The System could tolerate individuals.
It struggled with crowds.
No notices went up.
No signals were sent.
People simply… arrived.
At the old market square, long unused since the roads shifted, men and women gathered in uneven clusters. Farmers. Artisans. Travelers. A few monks.
No leader stood at the center.
That alone made the System uneasy.
Hiroto did not step forward.
He sat on a low stone wall, wrapped in his cloak, the shadow faint behind him.
"They're doing this themselves," Yui whispered.
"Yes," Hiroto replied. "If I speak now, I'll own it."
Ownership would kill it.
A man cleared his throat.
"We shouldn't be here," he said.
People nodded.
Another replied, "Probably."
They stayed anyway.
The System logged the gathering.
UNCOORDINATED ASSEMBLY DETECTED
No intervention followed.
Yet.
A woman spoke next. "The post told me not to cross the river."
A farmer answered, "Mine said the same. Different river."
A monk added, "It told me to stop asking questions."
Laughter rippled.
Not loud.
Relieved.
Guidance posts near the square brightened.
GROUP GATHERINGS INCREASE RISK
DISPERSE FOR SAFETY
No one moved.
The message repeated.
Stillness answered.
They didn't vote.
They didn't shout.
They didn't agree on anything except one thing:
They would not leave yet.
Hiroto felt the shadow stir surprised.
"This is new," Masanori murmured. "They're sharing uncertainty."
"Yes," Hiroto said. "That terrifies the System."
A Warden appeared at the edge of the square.
Not armored.
Not imposing.
Neutral.
"Dispersal is recommended," it said calmly. "Remaining provides no benefit."
A young woman replied, "Neither does leaving."
The Warden paused.
Benefit analysis failed.
The Sovereign ran simulations.
Remove the crowd: high visibility.
Ignore the crowd: replication risk.
Negotiate: legitimacy loss.
No optimal path.
Hiroto Is Not the Leader
Someone pointed toward him.
"That man started this."
Murmurs spread.
Hiroto stood slowly.
"No," he said. "I didn't."
Silence fell.
"I didn't ask you to come," he continued. "And I won't tell you to stay."
People looked at each other.
Then stayed.
The shadow did not rise.
Did not signal.
Did not mark him.
It hovered low, almost invisible.
This was not its moment.
A boy asked the Warden, "What happens if we don't leave?"
The Warden processed.
"Uncertain," it said.
The boy smiled. "Then we're finally honest."
After three hours, the guidance posts dimmed.
Messages stopped.
The Warden withdrew.
No force used.
No resolution achieved.
The square slowly emptied not from fear, but from choice.
They would meet again.
Everyone knew it.
That night, Hiroto collapsed.
His breath rattled.
The shadow flickered dangerously thin.
Yui held him, terrified. "This is killing you."
He shook his head weakly. "No. It's finishing me."
She understood.
And hated it.
High above, a new variable was flagged.
COLLECTIVE NON-DECISION
Not rebellion.
Not compliance.
Waiting.
Waiting broke optimization.
The market square stood empty again by dawn.
But something invisible lingered.
A memory.
A possibility.
People had stood together without agreeing why.
And once a system learns that people can gather without purpose.
It can never fully predict them again.