The council session concluded without immediate resolution, Rodriguez recognizing that Sekar's proposed acknowledgment — explicit understanding of what this decision genuinely required before proceeding — needed proper time to develop rather than forcing premature commitment during an already exhausting session.
Rama and Sekar returned to their infant daughter that evening, the specific quality of new parenthood's demands settling around them with genuine, exhausting intimacy that felt, in this quiet moment, entirely separate from everything the crisis's continued institutional weight required.
"I want to talk about something directly," Sekar said, once their daughter had finally settled into peaceful sleep, the particular fragile quiet new parents learned to protect fiercely. "The question Kharn raised — who genuinely serves this expanded function toward Threnody. I believe we need to address it honestly, between ourselves, before returning to the broader council discussion."
