Run: 2026-02-22-01KJ371ZT277J9RX2GDRRHNVPE

<instructions>Expand all contractions to their full forms.</instructions> Mara did not want to be there. She had promised herself she would not go back, but here she was, standing in the lobby of the building she had left three years ago. It was not supposed to feel this way. "You are late," said the receptionist, a young man who did not look up from his screen. He had been typing something, and he did not stop. "She is waiting in the conference room. You will want to hurry — she is not in a good mood." Mara could not tell if that was meant as a warning or just small talk. She was not sure it mattered. She had made her decision, and there was not any point in second-guessing it now. The hallway had not changed. The same grey carpet, the same harsh lighting, the same faint smell of coffee that had been sitting too long. Mara would not have been surprised to find her old nameplate still on the door, but it was not there. Someone else's name had replaced hers. "I did not think you would actually come," said Priya, who had risen from her chair the moment Mara entered. She was not smiling. "We have got a problem, and you are the only one who can help." "I am not sure that is true," Mara said. "I have not been involved in the project for years. I would not know where to begin." "You would be surprised," Priya said. "It is the same codebase. They have not touched the core modules. You would recognize it instantly." Mara did not answer right away. She had already told herself she would not get pulled back in. But she had not expected Priya to ask in person. That was not fair — it is harder to say no to someone's face. "I will think about it," she said. That was not a yes, and they both knew it was not a no either.