The day after, they met Eon in a room that had already survived it.
Kori decided that they were learning quickly, so she might have bribed a few professors with pastries, arranging a few Eon practice classes.
The hall sat deeper in the Academy than most regular students ever went. It was older than the rest of the building - not damaged, just built by people who expected damage and didn't want the room to blow up. Stone ribs arched overhead. Dull luminite veins ran through the walls behind sealed glass in thin lines.
The floor was dark plates fitted together like armor, with thin channels cut between them, something that looked like thin copper grates. The room was ready for any kind of mistake you'd throw at it.
Between the columns, broad panels of matte black material waited in silence. They didn't look like decoration. They looked like simple, efficient protection.
The eight stepped inside and lowered their voices without meaning to.
