The morning began the same way the last one had ended—quiet, smooth, and unsettling in how efficient it all felt.
No buzzing alarms, no forced wake-ups, just a subtle pulse through their wristbands exactly thirty minutes before the first trace of sunlight began warming the edges of the glass towers outside.
Ethan stood in front of the mirror, adjusting the collar of his training jacket with slow fingers.
His reflection looked a little different today—not in the obvious ways, but in the small details.
His eyes were clearer, and the tightness in his shoulders slightly eased. Something in the way this place moved—its pace, its structure—was starting to sync with him.
He could feel the rhythm pulling him in, like gears that had been turning for years and were now shifting just enough to make room for him.
The twins were already waiting in the corridor.
Everly had tied her hair up into a loose knot, not for looks but function. Evelyn hadn't changed a thing.
