The order arrived at dusk.
Not with alarms.
Not with urgency.
It came folded in clean paper, sealed with the crest of the central authority, delivered by a courier who did not meet anyone eyes for too long.
Naomi read it first.
She did not react immediately.
Her eyes moved over the lines once. Then again. Slowly. As if reading the same words twice might make them say something else.
Vikoria watched her face. "What is it."
Naomi lowered the paper.
"They are relocating Shunya," she said. "Effective immediately."
The room went still.
Shunya felt the pressure in his chest tighten, not from the system, but from instinct.
"Relocating," he repeated. "Where."
Naomi shook her head. "The location is not named."
That was worse than any address.
Vikoria stood up sharply. "Not named how."
Naomi lifted the paper again and read aloud, voice flat.
