Page 26 of Stars in Aura

One of the core tenets was that using metanoids or unauthorized medical procedures on a patient without their prior consent or that of the surgeon in charge was prohibited.

No exceptions.

Issa Elaris had just violated that code.

Right before him, under his damnfokkin’ nose.

The only sound in the surgical theater was the rhythmic beeping of monitors and the soft whir of the robotic arms assisting the procedure.

Ki’Remi did not register any of it. His focus remained on her.

Issa stood across him, her gloves still stained with Allorian blood, her expression obnoxiously composed despite the crime she had just committed in his OR.

Which he had no recorded proof of.

Ki’Remi’s teeth clenched.

His gold and silver nebula eyes gaze locked onto her like a targeting system, every muscle in his body wound tight with barely leashed fury.

Unauthorized energy healing.

On his table.

In his surgery.

In his sight.

It was her eyes that set his instincts roaring.

Not the smug, overconfident defiance he expected, but the flicker of uncertainty.

Accompanied by a glance at her forearm. Too quick. Almost imperceptible.

However, Ki’Remi caught it.

His meta-vision activated, his internal neural node locking on the timepiece strapped to her wrist.

The slim, sleek device was deceptively simple, and its screen flickered with numbers counting down.

What the hell did they mean?

The Rider sent a silent metanoid pulse toward the gadget, a micro-cloud of code designed to infiltrate and extract data.

A straightforward inspection that would not take more than a second.

He jolted when the chrono repelled him.

A force field snapped outward, blocking the scan with tech he had never encountered.

He issued a neural order to his metanoids to examine it.

The response came back fast. Confirming the timepiece was not standard fleet issue.

Neither was it black-market.

Not even stolen from one of the rogue colonies.

His rage simmered, controlled but lethal, as he locked down the surgical suite with a silent cerebral command.

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