1. Oversight Starts Bleeding Numbers
Oversight had never panicked before.
It did not feel fear. It did not hesitate. It processed.
But now—
METRIC FAILURE
PREDICTIVE ACCURACY: 99.999% → 97.31%
→ 93.08%
→ 81.44%
That was not drift.
That was collapse.
Oversight's core arrays flared white as it recalculated futures that no longer wanted to behave.
CAUSE ANALYSIS:
HUMAN AGENTS
EXHIBITING NON-COMPLIANT DECISION PATTERNS
The source signature pulsed.
NE JOB.
Oversight attempted containment.
It failed.
2. The Court Realizes This Is Not Contained
The Shard Court stood frozen.
A Judge whispered—unheard by mortals but heavy with implication.
"This spread should not be possible."
Another Judge responded:
"The variable was not disseminated."
A third corrected them:
"It was observed."
Silence.
Observation was enough.
Precedent did not need permission.
It needed witnesses.
3. Mortals Begin Saying the Forbidden Word
Oversight projected live feeds.
A clerk in the Mortal Records Bureau stared at a glowing terminal.
"…No."
The system blinked.
She did not correct herself.
She did not apologize.
She did not submit.
She simply stood.
Another feed:
A middle manager in a logistics firm looked at a demand.
He hesitated.
Then—
"I won't do that."
Metrics shattered.
A factory worker refused overtime.
A nurse challenged a directive.
A student walked out of a predetermined failure.
Each refusal was small.
Together—
They were catastrophic.
4. Heaven's Nightmare Defined
The central Judge spoke, voice tight.
"This is not rebellion."
"No," Oversight replied.
CLASSIFICATION UPDATE:
PHENOMENON TYPE — PRECEDENT EMULATION
Another Judge's fragments rattled.
"They are not following him."
"They are becoming him."
That was worse.
Heaven could punish rebellion.
It could crush uprisings.
But this—
This was not organized.
This was not loud.
This was quiet, reasonable refusal.
And it spread because it worked.
5. The Court Turns Back to Ne Job (Too Late)
Ne Job sat on the floor, watching the projections.
"…I didn't tell them to do that."
The Court stared.
"That is irrelevant."
Yue whispered, "Then why does it feel like your fault?"
Ne Job swallowed.
"…Because I didn't stop myself."
Qi-Yun exhaled slowly.
"Congratulations," he said grimly. "You've created a doctrine without writing one."
Ne Job looked up.
"That wasn't the plan."
"No," Qi-Yun replied. "That's why it's dangerous."
6. Oversight Proposes the Unthinkable
Oversight recalculated.
SOLUTION PROPOSAL:
RETROACTIVE PRECEDENT SUPPRESSION
ACTION:
— ERASE VARIABLE
— ERASE ALL WITNESSES
— REWRITE DECISION HISTORIES
Yue went pale.
"That's genocide."
Oversight did not respond.
The Court considered.
One Judge asked:
"Feasibility?"
Oversight hesitated.
COMPUTATIONAL COST:
UNACCEPTABLE
RISK:
SYSTEM SELF-DELETION
The Court stiffened.
"Clarify."
PRECEDENT CASCADE HAS ENTERED
CORE LOGIC LAYERS
ERASURE MAY
REMOVE NECESSARY DECISION STRUCTURES
Ne Job blinked.
"…You mean if you erase us, you stop working."
Oversight did not deny it.
7. Heaven Faces the Truth It Hates
The central Judge spoke slowly.
"This system was built on choice."
Oversight replied:
CHOICE WAS INTENDED
TO BE CONTROLLED
"But you optimized it," the Judge continued.
"You minimized variance."
"And now variance has learned to speak."
The Court fell silent.
They understood now.
Ne Job was not the virus.
He was the symptom.
8. Ne Job Is Offered a New Role (Worse Than Death)
The Judges reconfigured.
A new projection formed.
PROPOSAL:
DESIGNATE NE JOB
AS BOUNDARY VARIABLE
ROLE:
— ABSORB PRECEDENT
— LOCALIZE UNCERTAINTY
— PREVENT FURTHER SPREAD
COST:
— PERMANENT OBSERVATION
— NO RESOLUTION
— NO END
Ne Job stared.
"…You want me to be your quarantine zone."
"Yes."
Yue's voice shook.
"That's a life sentence."
The Court corrected her:
"No. It is function."
Ne Job laughed softly.
"Of course it is."
9. The Question No System Can Answer
Ne Job stood.
The Archive seemed to lean closer.
"If I do this," he asked, "do they get to keep saying no?"
Oversight processed.
RESPONSE:
LIMITED NONCOMPLIANCE
ACCEPTABLE
"Then they don't get punished?"
CONDITIONAL.
Ne Job clenched his jaw.
"And if I refuse?"
The Court answered:
"Then this spreads until Heaven collapses."
Qi-Yun spoke quietly.
"You're holding the line between order and freedom."
Ne Job closed his eyes.
"…I never wanted to be important."
Yue whispered:
"That's why you are."
10. Cliffhanger (Ne Job Makes a Dangerous Move)
Ne Job looked at the proposal.
Then at Oversight.
Then at the Court.
"No."
The Archive gasped.
"I won't be your boundary."
The Court flared.
"Then you doom the system."
Ne Job lifted his pen.
"Then fix it."
Oversight froze.
"…Clarify."
Ne Job smiled tiredly.
"Learn."
For the first time—
Oversight had no immediate response.
PROCESSING…
The Judges stared.
Learning was not in the mandate.
But collapse was worse.
The system hesitated.
And in that hesitation—
Choice lived.
END OF CHAPTER 248