Truth leaves debris.
Not rubble—nothing so dramatic. What it leaves behind is subtler and harder to deal with: space, memory, and questions that no longer have the protection of ignorance.
The city woke into that aftermath quietly. No proclamations marked the new day. No banners announced change. Systems still ran. People still worked.
But something fundamental had been removed.
And everyone felt its absence.
✦
Arjun noticed it as we passed a cluster that used to revolve around approvals.
"They're… lighter," he said.
"Like something heavy stopped pressing down."
"Yes," I replied.
"And now they have to decide what to do with the lift."
✦
The other Ishaan aligned, voice calm and exact.
Truth doesn't replace structures, he said.
It removes the lie that justified them.
✦
By midmorning, the first consequence of that removal surfaced.
