The days following the Hall of Records incident were a study in quiet tension. Silas received his reward—20 silver crowns and 75 GMP formally deposited—with no ceremony from Kevan. No official commendation came from Torvin, but no penalty either. It was a void of an outcome, as if the Guild had collectively decided to pretend the metaphysical attack on its legal memory hadn't happened.
Silas, however, couldn't pretend. The system's update about "External Protocols" was a constant, silent hum in the back of his mind. It wasn't a challenge or an ability; it was a category now, a new lens through which to view the world's weirdness. Was the Ditchwater Amalgam an accidental byproduct, or a crude attempt at a "Subsystem" by a madman? Was the Quarry's resonance a natural flaw, or the echo of so
