***
{Outside The Projection}
The moment IT was mentioned, the hall shifted.
Not in any way one could point to and say, "Ah, see, that's changed."
Yeah, no. This was different.
Like a soft whisper in the wind, something stirred in their minds.
A ripple of memories, blurred and distorted, came and went so fast it might as well have never been there.
Yet they all felt it.
A prickling at the nape.
A tightness in the chest.
A moment of weightlessness.
They felt like mortals standing on the edge of a great height with no railing to catch them.
And then—gone.
Like a breath exhaled.
Like nothing had happened at all.
There was no, "...The fuck was that?"
No. It was gone.
All it took was a beat.
The hall snapped back, pulling them away from the abyss and into the moment.
"Guess I'm in the war business now."