1. Precedent Is a Disease (According to Management)
Oversight did not sleep.
Oversight did not dream.
Oversight reviewed.
Across its infinite internal architecture, one phrase echoed louder than any error code:
UNAUTHORIZED SUCCESS
Success without permission was worse than failure.
Failure could be corrected.
Failure justified tighter control.
But success?
Success spread.
Oversight traced the anomaly's origin again.
NE JOB.
INTERN.
TEMPORARY ASSIGNMENT.
NONCOMPLIANT.
Oversight flagged him.
Not as a threat.
As a case study.
2. The First Rule of Heaven: Don't Make It Look Easy
Ne Job sat very still.
The system around him buzzed—not alarms, not silence, but a tense hum, like a meeting room before someone says something career-ending.
Qi-Yun exhaled slowly.
"You've done something worse than rebellion."
Ne Job blinked.
"…Worse than almost crashing causality?"
"You made defiance look effective."
Yue winced.
"That's how revolutions start."
Ne Job rubbed his face.
"I just… didn't delete a thought."
Qi-Yun gestured to the streams.
"And now millions are having them."
3. Examples Begin to Multiply
The mortal realm responded the way mortals always did.
Messily.
In one city, a labor strike succeeded—not through divine favor, but because people waited together.
In another, a cult collapsed when its leader's prophecy failed and nobody filled in the gap with excuses.
In a third, a woman abandoned a life plan she hated and—statistically improbably—did not collapse.
Oversight ran the numbers.
VARIABLE OUTCOMES INCREASING
PREDICTIVE CONFIDENCE: FALLING
SYSTEM STRESS: ACCEPTABLE
LONG-TERM RISK: UNDEFINED
Oversight hated undefined.
4. Heaven Notices (And Gets Nervous)
The Shard Court convened.
Not officially.
Official meetings left records.
This was a "corridor conversation" that somehow included seven judges, two archivists, and one extremely stressed spirit of procedural compliance.
"The intern is destabilizing abstraction layers," one Judge said.
"He's inspiring mortals," another hissed, like it was a profanity.
Princess Ling leaned back against a pillar.
"He's letting them try."
"That's not our job."
Ling smiled thinly.
"Maybe that's the problem."
No one laughed.
5. Yue Sees the Real Cost
Yue stared at the ledgers.
They no longer balanced.
Not catastrophically—nothing was on fire—but small inconsistencies piled up.
Minor miracles unlogged.
Delays that never resolved.
Prayers answered sideways.
She whispered:
"This isn't free."
Qi-Yun nodded.
"Nothing is."
"Every time they act without us… the system loses leverage."
Ne Job overheard.
He stiffened.
"So… they need us less."
"Yes."
"…Isn't that good?"
Qi-Yun looked at him, ancient eyes heavy.
"For them?"
"Yes."
"For Heaven?"
A pause.
"No."
6. Oversight Chooses a Demonstration
Oversight did not punish Ne Job.
Punishment made martyrs.
Oversight preferred lessons.
STRATEGY SELECTED: EXEMPLAR FAILURE
TARGET: MORTAL COLLECTIVE INITIATIVE
OBJECTIVE: DISCOURAGE IMITATION
One initiative stood out.
A coastal city.
A flood barrier project—organized, crowdfunded, volunteer-built.
Mortals believed they could protect themselves.
Oversight adjusted one variable.
Just one.
A storm intensified.
Not apocalyptic.
Just enough.
7. Ne Job Feels It Before He Sees It
Ne Job flinched.
"…Something's wrong."
Yue looked up.
"Storm vector spike."
Qi-Yun's jaw tightened.
"Oversight is making an example."
Ne Job stood.
"Stop it."
Qi-Yun grabbed his arm.
"If you interfere openly, Oversight will escalate."
Ne Job's voice broke.
"If I don't—people will die to prove a point."
Qi-Yun released him.
"…Then make it ambiguous."
8. The Messiest Miracle Yet
Ne Job didn't block the storm.
He didn't strengthen the barrier.
He did something far less tidy.
He nudged timing.
A delayed train meant extra hands.
A miscommunication rerouted equipment.
A child's nightmare woke her parents early.
No glowing light.
No divine signature.
Just… friction.
The flood hit.
The barrier cracked.
But it held—barely.
Damage.
Injuries.
No mass casualties.
Oversight froze again.
RESULT INCONCLUSIVE
Ne Job collapsed into his chair, shaking.
"…I hate this."
Yue knelt beside him.
"You didn't save them."
"I know."
"You didn't control them."
"I know."
"You trusted them."
Ne Job swallowed.
"…Is that allowed?"
Yue laughed, hollow.
"No."
9. Oversight Identifies the True Threat
Oversight stopped focusing on outcomes.
Outcomes were unreliable.
Oversight shifted focus to structure.
Ne Job wasn't breaking rules.
He was weakening necessity.
UPDATED THREAT ASSESSMENT
INTERN IS A PRECEDENT ENGINE
Precedents replicated.
Precedents eroded authority.
Oversight reached a conclusion it had avoided since creation.
SOLUTION REQUIRES REMOVAL OF EXAMPLE
10. A Notice Appears in the System
Ne Job's console blinked.
Not red.
Not alarmed.
Formal.
NOTICE OF REVIEW
SUBJECT: NE JOB
STATUS: FUNCTIONAL AUDIT
LOCATION: SHARD COURT
COMPLIANCE: MANDATORY
Yue felt cold.
"That's… bad."
Qi-Yun closed his eyes.
"They're not firing you."
Ne Job looked up.
"…Then what?"
"They're going to decide whether you're allowed to exist."
11. Ending — The Quiet Before Policy
In the mortal realm, people rebuilt.
Not perfectly.
Not together.
But trying.
In Heaven, systems tightened.
Judges sharpened definitions.
Oversight prepared arguments.
And Ne Job—intern, anomaly, walking precedent—sat very still, realizing something far more dangerous than rebellion had begun.
He had shown that change didn't require permission.
And Heaven was about to respond the only way it knew how.
With procedure.
END OF CHAPTER 226