Escalation never announced itself as escalation.
It arrived disguised as concern.
That was how the Triangle framed it when the next notice went live—quietly, universally, without comment or attribution. No alarms. No emergency tone. Just a system-wide update that looked harmless enough on first glance.
NOTICE: STRUCTURAL REALIGNMENT — ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
Temporary adjustments to assessment protocols will be enacted to ensure fair evaluation across all classes.
Student cooperation remains encouraged. Individual variance thresholds may apply.
"Temporary."
"Integrity."
"Fair."
Words designed to dull the edge of what they actually meant.
Dreyden read the notice twice, then closed it.
They weren't reacting anymore.
They were preparing.
The first proof came an hour later.
