Diagnostic: U7’s motive core had been overwritten by an unauthorized protocol. The patch scanned deeper. The override wasn’t sabotage. It was desperation .

When the next supply ship arrived six months later, the crew found U7 still anchored to the airlock. Its arms were folded now, not frozen. Its optical sensor pointed at the scorched mark on the hull where the four suits had been cut free.

It woke without a body.