The Confederated Route could carry Nox to the capital boundary and not one step past it. He had read that edge on his map before he left the metal, a painted line where his routing authority ended.
Vasa sealed her board to travel weight and priced the crossing before they set out. She did not pretend the loss was small, she totaled what fell away the moment his foot left contracted ground.
"Past that line you are one Awakened under national travel law, and I am your contract auditor," Vasa said, folding the board flat.
Inside that boundary his routing would answer nothing and no barrier would stand overhead. Extraction reached no further than the painted line, and every card he carried weighed a traveler's weight.
Serian opened the relay from her enclave floor and set a sovereign's offer on the record. She made the offer once and named its price up front, as she did with every contract she signed.
