The official took Eli past the crates before she let him ask his question.
There was food in the first room, barrier equipment in the second, and an open dispatch door through which crews were loading both. A cart left while they watched. Its driver checked the destination with a clerk and turned the corner toward a shelter whose request had appeared in the comparison.
“Look at it,” the official said. “Don’t look at me while you decide what it means.”
Eli looked.
One crate contained replacement pieces wrapped against damage. Another had been opened because the receiving district needed fewer of one part and more of another. People were making practical decisions beneath the terms he had come to challenge. None of the crates looked less real because the agreement behind them gave Rook authority Eli thought dangerous.
Tessa waited near the dispatch desk, letting a medic confirm the contents of a supply bundle. Sera had remained with the forum’s request channels; Eli carried only the paired cases they had chosen. He would not get to lay a whole accusation on the floor and make the official climb over it to reach the door.
They entered a small office with a view of the loading yard.
