Two years.
That was how long the world had to get used to quiet. Two years since a tower stood over Avalon and then didn't. Cities rebuilt what needed rebuilding and argued about the rest. Trains ran. Markets opened. Children who had learned to sleep through sirens slowly unlearned it. On the news the word "calamity" turned from a headline into a history lesson, and most people were glad to let it.
Under that quiet, things kept counting.
The first sign came from the East, and it did not look like a war. It looked like a bad morning.
