Jax woke beneath a city recovery poster carrying his own official portrait. The medical room screen called him Rank D, First Player, plus Government Protected while Appraise showed none of those classifications inside his body. No city seal had touched his natural core before granting either rank.
"They selected a cleaner photograph than the one taken after my contract broke," Jax said.
"The uniform did not exist when that photograph was taken," Nox replied.
"Then somebody built a public body around my face before asking whether I would stand inside it," he said.
The lead medic finished scanning the burns around his severed sponsor channels. Natural core output remained stable at thirty-one percent of his sponsored peak, though the missing reinforcement left both legs vulnerable to old training damage.
"You can walk, but another full fight risks reopening the left knee plus lower-back injuries," the medic said.
"How long before ordinary recovery changes that?" Jax asked.
