keep voices inside.
It was not his apartment this time. Just a quiet office tucked deeper inside the same government building Neo had already started associating with questions, forms, and truths people only said behind closed doors. Morning light fell across the desk in a pale strip that stopped short of Richards' hands.
Neo sat across from him and waited.
Richards did not waste much time.
"You've crossed paths with the Duplains twice now," he said. "That stops being bad luck."
Neo stayed still.
"The first time was Roderic," Richards continued, leaning back slightly in the chair. "Zone 0. The old man dead. A scene cleaned too well for the place it happened in. The second was Leo inside the Breach, and that one came with bodies, witnesses, and a mess his family will spend a lot of time trying to wash clean."
Neo's mouth hardened faintly. "You say that like you already know how it ends."
