The compact tool case emits a restrained blue glow. Beside it, Ilex Venn’s projection forms through the harmless working channel, cleanly separated from the distant pulse leading toward Node 19.
Ilex Venn
I followed the working channel, not the trace. The distant signal is still pulsing, but it has not acquired our position.
His projected face steadies above the tool case. A small verification field opens, displaying a short blue-white token with no cargo data or route information attached.
Ilex Venn
I have a verification token for this channel. Confirm it before I share what the broader systems corridor has learned.
The token rotates beside the compact tool case, its pattern matching the harmless channel’s authentication structure. The distant signal continues pulsing at measured intervals.
Ilex Venn
The confirmation will not expose the package, your location, or the corridor’s findings. It will only prove that this exchange remains under your control.
Ilex waits without advancing the token or opening another route. The useful information remains behind the confirmation, while the persistent pulse makes delay increasingly consequential.