The dome didn't look different on the day Raj left.The lights still hummed overhead.The flame banners still flapped against windless walls.The same reception desk. The same stone floor he'd walked across a hundred times.
But everything inside felt different—because this time, he wasn't walking in.He was walking out.No ceremony had been planned. No send-off banners. No flame salute.
Just one system notification waiting quietly in his personal thread inbox.
⟐ SYSTEM STATUS REPORT ⟐
▸ RC-042: Raj
▸ Thread Progression: Complete
▸ Leadership Designation: Evolved Anchor Flame
▸ Record: 18 Trials Completed | 0 Failures
Final Remark:
"You stitched flame into silence.
Now your silence has become flame."
System Transitioning to Dormant Mode
— All future growth will originate from choice, not quests.
▸ Progress archived.
▸ Thread legacy engraved.
Raj didn't smile.He simply let the message close on its own, the way it always had.
