She came to the library.
Not unusual — she came to the library often. But this time she did not bring a tablet. She came in and sat in her position and looked at her hands and did not read.
He had been there for an hour when she arrived. He was working through the eastern route reports — the latest batch, thinner than the previous ones as Ampelos's modified reporting protocol continued. He was tracking three specific points in the intermediate markets where the compression was most visible.
He put the tablet down when he noticed she had no tablet.
He waited.
She said: *"I need to tell you something."*
*"Tell me."*
*"It is not — a vision. It is the absence of one."*
He said nothing. He had learned to let her find her own way to things.
She said: *"You know how I see. Things that are going to happen — they have a quality. A presence. Some things are clear. Some things are probable. Some things are far away and indistinct. But they are there. They have weight."*
*"Yes."*
