First sign didn't come as panic or organized thought, because Mila had already learned true absences rarely announce themselves clearly, they infiltrate daily life as minimal failures, small incongruities body perceives before mind accepts, and that specific morning, territory seemed just a bit too displaced to be easily ignored.

Luara hadn't responded to messages.

That, by itself, wouldn't be alarming in another context, because Luara moved between meetings, decisions and ...