The first replacement for Aren was a blank square on Tali's board.
She wrote his death beneath it before anyone proposed a name.
Far Anchor's clock recorded current death verified.
Cairo's clock recorded contact ended.
Twenty-nine freed returns. Two retained by local refusal. Outside drain disabled.
The square remained empty while the route limbs attacked.
At Ridge, the asphalt leg kicked through a machine shed and turned north toward the inhabited rail line.
At Tera, culture roots pushed under the school stone the children had reached.
At Cairo, tray fingers walked across archive shelves by gripping object lines.
No command culture joined those movements. Each limb found its own pressure and kept going.
Soma placed thirty-one paper strips on the floor.
Each strip named one bearing, one keeper, one local stop, and one function that could disappear without transferring authority.
He did not connect them with a field line.
