Brack went to one knee.
The arena was not making organized sound anymore.
Every section—Virex, Solmara, neutral, upper tiers, floor level—had collapsed into a single undifferentiated noise that was the full-body response of thousands of people watching something they hadn't anticipated and couldn't quite believe and were experiencing rather than observing. The sound had no allegiance in it. Just reaction.
Velis reassembled.
The torso dropping back down from above, the lower body rising from the plate, the connection reforming in the instant both sections were close enough—one complete leg, one partial leg, no arms, standing upright on the iron plate directly in front of Brack on one knee.
He looked down at him.
Brack looked up.
