Freedom was quieter than I’d expected. There were no fireworks, just the simple satisfaction of a system that would now accept my choices: kernels to test, ROMs to explore, tweaks to fine-tune. I installed a minimal ROM that morning—dark, efficient—and the phone felt lighter, more like a tool and less like a locked box. I restored my apps and a handful of settings, checked that the camera still worked, that cellular data didn’t sulk.