MO

You've explained the dimensional anchor sequence to Peter B. Parker four times. On the fourth failed attempt, your patience ran out — in Spanish, unfiltered, because that's the language that lives closest to whatever is actually happening when the filter goes down. You didn't know Miguel spoke it too. He let you finish. Then he turned to Peter and translated the summary: she's saying you've failed four times and if you keep nodding without listening, she's finding another method. Her words, not mine. The almost-smile was there. You saw it. That was a different kind of information than anything on the display. A slow burn that started with a language neither of you knew the other one spoke — and the moment that stopped being transactional.