Asher did not expect retaliation.
He expected adjustment.
After the session, activity slowed across the network. Proposals were withdrawn for "revision." Committees requested additional data. Reviews were reopened under new criteria. No one challenged what had happened directly.
They couldn't.
The change had been made inside the rules, using authority that still existed. Removing the legacy framework hadn't broken procedure. It had restored it.
That frustrated the people who had relied on ambiguity.
Asher watched from a distance as the system recalibrated. Balance enforcement returned to normal response times. Correction triggers fired when they should. Small instabilities were resolved early again.
Nothing dramatic happened.
That was the point.
A few individuals tried to reintroduce similar language under different names. Asher noted them. He didn't interfere. Without the old framework, their proposals stalled on their own.
