Oversight made the mistake at 09:17.
They formalized fear.
Until now, everything had been procedural.
Reassignment.
Evaluation hold.
Integrity drift.
Clinical language wrapped around coercion.
But the notice that appeared on every upper-rank interface that morning wasn't clinical.
It was declarative.
TRIANGLE DIRECTIVE — STRUCTURAL STABILITY PROTOCOL
Effective immediately:
Unverified coordination across rank tiers is prohibited.
Resource pooling outside assigned rotations will be logged.
Cross-class assembly exceeding five participants requires approval.
Performance variance exceeding threshold will trigger immediate review.
Noncompliance will result in temporary status suspension.
Temporary.
That word again.
Soft enough to pretend it wasn't punishment.
Harsh enough to feel like a blade resting against a throat.
The cafeteria went quiet in layers.
First Class C.
Then Class B.
Then the upper tables.
People didn't speak immediately.
They read.
Then reread.
