The research facility’s public door faced a garden nobody had weeded since the emergency.
Grass had forced its way between the paving stones. Behind the glass, a barrier diagram hung above a bench where visitors waited for appointments. Eli stood with the community representatives and watched a technician carry a tray down an inner passage. The tray was covered. He could not tell what it held, and the fact that he could not tell made him understand why the representatives had gone quiet.
Tessa spoke to the attendant using the agreed description of the visit. The community had appointed its own observers and spokesperson. Eli was there to help secure access, not to decide what return should mean. Sera carried the transport references, with the families’ private details kept apart. The envoy stood beside the spokesperson while the attendant checked their names.
The facility custodian came to receive them. She looked tired, not hostile. Her sleeve bore a small scorch mark near the wrist, and she kept a ring of keys hooked inside a pocket rather than at her waist. She told them the director would meet them after a scheduled defense comparison.
“The collection is in controlled storage,” she said. “Nothing has been prepared for removal yet.”
