That, more than anything, unsettled them.
Callista broke the silence first. "The execution was clean."
"Yes," Aldric agreed. "That is not in question."
"And the Slicer remains contained," Warden Sel added.
"It does," Aldric said. "Also not in question."
He gestured to the document. "What is in question is what happens to a sentient tool when its wielder dies without transfer, dissolution, or contextual closure."
Vess let out a quiet breath through his nose. "You're saying it's… grieving."
"No," Edmund said calmly. "I am saying it has lost orientation."
All eyes turned to him.
Edmund inclined his head slightly, acknowledging the attention without yielding to it. "Tools do not experience loss as we do. But they are shaped by use, by dialogue, by interruption. The Slicer's partnership with Greaves was singular and uncorrected."
Callista scanned the document again. "You're confident this isn't corruption."
"Yes," Edmund said. "And so are the tools themselves."
