Ethan stayed in his seat a moment. He wasn't the only one. A handful of others lingered the way you do when you want the map to settle deeper than your eyes.
The faint glow painted the front of his hands and the curve of his cheekbone. He watched the edges, not the center.
The simulation had a rhythm, and it was humming under the obvious. He could feel his system flicker in the back of his mind, not a voice, not a separate presence, just that steady instrument panel he had lived with long enough to trust.
A small light blinked in a quiet pattern across his attention and then went still, as if to say it was awake, listening, and not about to get in the way unless asked.
The feeling told him the test would expose more than a list of strengths. It would pull at seams he hadn't noticed yet, the places where habit had replaced attention.
Evelyn's knuckles brushed his sleeve, an absentminded touch that was also a check. You're here. He tilted his head half an inch in answer.
