“Let’s focus on what we can control right now,” Sophia suggested gently, turning to face them both with the careful neutrality she’d perfected over weeks of watching their dynamic shift. She pretended not to notice how Daniel’s fingers tightened around his device when Juniper approached the table. “We need to identify any potential jurors with infrastructure industry connections.”

The ventilation system groaned as Sophia pulled out a meticulously organized binder. “I’ve labeled all the exhibits related to Delaney’s algorithmic patterns,” she reported, raising her voice over another crash from above. Through the windows, holiday lights caught in the frost, their cheerful glow a stark contrast to the cold professional distance filling the room. “The documentation shows clear evidence of copytraps in the code’s structure.”