The knock came without warning.
CV was off the nest before Zeph had processed the sound—hovering in the center of the room in the combat-ready configuration, compound eyes oriented toward the door, wings producing the low hum that preceded ability activation.
"Easy," Zeph said.
"It's me! Sarah! Open up!"
Zeph exhaled slowly. CV did not stand down.
"It's fine," Zeph told CV. "Probably."
CV's wings maintained the activation hum. CV had opinions about probability.
He opened the door to a narrow gap.
Specifically a narrow gap—Sarah Chen had a documented history of using momentum and the element of surprise to convert a partial door opening into a full room entry, and he had learned from prior experience that the gap needed to be non-negotiable from the start.
She looked him over from the other side with the focused attention of someone conducting a rapid assessment and reaching conclusions faster than most people formed questions.
