Between Book 1 and Book 2
Novella N0 occupies the locked continuity window after DAWN Book 1, Chapter 56 and before DAWN Book 2, Chapter 1.
Its primary viewpoints are Rin Astora and Ambassador Selina Vora. Across thirty-eight chapters, the story follows emergency routes, hidden ledgers, compromised institutions, and the effort to keep critical records alive when ordinary authority can no longer be trusted.
N0 is not a side note. It is a bridge story built to carry consequences from the end of Book 1 directly into the political and institutional landscape of Book 2.