The Triangle did not respond immediately.
That restraint was deliberate.
Immediate retaliation would have framed Dreyden's actions as provocation. Silence reframed them as consideration. And consideration, inside institutions like the Triangle, was always more dangerous than anger.
For three days, nothing happened.
No directives.
No reassignments.
No surveillance shifts visible on the surface.
The campus breathed normally.
Too normally.
Dreyden didn't relax for a second.
Because systems never paused after being confronted—they redirected.
The first sign arrived through bureaucracy.
It was small enough that most students would've missed it entirely.
Dreyden's stipend—unchanged since enrollment—was increased by twelve percent.
No explanation.
No notification.
Just a higher number.
A test.
Institutions rewarded compliance before they punished defiance. They softened edges, offered incentives, reshaped behavior with comfort instead of force.
This was not generosity.
