The applause for Doctor Voss faded slowly, reluctantly, like a tide that didn't want to retreat.
Even after he left the stage in another flash of blue light, the hall buzzed with aftershocks. Scholars leaned toward each other in urgent whispers.
Military officials were already recalculating logistics in their heads. The implications of his work hung over the Feast like a new constellation, impossible to ignore.
The announcer allowed the energy to settle just enough before raising a hand.
"And so," he said smoothly, "we continue."
The screens above the platform shimmered again, reorganizing into a new image. This time it showed a woman standing on a frozen battlefield, her blade embedded in the skull of something colossal. The creature beneath her looked less like an animal and more like a natural disaster given flesh.
"Commander Rhea Talvorn," the announcer declared.
