***
{Outside The Projection}
That was...
They didn't know what that was.
Never did they expect to see Azeem like that.
Somehow, they thought that even then, he took it in stride, but...
No, no, no, how wrong they were.
The parts that hit hardest were small details.
How Azeem's face folded when he lifted 'Badroulbadour,' who was no longer worthy of being remembered as Yueh Hua in Malik's memory, the shock in his pitiful eyes, his breaking voice, his repeating words, his stumble, and the door slamming as he fled.
Those little things gutted them.
Loyalty felt fragile in that light.
Azeem's breakdown was intimate, too private for public watching, and that made people squirm. Seeing his grief turned their stomachs; they could feel the betrayal in it, a damned snake beneath the skin.
At first, voices started up in clusters.
"He really killed her."
"But why would he—"
"Was she Corrupted?"
A few already rushed to defend Malik.
