Morning arrived before Robert had finished his notes.
He had not slept.
The desk held four pages of organised shorthand—the clan development task broken into thirty-day blocks across six months, with each requirement mapped against available resources, current personnel, and the gaps between them.
He looked at it.
Then at the window.
The compound yard was grey in the morning light. Still. The information building visible at the far end—dark stone, sealed, the restricted sign on its door unchanged since the training month had ended.
Different purpose now.
He stood.
Sai was already in the inner corridor when Robert found him. Not waiting—simply present, the way he was always in the early morning when something required attention, and he had already determined that it did.
He looked at Robert's notes in his hand.
"Information building," Robert said.
"I thought so."
They crossed the compound together.
Robert unlocked the door.
