CHAPTER 137 — WHEN THE CROWD LEARNS TO DECIDE
The first mistake happened before dawn.
It wasn't catastrophic. There were no sirens, no emergency bulletins flashing red across screens, no frantic officials scrambling before cameras. Nothing dramatic enough to justify outrage at first glance. Just a decision made too quickly, by someone who had never been trusted with the weight of deciding before.
A transit reroute, approved quietly overnight, redirected three major commuter lines away from a maintenance corridor that had been flagged—wrongly—as unstable. The logic had been clean on paper. The data incomplete. The result immediate.
By 5:47 a.m., trains were slowing as they approached the eastern junction. By 5:55, platforms were packed shoulder to shoulder. By 6:12, irritation moved faster than reason ever could.
Phones came out. Clips were recorded. Words sharpened.
This is what happens when amateurs are empowered.
We warned this would get messy.
