“Say the last part again,” Farrell said. “They all failed in the same place.” Theo’s voice clean and clear

Uncle Luis shook his head the first time, shook it again the second, then said nothing under his Dodgers cap

By midday, the fire had already been named, branded for the canyon it had birthed in; a bureaucratic trick to

The instructions for spring break arrived with the same three points as winter’s, phrased like casual reminders. Live normally.

Theo found Kael in the common room at the hour when the building pretended to sleep. The overheads had dropped

The return to Neurovia felt like stepping back into a system that had already accounted for the absence. Julian registered

Nobody had called it a deployment. Farrell had come for them on a Tuesday, without urgency and without asking. Not

The gates opened without a sound. Julian noticed that first. Not the openness, not the glass throwing back the winter

They were sent home with instructions that sounded benign. Resume normal life. Observe differences. Do not intervene unless necessary. No

They weren't told it was a briefing. They were asked if they were available. Not all of them