The next morning kicked off with a message.
It wasn't for Mu Chen, though. It was for Lin Lan.
Lin Lan strode into the ready room, clutching her tablet so hard her knuckles were white. She didn't even bother sitting down, heading straight for Colonel Luo Wei.
"New orders," Lin Lan announced.
Luo Wei took the tablet and started reading.
Ye Fan stood off to the side, arms crossed, his expression unreadable. Zhou Xiao watched them all, looking pretty keyed up. Mu Chen, meanwhile, just hovered at the edge of the room, waiting.
Luo Wei's eyes scanned the screen, moving back and forth. Her face remained completely neutral, but the atmosphere in the room shifted. It felt like a ton of bricks had just been dropped on the table.
She handed the tablet back to Lin Lan. "You read it."
Lin Lan took a breath, swallowed hard, and then spoke, her voice steady and clear.
"Effective immediately, all guide-sentinel support in Unit Seven is to be placed under additional observation. Lieutenant Mu Chen is to attend an institute evaluation within forty-eight hours. Major Ye Fan will undergo a stability review within seventy-two hours."
Zhou Xiao let out a quiet curse. "Evaluation for what?"
Lin Lan read the next line. "'Routine classification confirmation.'"
A chill went through Mu Chen's stomach. Classification confirmation. That meant only one thing. They wanted to make sure his C-class rating was legit. Or, more likely, to prove it wasn't.
Ye Fan's voice cut through the silence, cool and sharp. "Who signed it?"
Lin Lan hesitated for a beat. "Dr. Qiu."
Ye Fan's jaw tightened.
Colonel Luo Wei broke the tension. "We will comply."
Ye Fan turned his head to look at her. "Colonel."
Luo Wei met his gaze. "We don't have a choice in the directive itself. We only have choices in how we handle it."
Ye Fan's eyes were hard as he spoke. "They'll drag him into a room and turn him inside out."
Mu Chen kept his expression blank. He didn't dare look at Ye Fan, not wanting his friend to see anything in his eyes.
Luo Wei's voice remained even. "Mu Chen will not go alone. Lin Lan will escort him."
Lin Lan gave a crisp nod. "Yes, ma'am."
Ye Fan spoke again, his tone chillingly cold. "I escort."
Luo Wei didn't budge. "No."
The tension in the room ratcheted up. Zhou Xiao looked like he wished he could melt into the floor. Mu Chen's fingers clenched into fists for a second, then relaxed.
Luo Wei continued, explaining her decision. "Major Ye Fan, you draw too much attention. If you go into their wing with him, you'll make him a bigger target. You also risk losing your own composure in front of them."
Ye Fan's eyes flashed. "I can control myself."
Luo Wei's stare didn't waver. "Can you?"
Silence.
Mu Chen felt the truth of her words in the quiet. Ye Fan could control himself in a gate. He could control himself in combat. But in the sterile environment of the institute wing, with their carefully constructed smiles and their probing questions, Ye Fan's control would inevitably slip. He had grown up within the military system, shaped by it. The institute, in a way, was the very brain of that system.
Luo Wei brought the meeting to a close. "This is the plan. Lin Lan escorts. Mu Chen answers only what is asked. Nothing more. Understood?"
"Understood," Lin Lan replied.
"Yes, ma'am," said Zhou Xiao.
"Yes, ma'am," Mu Chen confirmed.
Ye Fan didn't answer immediately. Then, through gritted teeth, he finally said, "Understood."
After the meeting, everyone went back to their usual routines. Mu Chen, as ordered, stuck close to Lin Lan like a shadow, not even venturing off alone to grab a drink of water. Lin Lan didn't complain, and she didn't say much either.
Around noon, Lin Lan paused at a hallway intersection, glancing back discreetly. Mu Chen noticed.
"What is it?" he asked.
Lin Lan lowered her voice. "Someone's been following us sometimes."
Mu Chen's stomach churned. "Who?"
Lin Lan's eyes were sharp as she replied, "I don't know. Not in uniform. Maybe institute staff. They walk like they own the place."
A cold dread crept into Mu Chen's fingers. He recognized that kind of attitude. The orphanage had staff like that too, people who looked at you like you were just part of the furniture.
"Don't look back," Lin Lan said, her voice calm. "Don't let them see anything." Mu Chen nodded and they kept walking.
Later, at dinner, Ye Fan didn't touch his food. Mu Chen watched him standing by the wall screen, his eyes scanning the mission notices as if he wanted to tear them down with his gaze. Zhou Xiao sat next to Mu Chen again, his voice low. "He's going to do something."
Mu Chen just kept eating, not answering.
Zhou Xiao leaned in closer. "If they take you—"
Mu Chen cut him off softly. "They won't."
Zhou Xiao looked unconvinced. Mu Chen wasn't sure he believed it himself.
That night, Mu Chen lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. The camera above his divider remained still, but he could still feel its constant gaze. He thought about the evaluation in forty-eight hours. He thought about Dr. Qiu's unsettling smile. He remembered Ye Fan's harsh warning: stay small.
Mu Chen whispered to himself, barely audible, "I am small." But the base didn't care about his whispers. It cared about his data. And in two days, the institute was coming to check if his life matched his label.