Of course Lynn knew he was being watched. That was not hard to notice.
The only thing he could not understand was where exactly he had slipped up.
Still, he played his role perfectly: "Inspector Lynn," capable, slightly weary, with the caution and slight greed peculiar to a low-ranking bureaucrat.
He arrived and left on time, reviewed documents diligently, alternated between sternness and reassurance with his subordinates, and maintained superficial courtesy and distance with his colleagues.
When reporting to Cassius, his tone was always respectful and slightly tense, befitting a mortal standing before an Astartes.
All his expenditure records had been carefully disguised, including the enormous sums spent on "feeding" Rena.
They had been broken up and concealed under various headings for official reimbursements, equipment procurement, and "private investments."
The accounts looked somewhat messy, but within the Hive City's bureaucracy, that actually made them look perfectly "normal."
Until the real bomb went off.
That day, Lynn arrived at the Sons of Medusa's outpost for work as usual.
He seemed to be getting used to working at high intensity under such invasive scrutiny.
But today, the moment he arrived, Lynn heard a bombshell.
Through its own reconnaissance, the Medusa squad had identified an area suspected of harboring a Tyranid node nest.
When Lynn saw the area's location, the blood in his body seemed to freeze instantly.
"This was an oversight on my part. This was one of the first areas I inspected."
"I never expected Xenos to infiltrate it again. I have made a fool of myself before you, my lords."
Indeed, the area Cassius had named was precisely where Rena was hiding.
Seeing how quickly Lynn reacted, Cassius even felt a trace of admiration for this "little inspector."
Quite an actor, this one.
But when Lynn saw the information on the screen, his pupils contracted for barely ten milliseconds, and Cassius's helmet captured it.
There really is something wrong with this man.
Afterward, although Lynn kept working while doing everything he could to remain calm, they were, after all, searching the lair of his "almost-lover."
He still displayed subtle changes that even he could barely notice.
For instance, whenever his subordinates found traces of Rena's swarm.
The index finger and thumb of his right hand would unconsciously begin rubbing the metal edge of the Dataslate at his waist.
This gesture was an unconscious response to extreme tension.
During pauses at the outpost while waiting for new orders from Cassius, or during tedious data handovers with the Tech-Priests.
Lynn's gaze would sometimes briefly "lose focus."
His eyes were still looking ahead, but nothing seemed to be reflected deep within his pupils.
It was as though he were "listening" to some distant, faint voice, or reading text in empty space that only he could see.
This state usually lasted only half a second, after which he would blink and refocus.
In reality, he was indeed trying to find out whether any of Rena's swarm units were nearby.
But he had personally told Rena that his swarm was not to appear anywhere near the Sons of Medusa's outpost under any circumstances.
Now suffering the consequences of his own instructions, Lynn was deeply anxious about how to get a message to Rena.
Both these behaviors differed from his usual steady, methodical working rhythm.
Cassius's cold logic processor correlated these minute anomalies with the results of the earlier battlefield data analysis.
His assessment was that Lynn Corvana was concealing something.
And whatever he was concealing was highly correlated with Tyranid activity. It might even be the key to resolving the Tyranid infiltration of the Hive World of Necromunda.
Within the existing framework of mortal understanding, Cassius favored two possibilities:
A: Lynn was secretly colluding with some cunning, undiscovered Genestealer Cult leader.
B: Lynn himself was an undetected Genestealer hybrid of a higher order or a more concealed kind.
As for Lynn directly cooperating with a self-aware Tyranid node?
That idea was too heretical, too far beyond conventional understanding.
To test his conjectures, especially that "extreme hypothesis," Cassius decided to stop waiting passively.
He could certainly uncover everything through more extreme methods, but he was very curious about the relationship between Lynn and that anomalous Tyranid node.
So he would apply pressure, set a trap, and observe Lynn's most instinctive reactions.
When the work was more or less finished, Cassius took the unusual step of summoning Lynn:
"The recent purges have been efficient, Inspector Lynn.
"And this target is exceptionally weak. We intend to rest for twenty-four hours before taking action.
"So that will be all for today." He paused, his white helmet turning slightly.
"Go back and rest. Just keep your communications open."
Lynn's heart tightened, but just the right measure of weariness and gratitude immediately appeared on his face:
"Thank you for your consideration, my lord. I remain at your disposal."
He saluted respectfully, stepped back, turned, and left the warehouse.
Every step was steady, but his heart pounded heavily in his chest.
They weren't acting immediately? This was far too unusual.
Cassius's squad belonged to an Iron Hands successor Chapter renowned for sustained operations and ruthless efficiency. Why would they suddenly need such a long "rest period"?
This felt more like "bait," a deliberately provided window that appeared safe.
Lynn's nerves instantly stretched to their limit.
After he left, Cassius turned toward the shadows.
"Follow him," he told the two soldiers who had remained on standby throughout.
They were two Imperialis Militia soldiers equipped with the latest optical camouflage and full-body sound-suppression systems.
Their figures shimmered slightly in the warehouse's dim light, then almost completely blended into their surroundings.
At the very moment Lynn left the Sons of Medusa's outpost.
Three Sons of Medusa warriors had already arrived near Rena's nest with Martian auxiliary troops and large numbers of Servitors.
Distracted throughout, Lynn had not noticed at all that three Space Marines were missing from the outpost.
An invisible, deadly net silently closed over Lynn and Rena.
After leaving the outpost, Lynn did not rush back to District Seven to contact Rena.
He forced himself to behave as an "ordinary bureaucrat" should after finishing an exhausting day of work.
He went to the market in District Six, stopped at several stalls, and bought some moderately priced synthetic protein blocks and condensed fruit.
He even chatted with a secondhand book vendor about the plots of recently popular pulp novels.
His smile was natural and his tone relaxed, but he kept scanning his surroundings out of the corners of his eyes.
The clamor of the crowd, the roar of machinery, the faint sirens in the distance...
Everything seemed normal.
Except he kept feeling a gaze resting on his back, cold and persistent.
Lynn seemed to realize something and immediately returned to District Seven.
After reaching District Seven, he began searching everywhere for Rena's swarm, trying to establish contact with her.
To tell her that the Sons of Medusa might have discovered Rena's nest.
Normally, there would always be a few Tyranid units linked to Rena's consciousness within his jurisdiction.
As long as these Tyranid units came within a certain range of him, he could use the system's functions to contact Rena.
But today, no matter what he did, he could not connect to Rena.
His unease grew ever stronger.