Halden enlarged the scan until the web of light filled most of the panel.
Elias leaned in despite himself. Looking away felt worse than looking. The lines inside him were too neat. That scared him more than damage would have.
"What do the lines mean exactly inside me?" he asked. "They look too organized to be damage alone."
Halden tapped one bright thread near the spine. "We think they are channels for soul energy, or something close enough that the term keeps appearing in Ikona descriptions. The shard sits between you and Dot inside that map. It translates, conducts, filters, or performs all three, depending on which theory survives the week."
Dot looked at him. "That is a lot of uncertainty for a man holding my picture."
"Science is mostly uncertainty with better furniture nearby."
Elias almost smiled, then saw the thread near his chest again and lost the mood.
Halden pointed to several bright intersections around Elias's ribs. "Your blood is why I can partly perceive Ikonas. Bearer samples contain tiny particles that break down quickly but leave a measurable pocket effect. Under the right conditions, sound or image bleeds through for a second."
Dot shot closer to his face.
"You have seen me before and failed to introduce yourself properly?"
"I have seen fragments of several Ikonas and been insulted by at least two of them, so your group is socially active."
"Was I impressive at least once in your notes?"
Halden looked at Elias rather than answering her directly. "Your Ikona has a strong projection pattern, which is the professional version of yes."
Dot folded her arms with deep satisfaction.
Elias rubbed his forehead. "Please do not reward her behavior during testing."
"Too late for that request now, from experience," Halden said, already opening a sealed kit on the counter. "We are done with the scan, but I need blood before you leave. Standard protocol, unpleasant branding, and not optional cruelty."
"You make needles sound like another government process."
"Everything becomes paperwork if it lives long enough," Halden said, and Elias rolled up his sleeve.
The needle went in quick. Blood filled the vial dark red, and Halden sealed it inside a small case with Elias's temporary code printed across the lid. The case clicked shut like it had eaten something.
Elias did not like that thought.
Halden wrote two notes on the tablet, then sent the scan image away before Elias could stare at it until the shape became familiar.
"All set, and Oliver will take you to the stadium zone for physical testing and training suit issue."
Elias stepped down from the table. "Stadium zone sounds like a name chosen by people expecting injuries."
Oliver opened the door and gestured for him to follow.
"It is where controlled injuries are preferred over uncontrolled ones."
"That did not improve the name for me."
They moved through a long corridor that sloped down. The walls changed from white medical panels to reinforced concrete and dark metal. The air grew warmer. Sound traveled differently here, lower and wider, bouncing off heavy surfaces before it reached him.
The farther they went, the less the place felt like a hospital.
Elias kept seeing the scan in his head. Installed was the word he could not shake. The shard had not crawled into him by accident. Something had placed it with purpose, then left him to find out the purpose while wearing green facility clothes and walking beside a man who considered warnings a love language.
Dot floated close enough that her shoulder brushed his jaw.
"You are worried about the lines inside you."
"I am worried that the lines look intentional."
"I am also intentional, so try not to make that sound ugly."
He glanced at her and let the point sit.
"Fair enough, because I am worried about who did the intending."
The corridor ended at double doors tall enough for equipment carriers. Oliver placed his palm against the panel. The locks released in three heavy steps before the doors opened inward.
The stadium zone waited below the entry platform.
It was an indoor field with packed dirt under bright overhead rigs. White circles marked lanes and testing positions across the ground. Equipment stations lined the sides, weighted frames, target racks, padded barriers, suit stands, and a machine tall enough to make Elias wonder whether command had lost a bet with a torture designer.
Several staff members worked at consoles behind reinforced screens. Nobody looked surprised to see him. That bothered him more than open staring would have.
A man waited near the center circle.
He wore a black suit threaded with green metal panels, close in design to Elara's gear. The fit made him look carved into authority rather than dressed for work. Elias recognized him before they reached the dirt.
"You were at the road fight with Elara."
The man looked him over once, starting with the badge and ending at Elias's shoes.
"Correct, First Lieutenant Yui Rakamaki, and you may call me Yui because you are not military personnel and I do not need you damaging my patience with titles."
Elias stopped beside Oliver. "Elias Kael, and I would say good to meet you, but you look like you already disagree."
Yui's expression did not move.
"You are underpowered, poorly conditioned, low perception, and recently attacked by a hostile bearer. Today is measurement rather than training for combat."
"Measurement sounds gentler than getting beaten by staff."
"Only because you have not been measured by me."
Oliver handed Yui a small tablet. "Geras ordered full baseline, no permanent damage, and immediate report if Dot manifests under stress."
Yui read the order once. "Understood, no permanent damage unless command changes the limit."
"That was less comforting than you think, Lieutenant."
"Comfort is not part of this station today."
Yui pointed toward a suit stand near the first white circle. The suit hanging there was gray with green lines over the joints, thicker at the chest, spine, and wrists. It looked less like clothing than a polite restraint system.
"Put him in the training suit and leave. Return in one hour unless the medical alarm triggers earlier."
Oliver looked at Elias, then at Dot's empty space near his shoulder.
"Listen the first time because he dislikes repeating himself."
"I gathered that from the personality drought already."
Dot whispered near his ear. "I dislike his tone with impressive speed already."
Elias adjusted the badge on his chest and started toward the suit.
"At least he is direct about it today."
Yui answered without turning away from the tablet.
"Direct keeps weak people alive longer than comfort, so move."