Chapter 202

# Chapter 202 ## KAEL Station Twelve looked innocuous on my display—a cluster of modular habitats perched on the edge of the northern ice shelf, its domes glowing softly against the polar night. Forty-three people living and working there, completely unaware that we were about to turn their home into bait. The ethical implications gnawed at me as Seraphina and I worked through the night, building our trap layer by layer. "We should tell them," I said for the third time. "And say what?" Seraphina's voice was patient but firm, her fingers never pausing in their work. "That we think there might be a hostile intelligence in the network, so we're using your station as a lure? That'll create exactly the kind of panic Chen wants to avoid." "They deserve to know the risk." "They're already at risk. Everyone connected to the network is." She finally looked up, her eyes tired but resolute. "At least this way, we're controlling the variables. Watching. Ready to respond." I wanted to argue, but sh