Kael
The patch beside the post stayed empty until I occupied it.
Eight meters vanished from the route beneath my feet.
For an instant, there was no useful sense of forward. Then my boot met packed earth, my shoulder turned toward the control and the noise of the field arrived from the wrong side.
I was alone.
The crossing was complete.
A cold gap opened behind my eyes.
VOID STEP: COMPLETE - 8 METERS
DEBIT: HANA'S TWO MUG TAPS - SCHOOL-RECORDING EPISODE
SENSORY LOSS: SOUND - IRREVERSIBLE
I saw the words.
I did not have time to understand the absence around them.
The post was beside me. The control arm was still down. The people behind me had not finished bringing the second cart into the receiving area.
Those facts needed my hands before the words in the display could have the rest of my attention.
I had expected a loss. Expecting it did nothing to make the named memory feel like an item I had agreed to hand over.
