The room didn't feel hostile.
It felt prepared.
Prepared rooms were more dangerous than emotional ones.
Emotion could be redirected.
Preparation had already chosen a side.
The board assembled without spectacle.
No raised voices.
No visible factions.
Just folders.
Tablets.
Measured breathing.
Item six.
Governance Oversight Enhancement Proposal.
The language had been refined overnight.
Less aggressive.
More "stabilizing."
"They adjusted tone," Adrian murmured quietly beside me.
"Yes," I replied. "Which means they want passage."
The chair opened the discussion calmly.
"This motion reflects a desire for structural durability," he said.
Durability.
Not limitation.
Not control.
Framing mattered.
The first advisor spoke.
"Our velocity has been impressive," he began. "But sustainability must match acceleration."
Measured.
Reasonable.
Dangerous.
Because reasonable arguments are harder to dismantle than aggressive ones.
When it was my turn, I didn't stand.
