The next day didn't begin with an announcement. No new message waited on Lucas's screen, no change in schedule, no sudden summons from a gray-faced administrator who spoke like every sentence had already been approved by a committee.
The absence of it felt deliberate.
Lucas sat on the edge of his bed for a moment, staring at the day's block layout as if something hidden might reveal itself if he looked long enough. Same morning training. Same midday lecture. Same open evaluation status in the corner, quiet as a knife in a sleeve.
Nothing had changed.
Which probably meant something had.
He got up anyway.
The dorm corridor was more alive than it had been the morning before. A few doors stood open. He heard someone cursing softly over a missing glove, someone else laughing too loudly at a joke that wasn't very funny. It wasn't normal, exactly, but it was closer.
Closer counted.
