SecUnit reflects on the restrictions imposed by Station Security after Mensah negotiated its role as a consultant. Station Security wanted SecUnit to use a public feed ID that would identify it to residents; after Mensah and Pin-Lee objected to the coercive nature of the request, SecUnit compromised by posting a minimal ID as “SecUnit” with no gender or other information.

The uneasy public situation worsened when someone sent a photo of SecUnit to the station newsstream, identifying it as the rogue SecUnit from Corporation Rim rumors. Mensah responded by giving SecUnit intel drones, partly to help it interact with its environment and partly as a pointed rebuke to Indah. Meanwhile, SecUnit has been trying to build a life on Preservation by speaking with Dr. Bharadwaj about constructs and helping Ratthi with data analysis, though it remains focused on GrayCris threats.

To investigate the dead human, SecUnit goes to the transient housing block, reasoning that a recent visitor would need a place to stay. SecUnit contacts Tellus, the hostel’s free bot, and asks it to search its visual records. Tellus finds an image of the dead human entering a corridor, then helps SecUnit inspect unoccupied rooms under maintenance authorization. In one room, SecUnit sees a scarf matching the style of the dead human’s shirt and identifies the registered occupant as Lutran, male, who had been staying there for two station cycles.

SecUnit sends a report to Station Security, including the room, images, the associated feed ID, and Tellus’s authorization. Tellus suggests checking arrivals data, which SecUnit initially resents because it cannot legally access Station Security systems, then realizes there may be another way. SecUnit goes to the transit ring and begins contacting docked transports directly through the feed to determine whether Lutran arrived on one of them.

After tediously checking many transports, SecUnit finds an anomalous Corporation Rim cargo hauler carrying some passengers. The transport’s replies are garbled and abnormal, and when SecUnit requests a diagnostic, the transport sends error codes. SecUnit goes to the dock, receives another garbled manifest through a direct connection, and realizes the transport is urgently trying to communicate that something aboard is badly wrong and that it cannot notify Port Authority.

SecUnit decides it needs to get aboard the damaged transport but also wants witnesses or support to prevent Station Security from using the situation against it. Mensah and Pin-Lee are unavailable, and other allies are off-station or otherwise absent, so SecUnit calls the two remaining humans most likely to come: one out of enthusiasm and one to argue.