The Triangle did not tilt the next day.
It flowed.
That was worse.
Arden didn't arrive late to drills.
She arrived early.
Already stretching.
Already reading terrain like it mattered.
By the time first bell echoed across the courtyard, she had completed one solo circuit without anyone noticing.
Except me.
Halvors shifted rotation maps before class began.
Not randomly.
He placed Arden in three different formations across three tiers.
Each time—
The outcome was identical.
Efficiency stabilized.
Command friction lowered.
Clear time improved.
But something else reduced too.
Noise.
Students spoke less when she was present.
Not intimidated.
Calibrated.
That subtle shrink in verbal bandwidth interested me more than her output score.
Lucas noticed it too.
"You see that?" he muttered as we watched a Class C and two Bs cluster around her mid-simulation.
"They wait before speaking."
"Yes."
"They're compressing."
"Exactly."
Arden didn't dominate.
