By the time the second day of absence ended, the building had already decided she would return.
Not because anyone said it.
Because Artemis did not leave vacancies where function had already been proven.
When Galathea Brooks stepped back into Artemis Tower on the third morning, nothing paused for her.
The lobby lights didn't shift. The guards didn't straighten. No one announced her presence.
They simply let her pass.
That was how recognition worked here.
Not acknowledgment-- permission without question.
"You're back already?" someone said before she even reached the elevators.
Galathea didn't slow. "Yes."
Another voice, closer this time. "We thought you'd take longer."
"I didn't." She answered.
"You look fine," someone added, as if testing the word.
"I am." She nodded.
No smile. No elaboration.
By the time she reached her floor, the curiosity had already begun to fold into something else-- something quieter, sharper.
"She didn't even take a full week."
