On Khao'khen's second night at the Arch, the third Keystone changed.
Not in the instrument readings. The deviation gauge held its number and the cycling pressure continued its established rhythm and Darak's charts showed no anomaly at the hour that it happened. What changed was subtler than measurement, and it was Aliyah who felt it first because she was the one who had been at close enough proximity to the Keystone for long enough to know what its attending quality felt like in a stable state.
A shift in quality. Not intensity. The pressure behind the Keystone had turned, the way a sleeping animal turned when it heard a sound and reoriented without waking. Present in the same location, the same activity, but the direction of its awareness had changed.
She woke Rakh'ash'tha. They went together to the Keystone chamber and found Khao'khen already there.
