The peace lasted three weeks.
Marcus stood at the threshold, his vigil unbroken, his will steady. The door held. The thing beyond remained patient. The connection pulsed with steady golden light, the Foundation whole, the Anchor recognized, the Hunger healed. Everything was as it should be.
But Marcus couldn't shake the feeling that something was missing.
It was a subtle sensation, like a word on the tip of his tongue, a memory just out of reach. The threads of connection were strong, but there was an emptiness in them—a hollow space where something important should have been.
Anna noticed it too. She came to the clock tower one evening, her face pale, her eyes troubled.
"I've been feeling it too," she said. "A void. An absence. Something that should be there but isn't."
Marcus nodde
