Listening is not submission.
It's risk.
The city woke into a subtle shift—less like a change in policy, more like a change in posture. Messages still arrived. Structures still existed. Authority hadn't vanished.
But it had stopped speaking first.
✦
Arjun felt it as we crossed the inner ring, where announcements once echoed before decisions had time to breathe.
"They're waiting," he said.
"For once."
"Yes," I replied.
"And that's dangerous for them."
✦
The other Ishaan aligned, voice calm and exact.
Authority listens only when it can no longer predict outcomes, he said.
Listening admits uncertainty.
✦
By midmorning, the signal became unmistakable.
Requests arrived not as directives, but as questions.
"What challenges are you encountering?"
"Where are delays forming naturally?"
"What support would reduce friction?"
No templates.
No suggested answers.
✦
Arjun raised an eyebrow.
"That's new."
"Yes," I said.
"And it's not comfort. It's reconnaissance."
✦
