Chapter 21 — The Room

STUB — to be drafted. POV: Lena · Location: the Vesper gatehouse.

Pure collision; no solution yet. Everyone is physically present, Arin and his stayers included. Cai wants to hold the line; Nadi to keep things moving; Toma the old way back; Sera to stop engineering and trust people; Veya to let it die with dignity; Jun wants someone, finally, in charge of knowing; Arin holds that what staying knows is the only knowledge worth the name. Every one of them is right; every one is halfway out the door.

Carries: the opposed-positions collision (scene conflict); Arin explicitly in the room (the Move/Stay fusion needs both halves present). Withholds: the third thing none of them proposed.