Scarcity revealed itself quietly.
No alarms.
No announcement screens.
Just friction where smoothness used to exist.
At 07:30, the first student noticed it in Recuperation Wing East.
Energy restoration rates had been reduced by twelve percent.
Not catastrophic.
Just inconvenient.
At 08:12, Combat Simulation Rooms began requiring "priority clearance" for extended sessions.
At 09:05, supply lockers in three separate sectors locked behind new merit thresholds.
No headline.
No explanation.
Just structural tightening.
The Triangle was not attacking.
It was rationing.
And rationing changed behavior faster than threats ever could.
By ten o'clock, queues formed in places that had never required patience before.
Students recalculated routines.
Class C and lower tiers felt the squeeze first.
Class B began checking their dashboards more frequently.
Class A noticed something else—
Priority lanes had expanded.
They had more access now.
Not less.
That was the wedge.
