The architecture did not celebrate.
There were no banners, no declarations of success, no moment that could be pointed to and labeled victory. After Chapter 64's close, the locking of structural reforms and the stabilization of first-order outcomes, the system did what it had been designed to do.
It kept working.
Quietly. Relentlessly. Without permission.
That, more than anything, unsettled those who had built their power on interruption.
Aria noticed it first in the reports, not anomalies, but absences. The usual pressure signals weren't firing. No sudden capital flight. No coordinated resistance. No overt counternarratives flooding the feeds.
Too quiet.
"Silence like this isn't acceptance," she said, eyes scanning the latest system health summaries. "It's assessment."
Dante stood across from her at the long operations table, hands braced against the surface. "Cassian doesn't assess unless he's already chosen a path."
Victor looked up sharply. "You think he's waiting?"
