Page 171 of Commander’s Mate

“Nice.”

“No one needs to justify a boundary to a database.”

Tivid, behind us, said, “Sometimes reason codes improve future policy.”

I turned.

He lifted both hands.

“Deleted.”

Kaeli smiled.

That was how the registry became more than names—not because it knew everything.

Because it learned what it had no right to know.

Later, I found Vessa and Kaeli eating together.

Not touching.

Not talking much.

Still together.

For now.

I went back to my office and changed one more field.

RECORD OWNER: SURVIVOR.

Then I locked it so command could not alter that designation without documented emergency authority.

Zared would complain.

Good.

That meant the field mattered.

The Kaeli mistake made me audit everything.

That was a terrible idea.

By midnight I had found thirty-seven mismatches.

None were missing people.

That was the good news.

The bad news was that our systems had been quietly inventing different versions of the same person.

One woman had three ages because species-year conversion changed between medical and transport.

A man had two homeworlds because the translator had confused birthplace with citizenship.

Six people had family names split into first and last names even though their culture did not use either.

One child’s mother was listed as “guardian unit.”