The silence arrives without warning.
And this time, no one panics.
There was a moment, not long ago, when silence meant danger.
Unanswered messages. Empty routes. Regions that stopped reporting. Silence had been the signal that something was wrong, that someone had fallen through the cracks, that attention had failed.
Silence was absence.
Silence was threat.
But this silence is different.
This one settles gently, like snowfall after a storm that never quite happened.
It begins on a day with no emergencies.
No disputes demanding mediation. No border tensions flaring. No supply lines faltering. The corridors hum at a steady, unremarkable pace.
Reports arrive late.
Then not at all.
Kael notices first.
He sits at his desk long past dusk, reviewing old data more out of habit than n
