Crane was gone by the following morning.
Not dramatically. Not escorted out by guards with the public spectacle of a formal expulsion. Just gone. His office in the administrative wing cleared, his name removed from the elder roster in the family records, his position listed as vacant pending reassignment.
The estate absorbed the absence the way institutions absorbed these things. Quietly. With the specific efficiency of a system that had procedures for exactly this situation and used them without comment.
Orion found out through Voss, who found out through his family's contact network at six in the morning, who sent a pulse through the communication disc that woke him up and was absolutely worth it.
He lay in bed for a moment after reading the update.
Luna was pressed against his side in her usual morning configuration, which he'd completely normalized and was choosing not to examine. "Crane," she said, without opening her eyes.
"Gone," he said.
She was quiet for a moment.
