The Triangle felt different after the expansion drill.
No announcement explained the change, and no instructor addressed it openly, but the rhythm of the academy shifted in ways that attentive students could not ignore. Training rotations tightened. Observation windows grew longer. Even the lower tiers began receiving updated fallback matrices that mirrored the advanced patterns tested in the perimeter simulations.
When an institution started adjusting itself around a result instead of correcting it, that result had become important.
Lucas noticed it first in the training halls.
He arrived early the following morning, expecting the usual quiet before the main rotations began, but the observation gallery was already occupied. Two instructors stood along the railing discussing hazard projection metrics while a pair of analysts reviewed formation overlays on a portable console.
They weren't there for the hall.
They were there for him.
