Rama requested a private conversation with Voss the following morning, understanding that whatever her concerns actually represented, they deserved direct engagement rather than the kind of institutional dismissal that had characterized Volkov's own earlier treatment before Coalition finally learned, painfully, to take her opposition seriously.
Voss agreed without hesitation, meeting Timeline 48 in a quieter section of the research complex rather than the formal council chamber where her challenge had originally landed.
"I want to understand your position properly," Rama said, choosing directness over diplomatic softening. "Not the version other council members might characterize dismissively. Your actual reasoning."
Voss regarded him with the particular careful assessment Rama recognized as characteristic of her institutional style — evaluating whether this conversation represented genuine engagement or diplomatic management before deciding how fully to invest in it.
