Juniper’s eyes narrowed as she processed the implication. While Roma continued his direct examination, she began rifling through their exhibits… pages snapping against each other, her fingers outpacing her thoughts.

“Furthermore,” O’Connor was saying, his voice carrying that particular tone of bureaucratic authority, “all hiring decisions are subject to multiple levels of review to ensure compliance with federal guidelines.”

Roma nodded sagely. “And these reviews - they’re documented?”

“Extensively,” O’Connor confirmed. “Every step of the process is tracked and archived.”

Juniper’s fingers froze on a particular page, her breath caught somewhere it couldn’t escape. She turned slightly… Sophia was already looking at her, chin dipped, eyes saying YES. She’d seen it too. Daniel sat up straighter.

Roma seemed to sense the shift in energy. “Your Honor, the defense would like to enter Government Exhibit 47 - a comprehensive overview of our hiring review protocols.”

“Your Honor,” Juniper rose, something cracking through the steadiness she’d intended, “before that exhibit is entered, the plaintiffs request permission to review a newly discovered document.”

The gallery stirred, tabs lighting up as the observers sensed a turning point. Judge Donahue’s expression tightened slightly. “Approach.”

Juniper reached the bench still catching the breath she’d left at the table. Juniper pulled out the document Sophia had flagged… a series of API access logs showing discrepancies in the training record dates. “Your Honor, these logs directly contradict the witness’s testimony about when these review protocols were implemented.”

Roma’s expression never wavered. Then his face went slack, empty, and he turned toward Juniper… batting his eyelids at her once, twice, bashful, with the exaggerated sweetness of a schoolboy asking her to the dance. His gaze swung back to the judge a moment later, scrubbed clean of whatever that had been.

“Your Honor, I fail to see how technical metadata is relevant to established hiring procedures.”

“The relevance,” Juniper pressed, “is that these logs show the review protocols weren’t in place during the period in question. The training records Ms. Fulmero testified about? They were backdated.”

Judge Donahue studied the logs with careful attention. Roma’s expression shifted… he turned his head slightly, a small sneeze escaping. “Gesundheit,” he whispered to himself, the self-blessing almost decorative.

“Your Honor,” he continued smoothly, “even if there were technical anomalies, under FDIC v. Meyer, the government’s sovereign immunity-”