The bay dimmed. Frost crept across the transparent partitions until the glass turned translucent, suggesting shapes and movement without granting

The dining hall calibrated the plates to biometric readings nobody at the table wanted to discuss. Behind a pane of

The observation balcony above the training hall was not technically restricted, but it functioned that way. Students passed below it

Dr. Patel's office felt exactly the same each time Aisha stepped through its door, and that constancy mattered

Nobody called it a competition. Nobody needed to. The bay had reconfigured before they walked in. The floor was no

Julian woke up knowing exactly where he was. That was new. Every morning before Neurovia there had been a gap,

Catalyst didn't flicker on. A quiet settled in Julian's mind, the way a room sounds different

The waiting area for the surgical suites had seats for twelve. With six of the cohort's twelve members

Julian's console glowed a patient blue in the dark of his room, the guardian-consent field unfilled, the clock

The chairs in the briefing room were arranged in ovals so that no one sat behind anyone else's