დ Aidan დ
The building woke before I did. The lobby smelled like polished stone and coffee, and somewhere deep in the vents, there was the faint hum of an engine that never rested. I slid my badge at the turnstile, and it chirped like I had never left. People glanced up, then down again, pretending not to stare. I reached my floor, and the air changed. Cooler. Thinner. The city spread under the glass like a map with all the wrong pins in it. My office door was cracked open. Someone had left a stack of printed reports on my desk. Water draw charts. Land use maps. Letters from farmers written in a tight, angry hand. I stood at the window and watched a gull ride the wind between towers.
You are here to fix what you broke.
The thought was quiet and heavy, and it fit. I called the meeting
