The conversation had mostly wound down.
Trays still on the table. Nobody rushing. The cafeteria noise moving around them without touching their corner of it.
Then Atlas leaned forward.
"You know what I've been thinking about?" he said.
Nobody responded. With Atlas that was never a signal to stop — it was just how he started things.
"The other academies," he said. "The ones sending their Class One to this tournament. They've been preparing too. Same amount of time we have. Maybe longer."
"Longer for some," Ken said. "There are academies that have been competing in this tournament for years. They know the format. They've studied previous iterations. They've built their teams specifically around what wins at this level."
"And we haven't," Atlas said.
"We've built our team around what we are," Mira said. "That's different. Not necessarily worse."
Jelo looked at the table.
