(Liam Romano's POV)
The Ether protocol clicked into motion with the clinical calm of a Swiss watch. In my study the transfer screens glowed like an altar; every route, every ETA, every heartbeat pulsed across the monitors. Two armored SUVs, anonymous as coffins, split off on separate paths toward the shelter. Neri had moved with the same ruthless efficiency she always did — only what mattered made the kit: powdered formula, spare diapers, Isabella’s ragged stuffed rabbit, Caleb’s battered plastic dinosaur. The children were the variable I couldn't afford to lose.
I watched the camera feed and tried to make myself an observer. Neri folded herself around Isabella the way someone might fold paper: precise, protective, final. The little girl was wrapped in a thermal blanket, breath even, che
