Date: TC1853.07.13 — Late Morning
Location: Seven Peaks — Verdant Spire
The knock came at an unusual time.
Raven looked up from the formation diagrams spread across her desk—contingency plans for the tribulation, energy channeling patterns that Silas had insisted she review before facing heaven's judgment. The knock had been soft. Hesitant. Which was strange, because hesitation wasn't something she associated with any of her core team.
"Enter."
Coop stepped through the doorway, and Raven knew immediately that something was wrong.
The old mercenary moved with his usual economy of motion—decades of survival instincts didn't just switch off—but there was something off about his posture. A slight hunch to his shoulders that hadn't been there yesterday. His cybernetic eyes, usually sharp and tracking everything with the precision of Federation military hardware, seemed oddly unfocused. Like a man trying to look at two things at once and failing at both.
