The following week, the atmosphere inside the hospital’s main auditorium was thick with a palpable tension that clung to the air like humidity before a storm. Every department head, senior physician, and lead researcher had been summoned. They sat in rows of plush velvet seats, their hushed whispers and anxious glances creating a low, nervous hum. They were waiting for the verdict on their professional lives, to be delivered by the new gods from Astra.
I saw Liam from the wings of the stage. He was seated in the third row, dressed in his finest suit, trying to project an aura of calm relevance he no longer possessed. But the illusion was thin. His shoulders were slumped, his gaze fixed on the empty podium, his hands clasped so tightly in his lap his knuckles were white. He looked like a m
