Casi waggled an eyebrow when she got the comm in her hands. Just a simple transmission from one of her associates back in Metropolis:
Sidereal Fusion Phase 1 complete.
Things had begun to slide into place. She’d just started to catch up on some station paperwork when one of her aides timidly knocked on the door. As she beckoned the young woman into the office, she gave her an appraising look: Verokina Astrup, a dedicated student who’d feared for the Republic after Maleatu Shakor’s ascension. The Republic Security Services had kept a dossier on her, and Casi had run across it while digging through some data that she really shouldn’t have. So many of her associates had similar stories, and she’d taken them into her orbit and helped them start to find their own voices.
“I think you should see this.” A report crossed the desk and Casi skimmed it quickly. She’d somehow missed all this Code Aria brouhaha, when did that happen? She understood as soon as she glanced at the date: that had been during one of her mother’s nervous breakdowns, which had occupied essentially all of her time and energy for a bit. Besides, for all her passion, she sometimes ended up missing political news anyway.
She sighed and looked back at Verokina. “Thanks. What do you think?”
The young woman pursed her lips. “It complicates things. We might have to move the project, or at least find a way to explain it.”
Casi assented quickly. “Start pulling together some options to review. Let me know when you think you’ve got enough for a discussion draft. Sooner rather than later.”
And just like that, a research project turned into a highly illegal conspiracy.
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