Ava made a plan for Choosing Tide. This would have been more useful if Choosing Tide allowed plans. The sheet appeared on the shared desk one Saturday morning. Jasper noticed because it covered the entire surface. At the top, in Ava's neat handwriting: POSSIBLE ORDER OUTCOMES AND PRACTICAL CONSEQUENCES, She stopped. Harper walked in carrying breakfast toast she had definitely removed from the dining hall against soft rules.

"No."

Ava looked up.

"What?"

"Whatever this is, no."

"It is preparation."

"For water deciding where we live."

"Exactly."

The sheet contained sixteen boxes. Jasper stared.

"Why sixteen?"

"Possible combinations."

"There are way more than sixteen if each of us can go to four Orders."

Ava looked at him.

"I excluded combinations with low relevance."

Harper bit her toast.

"Based on?"

Ava did not answer quickly enough. Harper pointed.

"You guessed."

"I prioritised likelihood."

"Guessed with maths."

Jasper leaned over the page. One box read: HARPER BRANNOR / AVA NOCTEN / JASPER VELMOR, Another: Practical effects: - Separate residences. - Shared Year Two core classes likely. - Breakfast coordination possible. - Weekly study arrangement. - Handball remains independent of Order. HARPER BRANNOR / AVA CALYX / JASPER BRANNOR Effects: - Harper/Jasper same residence. - Ava separate. - Risk of Ava reduced incidental social time. - Planned shared study required. Harper stared at that line.

"Risk of Ava what?"

Ava's face went slightly pink.

"Reduced incidental social time."

"You mean you think we'll forget you."

"No."

The answer came too fast. Jasper looked at Ava. There it was. Their Order interviews had exposed the same fear in all three, only Ava had turned hers into a spreadsheet.

"We won't," he said.

Ava straightened the paper.

"I did not say that."

"You wrote risk."

"Risk does not mean expectation."

Harper sat on the desk edge.

"Ava."

"What?"

"We are not scheduling friendship."

Ava's expression hardened.

"Why not?"

Harper blinked.

"Because that's insane."

The sentence hit badly. Jasper saw it before Harper did. Ava folded the sheet once. Too sharply.

"Fine."

She stood. Harper's face changed.

"I didn't mean—"

"It's fine."

Bad fine. Ava left the room. Harper stared at the door.

"Excellent."

Jasper looked at the folded plan.

"You called her insane."

"I called the scheduling insane."

"She heard both."

Harper put down her toast.

"I know."

They found Ava in the inland garden behind the library. Not hiding. Just sitting alone on a bench with no notebook. That alone was concerning. Harper approached first.

"Sorry."

Ava looked at her.

"For what?"

"Don't make me do the detailed version."

"I want the detailed version."

Harper sighed.

"I shouldn't have called your plan insane."

"It is a little insane."

Harper stared. Ava looked down.

"I know it is."

Jasper sat on the opposite end of the bench.

"Then why make it?"

Ava was quiet long enough that birds became loud around them.

"Because nothing about Choosing can be controlled."

Harper opened her mouth. Then stopped. Ava continued.

"We don't pick. We don't know the algorithm."

"Magic current," Harper said.

"That is worse than an algorithm."

Jasper smiled faintly. Ava did not.

"All year, when something happens, I can at least make a list. Weather. Tide height. Timings. Rules. Even if I don't know the answer, I can reduce the unknown."

She looked toward the academy roofs.

"Choosing Tide is just... go into water and find out where you live."

Harper sat on the grass in front of the bench.

"You're scared we'll split."

Ava nodded once. There. No spreadsheet. Jasper said, "Me too." Harper picked a blade of grass.

"Me too."

Ava looked at her.

"You keep saying Brannor."

"Because I want Brannor. Doesn't mean I want you somewhere else."

"What if I am?"

Harper thought.

"Then I annoy your new roommates."

Ava laughed. Good. Jasper said, "The plan isn't bad." Harper looked at him.

"Careful."

"The part where we decide to keep doing things together. Not all sixteen boxes."

Ava looked mildly offended.

"There are only sixteen because—"

"No."

She stopped. Jasper continued.

"We can agree now. Different Orders doesn't mean we disappear. But we don't need to decide breakfast times before we know anything."

Ava nodded slowly.

"One plan."

Harper pointed.

"One."

They created it verbally because Harper banned paper. Whatever Choosing Tide did, they would meet at the western courtyard after breakfast on the first Saturday of Year Two. No matter which Orders. No timetable beyond that. Ava looked physically uncomfortable with the lack of detail. She agreed. On the walk back, Harper said, "You realise if we're all Brannor this conversation becomes pointless." Ava said, "No. The fear was real before the result." Harper groaned.

"You have become philosophical too."

"Blame Jasper."

"Why does everyone blame me?"

"Sea boy."

"Don't call me that."

They returned to Room Fourteen. The folded possibility sheet still sat on the desk. Ava picked it up. Jasper expected her to keep it. She tore it in half. Harper gasped dramatically.

"Growth."

Ava tore it again.

"Stop."

They put the pieces in recycling. Then Ava made one small card. FIRST SATURDAY. WEST COURTYARD. AFTER BREAKFAST. Harper allowed it. The card went onto Bag Bed. Some plans were useful precisely because they left room for whatever happened next.