Chapter Three

Preservation Station Security discovers a dead body in the station mall with distinctive wounds and unusual evidence of cleaning field use. Investigators work to identify the victim and determine how the body was moved to the location, while tensions remain high between the security team and the SecUnit narrator due to earlier restrictions placed on the narrator's system access.

The chapter opens with flashbacks to the narrator's arrival at Preservation Station, where Security Chief Senior Indah initially resisted the narrator's presence out of fear it posed a threat. After Mensah calmly asserts the narrator is a person deserving of respect, Indah backs down, though Mensah negotiates restrictions: the narrator cannot access non-public station systems or hack other bots. The narrator compensates by building its own surveillance network with intel drones. When a body is discovered in the station mall, the investigation begins. Tech Tural reports that DNA sampling reveals the victim is not in the database and matches approximately 85 percent of planetary residents. Examining the forensic data, the narrator identifies an unusual absence of contact DNA on the deceased's clothes, indicating a cleaning field was used after the attack. The wound in the back of the head appears too clean for the amount of blood present, suggesting the body was killed elsewhere. Tural notes the deceased's distinctive multicolored clothing could indicate cultural origin or deliberate disguise. The narrator theorizes the victim used distinctive appearance as camouflage—looking like an unconcerned visitor rather than someone hiding. The investigation stalls pending a full body scan for identification and medical analysis, and Indah dismisses the narrator from the scene.