HOUSEKEEPING IS WAR

Mara calls the blood stains, scorch marks, repair drips, weapon oil, and towel pile in her quarters “lived in.” Grievance apparently hears “biohazard.” An aggressive cleaning cycle begins around her while she tries to maintain The Due, forcing a room-by-room tactical retreat as wash lines chase every stain she considers sentimental. When a cleaning membrane removes a mark she deliberately kept from the blade, the argument becomes personal. By the end, the quarters are pristine, Mara is wet, and The Due is offensively spotless. Relationship insight: Home is becoming shared territory. Mara wants history preserved as scars; Grievance wants the habitat maintained. Neither gets absolute control.