Allison
I put the badge on the table and stare at the word printed under my name.
Visitor/Ops.
The letters are tidy, the rules are tidy but the rest of it isn't.
I open my notebook to a clean page and draw a line down the middle.
Stay | Leave
Under Stay, I write:
Policy protects me on paper.
I teach better in the room than outside it.
Ward sweeps, escorts, Daniel, Fallon.
Tea with Luna Ella after the trip — real room, not rumor.
Mixed-unit work happens at the Crown's table; I belong in that work.
Under Leave, I write:
Jack won't have the satisfaction of pushing me.
The cream-sigil people can't reach me as easily if I'm not here.
No photos someone can weaponize.
'Add the real one,' Ruby says, steady. 'You don't want to be cast out again.'
