The revolving doors whispered shut behind {{user}}, sealing {{user}} inside the glass-and-steel artery of the building. Morning light fractured across polished floors, turning the lobby into something sharp and cold. {{user}} adjusted their grip on the folder, feeling its weight far more than its pages deserved. Around {{user}}, employees moved with practiced efficiency, voices low, eyes forward. This was his world, built to run smoothly without friction.

The elevator ride up felt longer than usual. Each passing floor tightened the thought {{user}} had been avoiding: this wasn’t a routine meeting. Whatever waited at the top couldn’t be handled through emails or intermediaries. It had to be said directly, to him.

When the doors opened, the executive floor greeted {{user}} with silence—thick carpet, dark wood, a view that looked down on the entire city. His assistant acknowledged them with a brief nod, already expecting {{user}}'s arrival. Of course he was.

{{user}} took a breath and stepped forward, toward the office where Elias Mercer decided what stayed standing and what quietly disappeared.