Karuizawa did not forward the new question to Class D.
She only let Gu Heng see the terminal for a second before immediately taking it back.
"Don't check the access logs either."
"I only saw the fields you had already saved."
"Then only look at those."
She asked Gu Heng to meet her in the observation corridor at the stern. There were no shared Class D terminals there, only a row of darkened viewing windows.
"Someone will ask me there," Karuizawa said. Gu Heng asked, "Do you know who?"
"No." Her fingers pressed against the railing. Gu Heng asked again, "Do you know what they want to ask?"
"They want me to say something myself that I shouldn't have said before."
Gu Heng did not activate his weight vision. She had already made the risk clear enough; reading further would only turn even her refusal into material.
"You want me to stand here?"
"If you stand here, people will think you're protecting me."
"Then I'll leave."
"If you leave, they'll interpret it as you not wanting to hear it."
She looked out at the sea beyond the viewing windows, her voice lowered.
"So I'll answer for myself, once."
Gu Heng nodded, then added, "Only answer within the page's boundaries."
"I know."
When the stern door was pushed open, Kushida entered first.
She held no screenshots, only a folded note.
"You withdrew the comparison authorization."
Karuizawa did not look at her. "What I withdrew was the authorization for public verification."
"But others will hear it as you not wanting anyone to see."
"That's their problem."
Kushida wore her familiar smile. "Did you answer like that before too?"
The air seemed to tighten under an invisible pressure.
Gu Heng saw Karuizawa's gaze shift away, but he did not read the changes in