Jupiter Jones was worried.
Grey was not behaving as a designated Keeper should. And when they brought what Jupiter suspected was an updated version of a medical scanner, she knew that Grey had stopped tip-toeing the line of disobedience. And instead moved straight to carelessly overstepping themselves. She remembered, in the vaguest of terms, that every Keeper was assigned to a district, then further assigned to a function specified by a Letter, then by a number to help with differentiating between any given Keeper. The higher the number, the higher the authority they had in their given task.
A Keeper delegated to a routine categorization of Terristial's DNA would have no reason to have a medical scanner of that sort of sophistication, unless they were a hundred and above. Someone routinely getting the DNA of an injured child was not going to be able to get that sort of technology. Because each medical scanner, as far as Seraphi's memories indicated, had to be calibrated for the species it was examining. A Terrestrial was human, despite what most were taught. Anything beyond routine use of monitoring the rate of the genetic pool was not relevant to any normal Keeper. The medical scanner that Grey had used was more than likely stolen from a superior.
Because it was Entitled tech.
Kept on every occupied planet for emergencies and given to the highest level of Keepers, and most assuredly not meant to be used on a Terrestrial. And Grey had used it on Jupiter, and it was dangerous.
Because Jupiter knew the consequences of someone other than an Entitled misbehaving.
Death. If I was Seraphi… If I was Seraphi before the guilt had caught up to me, I would have been the first to throw Grey into a Keeper refinery for Keeper grade Regen-X. Because a Keeper that does care for a Terristail is a liability at best. But I am Jupiter Jones, and Grey is my friend. Who cares enough to risk their life to see if I am really, truly hurt. Maybe they have done this before, and have gotten away with it, but that doesn't mean they'll never get caught.
Jupiter felt her legs, one in a cast, the other not, tremble, as she forced herself to slip out of bed. It was the middle of the day, and she had exactly an hour before Nurse Andy returned to do his check-up on her. She had enough time to make it where she needed to go. She would be in massive trouble when she came back… But Grey's life was in danger.
And Jupiter couldn't just let that happen. Because she would not silently slip away to a haven in the Midwest's countryside to ready herself for the Verse. She was already in the Verse, and already, someone needed her help. She couldn't leave Grey to Balem's perfect, ruthless system. Even if Grey had escaped notice and punishment for stealing Entitled Tech this time, they were bound to make a mistake when Jupiter was no longer there. Maybe not soon. Maybe not even for years. But as long as Balem legally owned the Earth and all of its people, Grey would be at risk.
And Jupiter would not allow anyone to hurt a sentient creature if she could help it.