Toren didn't sleep.
Not out of guilt. Not fear.
Just instinct.
He sat in the uplink chamber, hands still, breath quiet, as the system ran diagnostics he hadn't ordered. Background processes flickered like shadows behind a glass wall—readouts cycling too fast, pings echoing like sonar.
Passive Scan DetectedOrigin: External Relay BounceSignal Class: ShadowNet – Type CEncryption Level: Imperial
Status: UNAUTHORIZED
Toren's hands tensed.
This wasn't a Trade Federation message.
This was something deeper—an intelligence probe meant to watch, not speak.
"Kora," he whispered.
"Present."
"Why didn't I get an alert?"
"The signal piggybacked a shield recalibration request. It masked itself as internal flux."
"So they're inside."
"They saw a fraction. The external grid only. But they'll try again."
Toren's eyes darkened.
New Background Process: Interlock Protocol Triggered
Tracking Response Route: Signal bounce source – Coruscant Quadrant
User Feedback Requested: Do you wish to send a ghost ping?
He stared at the prompt.
A ghost ping would bounce a signal back—harmless, silent, but tagged with a hidden cipher.
It would show them he knew.
But it would also let them know he saw them.
His finger hovered.
And for now—
He pressed NO.
He wasn't ready to blink first.