The assessment document sat closed on the table between them. Evening had fully settled over Singapore, the research complex quiet in the particular way facilities became quiet when operational tempo relaxed into something closer to ordinary institutional rhythm.
Nakamura's question—what comes next?—remained unanswered, not because it lacked an answer but because answering it properly required first understanding what had actually happened across seven years. Not the institutional metrics Rodriguez's assessment had documented so thoroughly. Something more personal. The shape of a life examined honestly before deciding what direction it continued in.
Rama found himself thinking backward rather than forward.
