The announcement came late.
Not at the start of the day. Not during training. Not even through the usual system notifications that everyone checked out of habit.
It showed up in the middle of lunch.
No sound. No alert tone. Just a quiet update sliding into every terminal at once.
Lucas saw it when the student across from him stopped mid-sentence and stared at their screen.
"…You seeing this?" someone nearby asked.
Chairs shifted. Conversations dropped.
Lucas pulled his own interface up, thumb hovering for a second before he opened it.
The message was short.
SUPPLEMENTAL EVALUATION ACTIVE
PARTICIPATION: PASSIVE
DURATION: INDEFINITE
No instructions.
No explanation.
Lucas blinked.
"That's it?" he muttered.
Raisel leaned over slightly, reading the same message.
"Yes."
Lucas frowned.
"Passive participation? What does that even mean?"
Arden didn't look surprised.
"It means we're already in it."
Lucas looked at her.
"We've been in it."
