Listening, it turned out, was not free.
---
GarudaCity did not resist extraction by force.
It resisted by slowing down those who tried to map it.
Researchers sent drones—data returned incomplete.
Auditors requested access—records arrived late, politely annotated with uncertainty.
Platforms tested integrations—interfaces behaved inconsistently across users.
Nothing failed outright.
Nothing worked efficiently.
Listening to GarudaCity required patience, and patience had a cost few budgets accounted for.
---
Wirasmi felt the toll personally.
Students now came not to learn technique, but to observe her listening. They watched her pause before cutting fabric, waited for her breath to settle before stitching.
"Is this part of the method?" one asked.
She shook her head.
"It's the part you can't borrow."
---
Danindra reviewed a proposal flagged as High Cultural Sensitivity.
The model suggested embedding observers inside care networks—"long-term ethnographic immersion."
He closed it.
Immersion without accountability was still extraction, just slower.
---
At the river table, tension surfaced again.
"We're exhausting ourselves," someone said. "By being careful all the time."
Another replied, "Then stop being careful."
The silence that followed was heavy.
Because everyone understood what would rush in if care stepped aside.
---
Yunitra spoke quietly.
"Listening is not meant to be constant," she said. "It's meant to be chosen."
She gestured to the river.
"It flows whether we watch it or not."
---
In LionCity Raya, Ace received reports marked Diminishing Returns.
Engagement metrics dropped. Outcomes were difficult to quantify. Partners grew impatient.
One advisor asked, "Should we intervene?"
Ace shook his head.
"If they stop listening because it's expensive," he said, "then they were never listening."
---
The hum softened again.
Not fading—resting.
Those attuned felt relief, followed by guilt.
Was it acceptable to rest from care?
The city answered without words.
Yes.
---
Small things resumed.
Laughter returned to workshops. Meals stretched longer. Mistakes were allowed to remain uncorrected for days.
The residue of care lingered—not as obligation, but as choice renewed.
---
A visiting analyst finally understood.
After weeks of notes and no conclusions, she wrote one line in her journal:
> The cost is not time.
The cost is surrendering control.
She left without publishing.
---
That night, Wirasmi folded fabric alone.
She did not listen for the hum.
She did not need to.
Care, when chosen freely, did not demand attention.
It simply stayed.
And GarudaCity, having paid the cost of listening, learned when to let the city breathe in silence.