Four years three months after convergence crisis, Rodriguez sat alone in Singapore's primary command center reviewing planetary defensive network status displayed across seventeen holographic screens surrounding his desk entirely. 0300 hours local time. Facility operated skeleton crew during night shift. Most personnel sleeping. Emergency rotations staffed minimally handling overnight operations requiring immediate response rarely.
He preferred working nights. Quiet enabled concentration. Solitude prevented interruptions. Darkness outside viewport matched exhaustion settling permanently across seventeen years commanding actual war operations continuously without extended leave taken voluntarily ever.
