The invitation arrived on a morning that felt deliberately ordinary.
No alerts.
No urgency markers.
No implied deadline pulsing between the lines.
That, more than anything, made Aaliyah stop what she was doing.
She reread the subject line twice before opening it fully.
Advisory Participation — Long-Term Governance Review
It wasn't framed as implementation support.
It wasn't enforcement-related.
It wasn't even tied to compliance.
This was something else.
Reflection.
Aaliyah leaned back in her chair, letting the email sit open on her screen as the foundation's quiet hum continued around her, keyboards clicking, distant voices drifting down the hall, the normal rhythm of a system that no longer felt fragile.
Rowan noticed her stillness from across the room.
"That look usually means something shifted," Rowan said.
Aaliyah turned the screen slightly so Rowan could see. "They want to look backward."
Rowan read silently, then nodded. "Not to fix anything."
