He explained the program—properly funded, institutionally protected, academically independent. Wren would share co-directorship with Vasquez. She listened without interrupting. When he finished, she said, “I don’t have credentials anymore. They were removed.” “I know. Fletcher is building the legal case for restoration. Your work exists in pre-publication archives. It’s recoverable.”
She reached into her backpack and set her notepad on the desk. Every page was filled with notations, diagrams, behavioural charts, and fourteen case studies from shelters across three states. Animals labelled dangerous whose behaviour, in her framework, was indistinguishable from panic. “I’ve been building this anyway,” she said.