The resistance reorganized.
It didn't announce itself as opposition.
It presented as concern for process, balance, restraint.
Aaliyah recognized it immediately, not from tone, but from timing.
Three days after the task force meeting, a coalition memo began circulating quietly among policy circles. It wasn't public. It wasn't leaked.
It was shared.
She first saw it forwarded by a junior analyst with a single line attached:
This is being framed as "protective moderation."
Aaliyah opened the document slowly.
It argued for "guardrails against over-standardization."
Warned of "unintended consequences of rigid accountability metrics."
Suggested that timelines, if enforced uniformly, could "penalize complexity."
The language was careful.
Sophisticated.
Familiar.
She leaned back in her chair, eyes scanning the signatures at the bottom.
Former regulators.
Industry advisors.
Ethics consultants with impressive résumés.
No villains.
Just people who benefited from flexibility.
