---
And loud things got collected in this world.
Somewhere far above, in the highest part of the academy, a man with too many books and too calm a smile listened to reports that were not spoken aloud.
A Void ant.
A cold hole near the feet.
A strange feeling like void.
He did not rush.
He did not frown.
He simply smiled a little, the way a fisherman smiles when the water finally ripples.
And in the dorm room below, John sat still, pretending he had not just been seen by something that understood secrets.
He kept his breathing slow. He kept his shoulders relaxed. He kept his hands folded in his lap like a student waiting for a lecture, not like a boy who had just pulled a void ant out of a crowd and stuffed it back into the dark.
Fizz shifted. "Do you think it will do it again?"
John's jaw tightened. "If it can open its own window, yes."
Fizz's glow flickered. "Then we must teach it manners."
John's eyes narrowed slightly. "You will not teach it manners."
