Chapter 10
The transition from his first year to his second was marked by the same mechanical consistency that defined Noah’s new existence. Over the summer, his lifestyle remained entirely optimized. His fortified penthouse was a place where the everyday sounds of home life blended into a quiet, ongoing orchestration of data handling. He didn’t turn on the television to be entertained, nor did he listen to music to find comfort. His screens were constantly filled with cascading lines of code from Project: Æther, charting the subterranean magical veins of the city. He spent his summer days either pushing his physical vessel to a state of dense, sculpted perfection or traveling quietly through the mountains to test how high altitudes affected his Ætheric Synchronization.
