Aurora's POV
"I'm sorry," I said not to the mountain, not to Catherine, not to the system.
But to the person I had just decided to lose.
Then I stepped forward.
And restraint ended not in rage, not in mercy but in responsibility.
*****
Catherine's POV
There was a moment - brief enough that she could pretend it hadn't happened -when the logic didn't align.
Catherine noticed it the way one notices a misstep while walking down familiar stairs: not as pain, but as a sudden recalibration of balance. A flicker where expectation failed to meet outcome.
She stopped reading.
The report hovered in front of her, text clean, language neutral, phrasing meticulously non-accusatory. A routine summary of responses following Aurora's procedural intervention. No dramatics.
No flagged dissent.
And yet the numbers didn't settle the way they should have.
Compliance remained high.
Efficiency metrics were still improving.
