Chapter 6 · Rift Protocol - Chapter 6: The Monster Knows Her Hands

"Stop moving."

Dalen's got the tablet flat on the concrete floor, one knee pinning the corner so I can't kick it away. He's scrolling fast, his jaw tight, and I'm standing three feet back because the gun's still on the table between us.

"What did you find?" I ask.

"Shut up."

"Dalen—"

"I said shut up." He doesn't look at me. His thumb flicks across the screen, and I watch his face go stone. "You wrote this."

"Wrote what?"

He tilts the tablet so I can see. It's a document, dense with code and annotations. My handwriting in the margins. Neat, small, the kind of writing you do when you're trying to fit too much into too little space.

"That's not—" I start, but my throat closes.

Because I recognize it. Not the words. Not the code. But the way the letters slant. The way the 'K' in 'kernel' loops at the top.

"You signed it," Dalen says. His voice is flat. "Right here. Dr. Kess Marin, Project Lead, Echidna Initiative."

I step forward. He doesn't stop me.