The words were still in Etzel’s head when he woke.
A door is not defined by being open.
It is defined by what it separates.
He stared at the ceiling for several seconds, then reached for his communicator. No emergency messages. No new warning from Maerin. No update saying the twentieth signature had suddenly become a giant hole in reality. Good.
He opened the regional map anyway. The convergence zone remained sealed, Authority teams were monitoring it, and Vaelor Renn was involved, which meant, for once, Etzel could admit something without feeling completely useless: there was nothing he could do there. Not yet.
He closed the map and opened another screen.
SYSTEM STATUS
Level
9