Strom nodded to Fresco, but addressed everyone.

"Assignments." Strom's words were met with instant attention. Not a whisper of complaint or a moment of hesitation, just immediate obedience. Fresco copied them. This was his new life and if his supposition was true, he was about to make it matter.

why couldn't he feel them, any of them? Why was he cut off from everything, disconnected from his own power, adrift and alone

The tiny part of him that remained tried to ...